Comparison Divx vs. H.264

[Hecatombles]

I have been outside the Video sector for a couple of years. I have just found something new: H264 codec. I have just purchased a DVD player that reads MPEG4 and I want convert some video.

Surely there have been a lot of discussions and test about Divx VS H264. I ask to all of you some links to these topics to understand which codec is better and when.

Thank you in advance

Hecatombles

[Dark Shikari]

H.264 isn't "new", nor is a codec; its a standard.

Try the H.264/AVC forum, down the list.

[burfadel]

Unfortunately DVD manufacturers stick 'Mpeg4' on to any DVD player that can play Divx/Xvid, which is technically false advertising. I'm not going to try and explain what Mpeg4 is, because I'd be wrong in my explanation. The simplest way to put it is to say the DVD manufactures should say h.263 compliant, xvid capable etc etc, as mpeg4 covers divx, xvid (same standard, different codec), WMV, Vp6/7, 3IVX, h264 etc etc.

For a dvd player to play h264 it has to say AVC, and even then its restricted to lower quality settings generally.

So in short, a DVD player that has a flat claim of 'Mpeg4' is NOT capable of playing anything besides Xvid/Divx generally.

[Dark Shikari]

Unfortunately DVD manufacturers stick 'Mpeg4' on to any DVD player that can play Divx/Xvid, which is technically false advertising. I'm not going to try and explain what Mpeg4 is, because I'd be wrong in my explanation.

MPEG-4 ... is the designation for a group of audio and video coding standards and related technology agreed upon by the ISO/IEC Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) under the formal standard ISO/IEC 14496.

The most well-known:

MPEG-4 Part 2 (Visual) is a set of standards ranging from badly-designed but simple to absurdly complex and useless, and includes the standard used by Xvid and DivX.

MPEG-4 Part 3: AAC audio compression.

MPEG-4 Part 10: AVC video compression, a much better designed but more difficult to decode video compression standard.

MPEG-4 Part 14: The MP4 container format.

[Sharktooth]

The simplest way to put it is to say the DVD manufactures should say h.263 compliant, xvid capable etc etc, as mpeg4 covers divx, xvid (same standard, different codec), WMV, Vp6/7, 3IVX, h264 etc etc.
Wrong. VP6/7 Codecs and WMV are not part of the MPEG4 standard and arent compatible with MPEG4 too. They're proprietary standards/codecs.
h.263 as a codec is also not part of the MPEG4 standard but the h.263 quantization is in MPEG4v2 (or part2) AKA MPEG4 ASP (xvid, divx, 3vix...).
The h.264 codec, instead, was standardized as MPEG4v10 (or part 10) AKA MPEG4 AVC.

[burfadel]

Wrong. VP6/7 Codecs and WMV are not part of the MPEG4 standard and arent compatible with MPEG4 too. They're proprietary standards/codecs.
h.263 as a codec is also not part of the MPEG4 standard but the h.263 quantization is in MPEG4v2 (or part2) AKA MPEG4 ASP (xvid, divx, 3vix...).
The h.264 codec, instead, was standardized as MPEG4v10 (or part 10) AKA MPEG4 AVC.

Two replies much better and more accurate than mine! I knew there would be :) Thats the problem that exists at the moment, mpeg4 DVD players only play divx/xvid material, although I have seen elsewhere vp6, WMV etc etc categorised in this as well.

The cut things short, mpeg4 dvd players only play Divx/xvid. DVD players that can play nero digital come under that too. Haven't actually seen any h264 dvd players per se, but have seen nero digital AVC dvd players which, nero digital avc is just an encoder (not explained very well), but anyways the cut things to the bare basics:

Mpeg4 dvd players - only play Mpeg4 ASP codecs (mostly just
xvid/divx)

Nero digital dvd players - does not play h.264

Nero digital AVC dvd players - plays h.264/aac, but most encoded AVC material may not play from what I've heard unless you sacrifice encoding efficiency for playback compatibility.

[Manao]

h.263 as a codec is also not part of the MPEG4 standardIt is. It's called short_header in the Mpeg4p2 normative documentation, and as such is a subset of Mpeg4. However, to complicate the matter, it evolved in h263+ and h263++, which aren't a subset of Mpeg4p2 (but did evolve ultimately into h264 which is Mpeg4p10...)

although I have seen elsewhere vp6, WMV etc etc categorised in this as well.They are called mpeg-like codecs, because all are using a block-based + DCT approach.

[aleste81]

Compare XViD & H264 with this script :

-------------------------------------------------
Version.ShowFrameNumber.Crop(346,4,-0,-4)
AssumeFPS(25)
StackVertical(StackHorizontal(last, last), StackHorizontal(last, last))
StackVertical(StackHorizontal(last, last), StackHorizontal(last, last))
StackVertical(StackHorizontal(last, last), StackHorizontal(last, last))
Trim(0,100)
FadeOut(100)
ConvertToYV12()
-------------------------------------------------


Now compress at 1000 Kbps with XVid 2 pass and H264 2 pass

and see the differences youself here :

http://membres.lycos.fr/ttest/pub/IMAGES/FORUMS/DOOM9/

[Hecatombles]

Pardon but I have problems with fast changing videos. Could you please summarize the difference between the two codecs ?

Thank you in advance

[Dark Shikari]

Pardon but I have problems with fast changing videos. Could you please summarize the difference between the two codecs ?

Thank you in advance
The difference between the codecs could fill 500 pages... most importantly, H.264 requires more CPU to play back, but encodes video more efficiently.

[burfadel]

h.264 is also an internationally adopted standard for HDDVD/bluray etc, as well as a broadcast standard in some countries. divx is a proprietory format which can be played on the technically mislabelled Mpeg4 dvd players.

Divx/xvid require a higher bitrate to achieve the same standard in quality.

[Hecatombles]

A last question because after that I will go off topic for a generl forum. As written, I have not followed the threads regarding H264: Which is the "limit" bitarate where artefacts disappears (or are very low) in fast moving videos ?

Thanks

Hecatombles

[Adub]

depends on the source, meaning resolution, amount of motion, and you eyes.

[aleste81]

Compare XViD & H264
http://membres.lycos.fr/ttest/pub/IMAGES/FORUMS/DOOM9/

Original Image YV12
http://membres.lycos.fr/ttest/pub/IMAGES/FORUMS/DOOM9/Basic_CODEC%20Compare_Video_TeST_YV12.png


Compressed H264 1000Kbps
http://membres.lycos.fr/ttest/pub/IMAGES/FORUMS/DOOM9/Basic_CODEC%20Compare_Video_TeST_H264.png


Compressed XVID 1000Kbps
http://membres.lycos.fr/ttest/pub/IMAGES/FORUMS/DOOM9/Basic_CODEC%20Compare_Video_TeST_XVID.png