Which compression utility is the best?

[davephan]

I am trying to decide which compression utility to use. I have seen postings for Xvid, DivX, and AVI. I tried DivX converter, Dr Divx, and the built in utility in SageTV.

I would like to keep the video quality high, so it will still look good on a 60" standard definition projection TV using a Hauupage MVP.

Compression programs that could be run on a second computer with mapped drives might be more appealing to offload the sustained high CPU transcoding process from the SageTV computer.

Please let me know which compression utility might be the best choice.


Dave

[evilpenguin]

Check out roxy's latest scripts. They don't have any dependence on Sage so you can run them on any PC and they are produce high quality xvid encodes.

[dvd_maniac]

I do all my encoding with Staxrip or Nero Digital AVC.
But what utility is best depends on a few things. How much do you plan to encode compared to how much available HD space, what kind of horsepower is in your encoding rig, what type of video and what equipment you are viewing it on now and in the near future...

I find that ASP version of mpeg-4 (Dvix & Xvid) is fast to encode and looks good on my 57" HDTV at an average of 350MB/45 minute show. but the filesize is unacceptable to me. I prefer using 1-pass X264 CQ with Quality at 24 in Staxrip where I get the same quality at half the size.
My AMD 4400+ X2 takes about an hour to encode a 1 hour video after Commercials have been taken out.
Using Autogk with Xvid at 350MB takes about 35 minutes.
So for me the extra 25 minutes is worth saving the extra 175MB....
Staxrip can even be used with Dirmon to automatically encode your recordings.

So, if archiving permanently use H.264 (AVC), if just saving space until watching and then deleting then use Xvid, recommend AutoGK.
Edit: not sure if MVP is able to play AVC. Can someone verfiy this as I wouldn't mind getting one for the kids bedroom?
Hope this helps.
Also would like to hear what others are doing too.

[jwmcclung]

I simply use Video Redo to massage the .mpg files then use Dr. Divx to convert to divx. The quality is good and the filesize is acceptable but I do have one complaint. When I watch .divx files I get headaches.. it must have something do do with how the compression works with the tv's. I know it sounds crazy but if I leave the files in .mpg or .vob format I never get headaches.. just with divx. Anybody have a good idea to fix that one? Or does anyone have any ideas as to why this might be happening?

Thank you.

[davephan]

Originally Posted by jwmcclung

I simply use Video Redo to massage the .mpg files then use Dr. Divx to convert to divx. The quality is good and the filesize is acceptable but I do have one complaint. When I watch .divx files I get headaches.. it must have something do do with how the compression works with the tv's. I know it sounds crazy but if I leave the files in .mpg or .vob format I never get headaches.. just with divx. Anybody have a good idea to fix that one? Or does anyone have any ideas as to why this might be happening?

Thank you.

Have you tried watching a different television set with DivX or using different video compression software to figure out if the headaches are related to that television set or the compression software?

Dave

[jwmcclung]

I have tried multiple tv's but not different settings on the divx file. I currently use the highest quality settings for Dr. Divx and it is much worse when I watch a widescreen movie on a standard tv. When the video is squished skinny it is pretty bad.

[ozfiles]

Been using AutoGK for a while now. http://www.autogk.me.uk/
For an all in one solution you cant go past it.

[nyplayer]

I use Mediacoder you can convert mpg's to practically any other format out there XVID MPEG4 X264 etc... Also it has batch capabilities. You can even convert Audio files.


http://mediacoder.sourceforge.net/