Digital Video File Format Comparision
Format |
VCD
|
SVCD
|
DVD
|
HDDVD
HDTV
(WMVHD)
|
AVI
DivX
XviD
WMV
|
MOV
Quick-
Time
|
RM
Real-
Media
|
AVI
DV
|
Resolution
NTSC/PAL
|
352x240
352x288
|
480x480
480x576
|
720x480²
720x576² |
1920x1080²
1280x720² |
640x480² |
640x480² |
320x240² |
720x480
720x576 |
Video
Compression
|
MPEG1
|
MPEG2
|
MPEG2,
MPEG1
|
MPEG2
(WMV-
MPEG4)
|
MPEG4
|
Sorenson,
Cinepak, MPEG4 ...
|
RM
|
DV
|
Video bitrate
|
1150kbps
|
~2000kbps
|
~5000kbps
|
~20Mbps
(~8Mbps)
|
~1000kbps
|
~1000kbps
|
~350kbps
|
25Mbps
|
Audio
Compression
|
MP1
|
MP1
|
MP1, MP2, AC3, DTS, PCM |
MP1, MP2, AC3, DTS, PCM |
MP3, WMA, OGG, AAC, AC3 |
QDesign Music, MP3 ... |
RM |
DV |
Audio bitrate
|
224kbps
|
~224kbps
|
~448kbps
|
~448kbps
|
~128kbps
|
~128kbps
|
~64kbps
|
~1500kbps
|
Size/min
|
10
MB/min
|
10-20
MB/min
|
30-70
MB/min
|
~150MB/min
(~60MB/min)
|
4-10
MB/min |
4-20
MB/min |
2-5
MB/min
|
216MB/min |
Min/74min
CD
|
74min
|
35-60min
|
10-20min |
~4min
(~10min) |
60-180min |
30-180
min |
120-300
min |
3min |
Hours/DVD
|
N/A
|
N/A
|
1-2hrs
(2-5hrsª) |
~30min
(~1hrs) |
7-18hrs |
3-18hrs |
14-35hrs |
20min |
Hours/
DualLayerDVD
|
N/A
|
N/A
|
2-4hrs
(5-9hrsª) |
~55min
(~2hrs) |
13-30hrs |
6-30hrs |
25-65hrs |
37min |
DVD Player
Compatibility
|
Great |
Good |
Excellent |
None |
Few |
None |
None |
None |
Computer
CPU Usage
|
Low |
High |
Very High |
Super high |
Very High |
High |
Low |
High |
Quality
|
Good |
Great* |
Excellent* |
Superb* |
Great* |
Great* |
Decent* |
Excellent |
kbps = thousand bits per second
Mbps = million bits per second
² approximately resolution, it can be higher or lower
~ approximately bitrate, it can be higher or lower
ª DVD with lower video quality, similiar to VCD/SVCD video quality
* the video quality depends on the bitrate and the video resolution, higher bitrate
and higher resolution generally means better video quality but bigger file size
Credit 鳴謝
Credit
and thanks are hereby granted to all those vendors, their colleagues
and collaborating voluntary programmers who contribute their works to
the general public for free. |
Our
Belief in Sharing
After
releasing our
stock photos for public sharing for more than 1 year, we consolidate
our belief in our move to embrace free licence. Last year we released
our calendar under creative common licence but we decided to releasae
our works under our own free licence for some considerations. Now it's
time
for us to tell the public our thinking.
Someone claim that the
majority of people may enjoy wealth generated from their
creative
work. So our legislators have drafted and passed a series of
law
for the protection of intellectual property. However, under the
copyright ordinance, we cannot be sure if a piece of work is allowed to
be copied, shared, distributed, reproduced or modified without a
complete knowledge about the details of license even though we are
willing to pay for the use of it. For the peace of mind,
we must create
everything from the very beginning together with a
thorough prior art search confirming that there is no similar wrok in
the world.
However, the
new ordinances have not helped too much in protecting our creative
works. Customers, including government departments, are expecting "free
demo design service" early in the stage of
tendering
quotation for jobs involving the elements of creation.
The problem is not limited
to this.
Nobody is able to tell if his idea would coinside with someone living
and working in elsewhere of the world. This intrinsic defect of the
so-called intellectual property have given rise to the overwhelming
rent seeking activities of a group of professional litigators who take
advantages from champerty and maintenance. These brave new ordinances,
to some extent, have legalized their legal extortion from innocent
people. In Hong Kong, their victims are mainly SMEs, especially small
retailers or service providers. It's hard for outsiders to imagine
how and why a lawful and well disciplined retailer keep receiveing
legal letters from prominent law firms representing prominent content
providers or trademark owners claiming hundred thousands dollars for
the infringement of copyright just for selling stationery of dollars
and cents only because it is deemed by these smart heads to
be
"too similar" to what they possess. In Western countries, even
the
wealthy gigantic corporates are their targets.
Then some people stood up and
vowed
that this "permission
culture"
was not the thing they want but that they valued the joy of sharing and
recognition of their idea more than money.
They realize that whether or not a piece of work can generate
profit relies on the popularity but not the promise of law. In software
industry, some vendors introduce the idea of "SAAS" (software as a
service) and support the open source movement. In creative industry,
some artists start to release their work free of charge to the public
for gaining the popularity and make their money from the
provision of service. Thus a number of
free
license like "creative
common", "copyleft",
"wiki-common"
or "GPL"
were created
to get around the restriction of copyright which is granted to the
creator automatically as a natural right by most of the prevailing
legal
systems in our world. To the astonishment of a lot of ordinary people,
in just a few years, more and more authors have joined the camp of "free
culture"
and released their work under various kinds of free license.
They
contribute their effort in building a more beautiful world.
However,
do not confuss piracy
with "free culture". Advocates
of free culture only share with others their own creation but not
pirated property from others. Actually, they respect the
right of the
author of all intellectual property. Whether or not to release
their work under free license remain their own choice.
This
point is important when using our hyper-links to these 3rd party web
site providing free resources to artists all over the world.
We
respect the will and the right of the author of all intellectual
properties. When we provide the information and hyper-link of these
web-sites, we believe that their activities and content are lawful and
ethical. Hence, before you visit those webs, please read our disclaimer
once again. If you find any abuse or obsession, please email to "abuse@um-gallery.net".
Taking the most pragmatic
point of
view, the action of releasing free works to the public may be regarded
as a "free demo service"
like what a contractor provides in tendering a quotation for
a
project. Nevertheless, as a humble person, we should believe in the
pure intention of some people who only demand for echo in
return
for what they have shared with the world.
- 11/12/2008