Are Ogg and Vorbis Formats Ready For Mainstream Use/Playback?

[Dali Lama]

I have been hearing a lot of good things about the Ogg format and the Vorbis compression technology. Its reduced file size and increased sound quality are obviously attractive. However, it seems that there are still problems with splitting the files (not an issue for me) and using subtitles.

So, is this format and compression scheme ready for mainstream use and playback? If not, those who know about the future compatability, when will it be mainstream?

Also, what does everyone feel about the MP4 format? This seems to be the "true" standard in the future. Along with the "superior" AAC audio compression format in comparison to MP3...maybe Ogg too? So why is Ogg and even Vorbis in development?

One last thing, if Ogg/Vorbis is ready for use (encoding) is it ready for mainstream playback? Do people need to d/l a new codec or program to playback in mediaplayer, etc.?

Thanks for the clarifications,

Dali

[Dali Lama]

Well, I'd like to bring this to the top again.

I think this issue is pretty important and many people are interested in knowing this.

Thanks,

Dali

[canadian_fbi]

something like this was discussed a couple weeks ago here:

http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=17527

personally i use it whenever i can now... the benefits of lower muxing overhead and better audio in a smaller size are worth it.

[Emp3r0r]

I think they are a great combination when used with xvid but I see people moving towards an MP4 compatible format. As for me, I'll be creating XVID with AAC (soon hopefully) so I can one day pop it in a standalone player or play it with an x-card.

[Dali Lama]

Thanks canadian_fbi for the link, that thread explains a lot.

However, I have still have one questoin:

Is Emp3r0r saying that Ogg is not handled under the MPEG-4 format for use in future stand alone players? Also, how about divx 5, can that be used instead of Xvid or not?

Thanks,

Dali

[canadian_fbi]

i'm no expert on the mpeg-4 specs, but as far as i understand it, AAC is the preferred format for mp4 files, though CBR MP3s can be used as well. ogg vorbis audio is almost certainly only going to be used in an ogg container and not in mp4. one thing i'm sure of though is that ogg is much more "now" than mp4. mpeg-4 may be the agreed upon future standard, but it is far from being widely implemented in standalone players like mpeg-2 is now, whereas vorbis + xvid is working right now for many people (including myself) and is improving every day. you can't play it in a hardware player, but unless you have an mpeg-4 player, you can't play an mp4 file that way either. besides, i think by the time most of us have a standalone player capable of playing these mpeg-4 movies, video and audio quality will both be much improved anyway. so thinking ahead and archiving movies in mpeg-4 so you'll be able to watch them for years and years is a bit premature thinking in my opinion. i have mp3s i encoded two or three years ago, and sure i could play them on portable mp3 players, but they sound like crap. even at 192 kbps it's noticeably annoying. and today i'm encoding all my music in mpc (mpeg plus) format at around 170 kbps and it sounds tons better than all that. but now i'm rambling and getting off the subject entirely.

anyway, this is just my opinion, and i happen to be a fan of xvid + vorbis + ogg movies, and i'm sure mpeg-4 will be big someday, i just think it's ogg's time to shine :)

[vorbis]

as mentioned above, mp4 compatible players are some way off. No company seems in a rush to implement it. The main electronics companyies are more interested in standrards and as such mpeg-2 will do for the forseeable future.

[Dali Lama]

If Ogg/Vorbis can't be played in future MPEG-4 Players (not a big deal really) then why use it? Because the .avi format can handle mp3 and subtitles fine, don't you think? I never get sync issues.

The only thing is that ogg sound is better quality for the bitrate.

However, what if I want to share this with a friend, does he have to have some mumbo jumbo installed on his system before he can play the .ogg file?

[Bubba]

Dali Lama,

If you want to share with your friend, your friend's computer must have a Ogg/Vorbis codec/filter installed. Since the codec is small enough, I usually enclosed it with the AVI file (with Ogg Audio) of which I will share it to my friend. I would tell him/her to install it, before he/she can watch the AVI.

Remember to tell him/her that the installation needed to be done only once. Next time you share another AVI with Ogg audio, he/she doesn't have to install it again.