For Internet Video Publishing and Portable Players, What Video Format Should We Choose?

We often watch movies for entertainment, but may have never thought about video compression formats. There are various video formats for us to enjoy movies on PCs, on the Internet or on portable player devices. The formats enable us to watch better quality video, depending on how advanced they are. If we watch a movie in a particular format, we would just get acceptable video quality; but if we also watch the same movie in another format, we would get better or even the best video quality. This is because the video format used in some movies is not as advanced as in others. Every video format has its particular strengths. We can choose one or more that best suits your needs. Now let's discuss some common video formats.

AVI - AVI (Audio Video Interleave) format was developed by Microsoft. Videos stored in the AVI format have the extension *.avi. This format is widely used in daily life, and its video quality is superior, while there are also many defects such as its large size, which takes a lot of storage space on a hard drive. AVI movies can be played with common third party media playing programs such as "Windows Media Player, "RealPlayer", etc. You can choose AVI for creating video for PC, Archos, Creative Zen Vision, and YouTube, MySpace and Google Video services.

MPEG - MPEG (Moving Picture Expert Group) is an international compression standard designed for moving images. The MPEG format is the most popular format on the Internet. It is cross-platform, and is supported by all popular web browsers. Videos stored in the MPEG format have the extension *.mpg or *.mpeg. Currently, MPEG includes three compression standards: MPEG-1, MPEG-2 and MPEG-4. The MPEG algorithms compress data to form small bits that can be easily transmitted and then decompressed. MP4 format is often used for Apple iPod, Sony PSP, Epson P-2000/4000 or mobile phones with MPEG-4 video support; while MPEG is often used for saving video in MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 format on PCs.

WMV - WMV (Windows Media Video) was developed by Microsoft. WMV is a common format on the Internet, but WMV movies cannot be played on non-Windows computer without an extra component installed. Videos stored in the WMV format have the extension *.wmv. WMV is commonly used for movie playback on Windows PCs, and the software required to play back WMV files is inswtalled on most Windows PCs. WMV movies can be played with third party media player programs such as "Windows Media Player", "RealPlayer", etc. WMV is often used for Pocket PCs running under Mobile Windows OS, like HP iPaq and portable players: Archos and Creative Zen Vision.

RM - The RealVideo format was developed for the Internet by Real Media. The format allows for the streaming of video such as Internet TV or video with low bandwidths, and so the quality is often reduced. Videos stored in the RealVideo format have the extension *.rm or *.ram. To transmit and play real-time video files in narrow-bandwidth Internet, Real Media adopts distinct compression rates according to the bandwidth. Currently, many websites provide RealVideo files. You can use RealPlayer or RealOne Player to play videos compressed by RealMedia technology. Another important feature of the format is video files can be played without downloading, if you use RealPlayer or RealOne Player.

FLV - Flash Video is a container file format used to deliver video over the Internet using Adobe Flash Player - initially produced by Macromedia. FLV Format is the most popular video format available on the Internet with some of the best websites engaging their viewers with Flash-based videos. An FLV file encodes synchronized audio and video streams. It is estimated that a one-minute video consumes 2 or 3 MB of RAM, while a five-minute video consumes an average of 3 or 4 MB. Longer videos can be played without requiring a linear increase in memory. So, FLV is often used for delivering video over the Internet.

Depending upon the purpose of your video, such as for Internet video publishing, saving in portable players, or saving in PCs, we can choose one or more formats best suited for you. I hope my sharing some information about some common video formats I know may help you choose the best suitable video format for your need. If you need a video software program for playing and converting multi-format videos, I recommend trying AV Video Morpher, an all-in-one video program that helps you not only play and convert videos but also does a whole lot more. Learn more about AV Video Morpher at http://dvd-player.audio4fun.com/movie-editor.htm.