.AVI vs .WMV help needed

[Parchiao]

Can someone explain or point out to me the practical difference between .avi and .wmv formats? i.e. is any one format better than the other? I am making some files recorded from my camcorder to be saved onto my pocket pc phone. Memory is expandable via a mini SD card, so space is not a major constraint yet. I know what fps is and what it does, but can somone help explain terms like video sample size, video data rate, audio bit rate, audio sample size and audio sample rate relative to such formats? I know these are not great formats to begin with, but I love the idea of being able to view videos of my family on my phone. If there are better formats, what are they? BTW, an internet link to explain the practical aspects of what I am asking about is also good, so all help is welcomed and fully appreciated. Many thanks in advance.

 

[dreamerz]

Can someone explain or point out to me the practical difference between .avi and .wmv formats? i.e. is any one format better than the other? I am making some files recorded from my camcorder to be saved onto my pocket pc phone. Memory is expandable via a mini SD card, so space is not a major constraint yet. I know what fps is and what it does, but can somone help explain terms like video sample size, video data rate, audio bit rate, audio sample size and audio sample rate relative to such formats? I know these are not great formats to begin with, but I love the idea of being able to view videos of my family on my phone. If there are better formats, what are they? BTW, an internet link to explain the practical aspects of what I am asking about is also good, so all help is welcomed and fully appreciated. Many thanks in advance.

u can view some of the explanation at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wmv

 

[Parchiao]

Yup, read that already, doesn't explain much about the practical aspects of the file formats.

 

[Parchiao]

Never mind, got the answer.

http://www.bbsoftware.co.uk/bbflashback/support/userguides/betteravis.aspx

 

[ricohflex]

AVI can be viewed on TV through the hard disk recorder that can play back DIVx.
I think wmv cannot.
AVI can be played back on portable devices.

Ya, I know your shock at the "no response".
Likewise I tried to ask something in Video forum.
Looks like a closed loop.

Every just clams up.

Maybe all there are afraid to lose. (kiasu).
These could be "tan jiak" people afraid that if they tell you something, they might lose something valuable, and hurt their $$$ earnings.

 

[funster]

hi there,
my response will not be based on any scientific experience but rather guardfeel and my own user experience.... i will use avi only when i need to hv it in high PAL broadcast quality (ie DV AVI for further editing, or diVX avi for archiving etc) and wmv when i need a good viewing size for mobility & streaming, as wmv has improved tremendously in its ability to compress while retaining optimum quality. i've tried various codecs to compress to avi, but none can match the size-quality ratio of wmv when eg i need to get my clients to approve my work and some of them do not hv broadband etc. besides, with wmv, there's almost guaranteed universal playability

 

[cyberdigi]

AVI can be viewed on TV through the hard disk recorder that can play back DIVx.
I think wmv cannot.
AVI can be played back on portable devices.

Ya, I know your shock at the "no response".
Likewise I tried to ask something in Video forum.
Looks like a closed loop.

Every just clams up.

Maybe all there are afraid to lose. (kiasu).
These could be "tan jiak" people afraid that if they tell you something, they might lose something valuable, and hurt their $$$ earnings.

Agree. Those HDD DivX device only supports DivX and Xvid format, not even MP4 format (file with .mp4 extension) and WMV format. Interesting, Nokia phone (those 32XX, 62XX series) supports .mp4 format. PSP and iPod also supports .mp4 format.

There's also another format known as rmvb (Real Media Variable Bitrate) which is very popular with the Chinese sites and resulting file is small (about 200MB for a 45mins movie). However, this format is not popular as it can only be viewed using Real Player or Real Alternative plug-in and all hardware devices, at this moment, do not support this format.

I recently bought a DVD player Philips DVP5965K that supports xVid, DivX3/4/5/6 and DivX Ultra format and it works perfectly for all types of DVD media (DVD +-R/RW/RAM). Also has a USB 2.0 port that allows you to view movies in external Hard Disk. However, it works with a 80GB hard disk but not the 120GB type.