One More Movie Question - Formats

[Lee]

Okay as ill be doing some mass movie encoding for about 200 new DVDs we just had delivered today, i was wondering what format was most popular with surfers/members these days?

At the moment all of the movie content we have is encoded in to MPEG-1 but im wondering if this is the best option to have?

Im not really wanting to get in to the multiple format issue so should i stick with MPEG-1 or go with a different format?

What are your experiences with surfers and/or paysite members when it comes to movie formats, do they prefer a specific format over another or will they pretty much use whatever format they are given?

Regards,

Lee

[raymor]

Okay as ill be doing some mass movie encoding for about 200 new DVDs we just had delivered today, i was wondering what format was most popular with surfers/members these days?

At the moment all of the movie content we have is encoded in to MPEG-1 but im wondering if this is the best option to have?

Im not really wanting to get in to the multiple format issue so should i stick with MPEG-1 or go with a different format?

What are your experiences with surfers and/or paysite members when it comes to movie formats, do they prefer a specific format over another or will they pretty much use whatever format they are given?

Regards,

Lee

MPEG4 is the basis of most modern container formats such as wmv, Flash,
and Quicktime, so it's the most compatible - everyone can use it, and it's
quality versus size is good. You asked "will they pretty much use whatever
format they are given". They will if they can CONVENIENTLY, I think, so
for example most people will be OK with Flash, for now. But while 64 bit
processors have been available for YEARS, Flash STILL isn't available
for 64 bit, though it was promised a long time ago. So people with modern
systems can't use Flash. I figure that's fine because Flash is just a container
with MPEG4 inside, so why not just give them the plain MPEG4 that'll play
on a new system, an old system, a mobile phone, a Mac system, a Linux
system, a Playstation, or anything else. That's my 2 1/2 cents (Obamaflation).

[basschick]

bjorn recently did a poll that got lots of responses - almost 80% preferred WMV. why not do 2 formats and do qucktime for mac users?

[raymor]

bjorn recently did a poll that got lots of responses - almost 80% preferred WMV. why not do 2 formats and do qucktime for mac users?

Tip - if you decide to do Quicktime and WMV, note you shouldn't have to encode
both from DVD, probably. Since Quicktime and WMV are both just containers
which hold MPEG4 or other optional formats inside, you can probably encode
to either QT or WMV and then quickly convert from one to the other without
re-encoding.

[basschick]

that's what i do.

Tip - if you decide to do Quicktime and WMV, note you shouldn't have to encode
both from DVD, probably. Since Quicktime and WMV are both just containers
which hold MPEG4 or other optional formats inside, you can probably encode
to either QT or WMV and then quickly convert from one to the other without
re-encoding.