Game of Thrones.. .avi or .mp4 ?

Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2012 5:29 am

Me and my ole lady enjoyed the first season of "Game of Thrones", so this morning I d/l'd S02E01 that aired last night so that we may view it this evening.

Now I am not trying to start a new thread about which is better, because that horse has been beaten to death in threads like this "which format is better avi or mp4" . Nor am I trying to compare any release groups as both of these groups release quality vids.

But when I saw this show was up to #2 here on the Zeitgeist list this morning.. I did a search here at isoHunt and got a return of the top two releases, (and in order to not beat the dead horse again).. I'll say of "similiar" quality.

What I saw was that the xvid/avi version has more reviews then the x264/mp4 version... leading me to think that their may be people here that prefer the xvid/avi version over the x264/mp4 version... or do not know the difference.

But the one thing that struck me most, was the 30% decrease in file size of the x264/mp4 release. Now for those of you want to argue which is better.. thats fine.. but a 30% decrease in file size should stand on its own as a strong incentive to consider x264/mp4 over xvid/avi.

All that being said, if there are any naysayers out there.. download the two and compare... you will see the the x264/mp4 version is indeed far superior in quality over the xvid/avi version.

Now as most people know, most of the TV scene release groups have switch over to mp4. So this will probably become a mute point in the near future. The results just kind of startled me. The only valid reason I can think of people staying with .avi format... is if they are still burning to DVD.. and their DVD player does not support .mp4... and they don't want to bother with the conversion.

Just my 2 cents CND

Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2012 5:54 am

if they are burning to dvd using something like convertxtodvd it won't matter what they start out as,as they will be converted to be compatible with the dvd player.

usually their problems are they have players that can read flash drives but they are incompatible with mp4.

h264/x264 gives superior quality at a reduced size.personally i go with 720p mkv,there are also 480p mkv that are quite good.they too are not compatible but there are and have been players similar to WD Live that can be purchased quite cheaply and are compatible with most file types.

they are getting these for free and some are attacking these uploaders for switching but they aren't paying the bills for their seedboxes,servers,sites,etc. and then there is also avi is old and outdated and can't produce the quality.

Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2012 6:01 am

iamnephilim wrote:

if they are burning to dvd using something like convertxtodvd it won't matter what they start out as,as they will be converted to be compatible with the dvd player.

True.. I guess I was thinking quite awhile ago when I used to do just a direct file copy to DVD.. and my STB DVD player recognizes the .avi .

Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2012 6:14 am

Fred-Bear wrote:

The only valid reason I can think of people staying with .avi format... is if they are still burning to DVD.. and their DVD player does not support .mp4... and they don't want to bother with the conversion.

Just my 2 cents CND

90% of people download video files and watch them on their computer screen, quality is not an issue for them, they download what format they know and what format they know how to play. They cannot wait until the next episode is dry on the production floor to watch it, much less download codecs for it or put it on a usb and watch it on the telly, they want to watch it yesterday not in 5 minutes. If quality mattered to the masses rips would go out of fashion not be the most popular file on the net, also if they remotely cared they would not clamor about like pigs at the trough to download a cam the second it hits the cinemas.

Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2012 9:28 am

What is better ?

It's a question of video(audio)-quality/filesize ratio.
And how is it done ?

mp4, avi, mkv, flv etc etc are container formats.
You put streams in it and with some formats is more possible then others.
AVI is and old container format and not suitable for some codecs are stream types.

But normally with the mp4 container a h264 video stream is used and an aac audio stream.
I actually don't know if mp4 format can handle other codecs.

avi few years back had a xvid or divx video stream and a mp3 audio stream.
Later it could also be an ac3 audio stream.

Comparing the codecs you can say that H264 uses less bits/bytes then a xvid (or divx) for the same video quality.
For audio goes the same aac needs less bits/bytes then mp3.

And the mp4 and mkv container can also have other stream types like subtitles.
I'm a Dutchmen and I like of course those streams inside the file.

What some uploaders do to have a smaller filesize when using the "old" codecs is to decrease the resolution.
when you play it on a HD television you will probably see the difference.

When you have old hardware you better stick to the avi format.
For H264 streams you need a more powerful CPU to decode.

This is how I see it and think how it works.

Probably the precious posters also wrote this,
Sorry I was too lazy to read it all.

Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2012 10:57 am

As for myself and lots of others I know who like to plug a memory stick into a ps3 Xbox or the side of the T.V. to sit in comfort of an evening, Avi works every time unlike mkv mp4 ect. This is the main reason we have built up such A massive jaybob collection over the years, Both kids cartoons and films which play on anything and everything. Like Mrs B say's..... "what's the point of downloading a film you cant watch through the telly on the wall without having to convert the bloody thing first". We have an xbox 4 yrs old, a ps3 and sony bravia 1 yr old and very few things play except avi and some mp4's. The quickest way around this for us is to unplug the hdmi lead from the playstation and put it into the laptop to watch through the t.v. Wink

.

Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2012 11:27 am

BUDFATHER1 wrote:

As for myself and lots of others I know who like to plug a memory stick into a ps3 Xbox or the side of the T.V. to sit in comfort of an evening, Avi works every time unlike mkv mp4 ect. This is the main reason we have built up such A massive jaybob collection over the years, Both kids cartoons and films which play on anything and everything. Like Mrs B say's..... "what's the point of downloading a film you cant watch through the telly on the wall without having to convert the bloody thing first". We have an xbox 4 yrs old, a ps3 and sony bravia 1 yr old and very few things play except avi and some mp4's. The quickest way around this for us is to unplug the hdmi lead from the playstation and put it into the laptop to watch through the t.v. Wink

.

iv now upgraded and bought a tv with, wait for it 3 yes 3 usbs. no unplugging leads for me any more boys no sir Laughing

thats why i love JB and team. good old avi/mp3 for the kids tv. no messing. if any of the team are reading, please dont change, at least till i upgrade that tv too lol
not fussed what i dl for me anymore as my tv plays it all and if not hdmi to tv. personally now mkv/ac3 cannot be beat....yet

Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2012 11:37 am

Fred-Bear wrote:

The only valid reason I can think of people staying with .avi format... is if they are still burning to DVD..

The reason that I don't use 264 mp4 files is because my computer is an antique and will not handle this format. I have the right codecs but these files just won't play correctly for me. The video is choppy and sound out of synch. 720 usually wont play at all and 1080 doesn't stand a chance.

I would go with the higher quality files if I could but I watch stuff on a monitor so it really isn't an issue.

Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2012 12:16 pm

afn09 wrote
iv now upgraded and bought a tv with, wait for it 3 yes 3 usbs. no unplugging leads for me any more boys no sir Laughing Laughing Laughing Laughing

thats why i love JB and team. good old avi/mp3 for the kids tv. no messing. if any of the team are reading, please dont change, at least till i upgrade that tv too lol
not fussed what i dl for me anymore as my tv plays it all and if not hdmi to tv. personally now mkv/ac3 cannot be beat....yet

"I also have 3 yes 3 usb ports, I was referring to HDMI ports" congrats on the new T.V. though afn09 Wink

Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2012 12:25 pm

flatearthling wrote:

720 usually wont play at all and 1080 doesn't stand a chance

Please note... that in my comparison above... the .mp4 release was not even 480p.

I just tried the .mp4 noted above on a server box I have in the basement... PIII, 800mhz, 500mb ram, Win2k... running VLC... it played with no problems. We are not talking about the high end resolution .mp4 encodes here...

Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2012 12:34 pm

my tv is older so only has 2 hdmi inputs,but two pc's are using them.i don't need anything else as the computers can handle anything i want to use them for.

the tv also has a dvi input and a vga input so i can plug more in if i want.the other tv which did have one pc plugged in only has a dvi input.

i gave that pc to my nephew and their house just about burnt down the other day.one of the many things to suffer heat damage was that pc.besides the pc,etc. there's a 50+" tv and a 40" tv in this picture

he was upstairs packing for a trip to florida and is lucky to be alive.the fire was started by a butted out cigarette the fire inspector believes.

Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2012 12:43 pm

afn09 wrote:

personally now mkv/ac3 cannot be beat....yet

mkv/dts for me !