mpeg vs wmv on movie galleries
 

any reason why you would use mpeg over wmv on movie galleries, thought everyone could play wmv files now?

wmv is only windows standard ...

no reason not to be wmv... smaller..better..

Can't almost every Mac owner play them too?

I don't know ... if they need someadditional software then it's not good.

But maybe the don't need it

all mac users can play wmvs now, they just gotta get windows media player which they will mostly likely already have since it's a PC world. Back in the day they had to download sparkle just to view mpegs.... so they're use to it.

i wish everyone used mpg capatible every where plus I really think i can tell the difference mpg seems better quality might be just me though.

one thing i see is that mpegs start right away while wmv's may take a couple seconds to buffer

Not big differences really to be honest. WMV is better quality in most case. Mpeg you can scroll through and not need to wait on the buffer.

WMV is to Mac users like basic English is to French people....

They can use it but act like they don't know how because they feel it is beneath them.

Just walk into any Mac store and ask them if you can watch or encode WMV on a Mac and they will look at you and say "why would you want to"?

I swear, it is like a fucking cult or something.

well.. don't forget about linux..

- mpeg is a standard that works for everyone, wmv is (a bad) standard for Windows only

- mpeg is much better quality

Only two reasons you need.

correct

bullshit

the only time i have to wait on a buffer is wmv not mpeg

macs play wmv's

anyone know if there's a way to set wmp to play mpegs when you click on one? Everytime I click an mpeg link it hangs on a blank page while the mpeg downloads, then plays in the browser when it's done dl'ing.

i hate that.

Yeah but we're talking about free samples not members areas.

I always use wmv's on free pages....but members sections should offer many formats.

:2 cents:

What about hotlinking protection?

i love watching the mac vs pc vs wmv vs mov vs mpeg debates.

:1orglaugh

i prefer mpg myself, not a fan of the wmv quality.

For free samples it barely even matters. So why not just go with mpegs? For members areas, just go with the best quality clips. The remaining two people left in the world that still use dialup WILL survive the blow.

this is a good question.

recently i did a test, encoding the same 60 second video file in both mpg and wmv.

for a given file size the wmv DOES look better to my eyes. i alt tagged the thumbnail with "click here for short video wmv file" or "click here for short video mpg file"

admittedly my test was only for a week, but all other traffic during the week was steady.

the mpg file had about 30% more click throughs.

moral of the story---i am using only mpg samples at this moment.

alot of wrong information in this thread

post the right info then

You can create smaller files with WMV than with MPEG2 and still maintain good quality, that's it's advantage. :2 cents:

I'm not sure about what operating systems can play WMV files but didn't Microshaft present WM9 to the MPAA for it to become a video encoding 'standard'? If that's the case then I'm sure pretty much all current operating systems support it.

Each format can look great or like shit, depends on how it was encoded and the quality of the source.

As far as which format to use on free galleries, I would use whichever format the members area uses for that site being promoted. This way they are sampling exactly what you are selling and there will be no surprises for them after they join.

As far as which format is better, I am a firm believer that wmv is the winner because the wmv ends up with a dramatically smaller file size. Usually in the neighborhood of 30% smaller! So what an mpeg can do in 1000KB a wmv can do the same in less than 700KB. Delivering the same content faster has many advantages, mainly for dial up users and slower dsl users, as well as costing the webmaster less to serve and store.

Cheers,
BV

WMV will be a bit more efficient. but take it from me, macs are not good at playing WMV files. Windows Media 9 for mac OSX is officially unmaintained software from microsoft, any changes to the WMV codec do not get supported under mac osx. some WMV's play ok, some dont, seems to be about 50/50 for me.

As far as I know support that other 3rd party players for linux, and mac osx have for WMV have been reverse engineered since it is a proprietary codec. This generally means alot less reliability, shitty playback on these systems, bugs, and an overall shitty user experience even though you may get to view some of the videos. If you want total crossplatform playback use mpeg. I would try them both to see what is best for your business.

Flip 4 Mac makes playing WMV files on a mac tons easier. It also allows you to encode .mov's into wmv's.

wmv is making ground over mpeg.

I use wmv now on all my galleries. Just for the simple fact it easier on BW.

some sites still wont take wmv over mpg

Ah thats good to know. Its annoying to actually have to pay for something like that, but oh well.. the price i pay for using a mac:P

Yeah.. I know what you mean. But after using both Mac and PC for more years than I care to remember I still think it is worth the extra money to use macs.

We use WMV...