subject: Top Video Formats [print this page] You must have heard the story about the first movie called "L'arrive d'un train en gare de La Ciotat"("The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat Station"). But times go by, and the new and more sophisticated techniques come to light. They have evolved and acquired more sophisticated features. Today, one can hardly differentiate between tons of various video files" formats and gadgets they are supposed to be used for. In fact, it"s not very difficult, but choosing on the video file format can turn into a problem if you don"t have specific knowledge. Thus, if you want to get your ideas of video files and their formats straight, check the information below.
VHS. Let"s start small. This is basically an analog format for recording and playing back video tapes. The first VHS cassettes appeared in 1970s and revolutionized the whole concept of video making. Now, the videos became easily accessible to the public. Doubtlessly, you and your friends used to collect those video tapes with your favorite movies. VHS made watching and recording as simple as it never was before. Besides, TV business started growing and blossoming right after the launch of VHS tapes.
DV (another known as Digital Video). The DV era was announced in the mid 1990s and set the whole industry on fire. The invention of DV format echoed with the fast-developing computer science and was quickly spread all over the world.
MPEG is considered to be one of the most popular video files" format. People opt for MPEG (aka Moving Pictures Expert Group) when they have to deal with digital videos. People differentiate between four major types of MPEG files.
MPEG-1. This is the simplest and one of the first subtypes of MPEG. This one was created to deal with CD-ROM files. The quality of such videos is actually no better than the quality of regular videotapes (352...240).
MPEG-2 is the best way to go concerning DVD files of any kinds. If you want to shoot some DVD, HDD or Flash video, this format would work perfectly for you.
MPEG-3 is a "dead" format that people prefer not to use.
MPEG-4. This one is probably the most widely used nowadays. You might have also heard about this format as .mp4. Such codecs as DivX, XviD, H.264 are used for MPEG-4. MPEG-4 means higher level of video and sound and is beloved by each and every hardcore movie fan.
And now, let"s take a quick look at the last format in the list called HD. Perfect video, awesome sound and other magnificent features "" it"s all about High Definition videos. There are two main types of HD videos known as HD1 (1280...720) and HD2 (1440...1080).
So, searching for the right format can be like navigating a dark forest without a flashlight. Needless to say, different devices play videos in different formats, but don"t worry, you can find any kind of specific software online .
