5.5G iPod H.264 vs Xvid video quality

[kothrush]

I just ripped couple of my dvds to new iPod profile using QT (very slow) and iSquint. They are 640 x xxx (16:9 i think) and looks great. I ripped same movie at 640 width to XVid using handbrake. Xvid video bitrae: 1300kbps . H.264 iPod video bitrate: 1000 kbps.

Look at the enclosed comparision with .avi and .mp4. both look same to me and i think H.264 looks equal or even better when zoomed 2x. This means H.264 ipod profile gives better result than xvid ! Is this possible ? the results certainly looks like it. :) .

I thought since xvid can use b-frames etc. etc., it should yield better result than level 1.3 baseline profile of AVC (iPod supported profile). But, it seems baseline profile of AVC can be equal or better than MPEG4 ASP ? Is this true? what do you guys think ?

obviosuly this is just subjective study of one DVD and haven't look in detail. but i hope this trend is correct, then I can just rip all my dvds to iPod profile and it will work everywhere , on computer, ipod, tv etc..
(i know ipod don't support 5.1 sound/ subtitles , but thats different issue, i dont use them much. this is purely looking at video quality.)
PS: .avi using handbrake, .mp4 using isquint.

[Adub]

of course H.264 for is better, even at the lower bitrate. It is a more efficient codec all around.

And what are you doing using quicktime? Use X264, it is free and better beyond all reason. The best way is to use MeGUI. Wonderful encoding GUI, I use it for everything accept Mpeg-2.

[temporance]

As I understand it, the 5.5G Ipod has a max resolution of 320x240 for H.264 video. For higher resolutions it uses MPEG-4 pt. 2, Simple Profile (essentially the same tech as xvid).

Happy to be proved wrong, though.

[sillKotscha]

The best way is to use MeGUI.

*the best way* is to avoid suggesting a best way ;-)

another very nice app for testing and playing around with (iPod-) profiles is MkvMagic (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=101786) by buzzqw. IMO it is more intuitive for the beginner and at the moment very frequent updated.

and concerning your findings... yes, the x264 AVC/h.264 video codec does give a marvellous picture quality at any bitrate and is the true successor of MPEG4-ASP (e.g. xvid)

cheers sill

[kothrush]

First, screen shots are using OS X. Argue as much as you want, but on OS X QT very very efficient decoder. It gives better decoding (colors etc) at much less processing power than VLC or any other decoders.

I know its different story for windows, which you guys are talking about -MeGUI etc. etc. Anyway, this this thread is more about "final" video quality, so lets keep it to that.

secondly, I know H264 is heads and tails above Xvid, but we are talking about baseline H264 profile vs. xvid using b-frames and other mumbo jumbo..... so its not about if H264 is better than xvid (which it is) , but its about if H264 BASELINE profile (no b=frames) is better than xvid with b-frames/other features ?

[kothrush]

As I understand it, the 5.5G Ipod has a max resolution of 320x240 for H.264 video. For higher resolutions it uses MPEG-4 pt. 2, Simple Profile (essentially the same tech as xvid).

Happy to be proved wrong, though.

320 x 240 is iPod screen resolution. I am not talking about that. I am talking about ipod decoding ability. with new firmware update, 5-5.5G ipod can decode upto 640 x 480.

so when you play 640 x 480 file on iPod it will just downgrade it 320 x 240 to play it, but if you use TV out then you can full 640 x 480 aka SD resolution to your TV.

[check]

technically, 'SD resolution' is 720x480 for NTSC

[Mutant_Fruit]

Anyway, this this thread is more about "final" video quality, so lets keep it to that.

Thats what Merlin7777 was talking about when he said "why are you using QT". x264 is an encoder and creates better quality encodes in less time as compared to QT. MeGUI is a GUI for the x264 commandline encoder. So if you were doing visual quality tests between h.264 encodes as compared to xvid, encode using x264.

[check]

QT gives better performance than mplayer? Maybe if you are using old mplayer compiles, try these: http://www.haque.net/software/mplayer/mplayerosx/builds/

[kothrush]

QT gives better performance than mplayer? Maybe if you are using old mplayer compiles, try these: http://www.haque.net/software/mplayer/mplayerosx/builds/

Wow, that mplayer looks like something which does not suck (I guess about the time), hehehhee. I tried mplayer long back and did not like it. I use VLC whenever i can not use QT, I'll check this out and see how it goes.

Although, if you ever done editing of videos, QT is by far the best for basic non-linear editing of videos, so I use it for many other purposes apart from just playback and mplayer is not going to replace that.

[kothrush]

Thats what Merlin7777 was talking about when he said "why are you using QT". x264 is an encoder and creates better quality encodes in less time as compared to QT. MeGUI is a GUI for the x264 commandline encoder. So if you were doing visual quality tests between h.264 encodes as compared to xvid, encode using x264.

well, the screenshot for .mp4 I have included is using squint on OS X, not QT. I did use QT too, but I have not included those screenshots.

iSquint uses ffmpeg engine, which in turn uses x264 for H264 encoding ! so, IT IS x264.

[Adub]

^^ Oh, well why didn't you say so? I thought you went about using QT for your encodes on a normal bases. Well then, I have to check out this "squint" program.

Edit: right, checked out iSquint. It does look to be a nice program, also, have you tried handbrake?

[kothrush]

^^ Oh, well why didn't you say so? I thought you went about using QT for your encodes on a normal bases. Well then, I have to check out this "squint" program.

Edit: right, checked out iSquint. It does look to be a nice program, also, have you tried handbrake?

Opps, sorry , you got it right , its iSquint ! that's the free version which only converts stuff to ipod H264 profile. They have paid version, Visualhub, which can transcode stuff to any format, not just iPod H264. Although, i am happy using iSquint for now.

Handbrake is nice,too. the original .avi you see in the above screenshots are using handbrake. alhtought, it seems development has been on halt for a while. Its a nice little program, does what it supposed to do in simple and few steps. I hope development picks up soon.