Re: MPEG2 for archiving?! - XVID MPEG4 vs ProRes or DV50?

[Bahram Gueranfar] "Hi,

Need some advice for a disk solution. I just got a new job where I need to digitalize 400 hours + of footages and compress them in Mpeg2 for archiving. The client will store the final product, but mean while I will need the space to work and store until delivery.

Thanks in advance

Bahram"

Hi,

I don't think MPEG2 is a good choice for an archive.

I would probably choose ProRes, DV50 or even DV25) for the improved quality/cleaner signal (Algolith makes a living selling devices that reduce the noise added by MPEG2 compression).

I plan to investigate a solution based on MPEG4, probably XVid. If anyone has any information on the video quality of Xvid vs ProRes or DV50 please post it.

Regardless of how it compares to the above formats it is much more efficient than MPEG2 so I would definitely choose XVid or another MPEG4 based solution over MPEG2:
http://www.techreviewcentral.com/?p=27

With basically the same quality, you can fit an entire DVD movie onto a regular CD, or, fit several movies onto a DVDr disc. Moreover, you can download a DVD quality movie from the Internet in just one file, that is only around 1/2 a Gig. You can watch it on your computer or some new commercial DVD players. How is this possible you ask? Well, commercial DVD movies use an outdated video format called MPEG2. It takes several large MPEG2 files to make up one DVD movie. Progressing technology and better programming gives us a new MPEG4 format, making it possible to have the same high quality DVD video with only 10% the file size. The new technology is DivX, or XviD, and this is a brief “where and how” guide explaining what you need so you may also have the same high quality video for your computer and DVD player. You can download, rip, and burn using the new Xvid DivX technology!

http://www.xvid.org/FAQ.14.0.html

Why should I use Xvid?

There are a number of reasons that may make using Xvid an interesting option for you. E.g. Xvid is Free software, can be obtained free of charge and is shipped together with many hardware devices. While being free, it offers outstanding quality and performance clearly surpassing expensive, competing products. Xvid allows you to create video for interoperable exchange with portable or home multimedia devices as Xvid is widely supported in hardware. Being open-source, Xvid is future-proof and secure to use.

For which platforms is the Xvid codec available?

Xvid is primarily developed for PC but has also been ported to other platforms. Xvid is e.g. available for PC on Windows and Linux or for Mac and iMac on Mac OS X.

I work on Windows and want to use Xvid in Quicktime – is there a plugin available?

There’s a Xvid quicktime plugin available but it’s been created for Mac and is not well maintained at the moment. We’re currently working on improved Quicktime support, which will become part of the Xvid core code base.



http://www.xvid.org/FAQ.42.0.html

For what use-cases can Xvid be a good choice?

Xvid has been developed with highest quality in mind. Hence, the Xvid encoder is especially good at offline, multi-pass compression for storage or archival purposes.



Best Wishes,



Mitch