libavcodec or libmpeg2

[Duppie]

Hi There,

Was just wondering which decoder do you prefer in ffdshow for MPEG2, libavcodec or libmpeg2 and why (faster, less artifacts, etc..)

Thanks

[roozhou]

Quality: Quality should be same. When talking about decoders, there is no good/bad or less/more artifacts but only correct/incorrect output.
IIRC libavcodec has better error correction than libmpeg2 so there maybe less artifacts when decoding corrupt files with libavcodec.

Speed: libmpeg2 is faster with single core but has no multi-threading capability.
Since most multi-core CPU can decode 1080P 40Mbps mpeg2 with only one core in real-time, I recommend you always use libmpeg2 in ffdshow.

[Dark Shikari]

I recall that libmpeg2 has a less accurate iDCT.

[Blue_MiSfit]

libmpeg2 doesn't support 4:2:2 last I checked, and libavcodec seems to have no issues with it :)

Not that 4:2:2 MPEG-2 is remotely common for consumers, but I come across it all the time professionally..

Other than that - I don't think theres much difference for most folks.

[Duppie]

Thanks for the replies.

[tetsuo55]

i've been wondering if the libavcodec one is based on an older version of libmpeg2