AVI, MP4 or WMV video: which is better?
Today we are going to act as devil’s advocate and conduct research with passion and using special media against the three most popular video formats: AVI, MP4 and WMV.
To begin with, it is useful to clarify concepts about formats. In general, a video file format is a container that contains data and codecs, that is, programs for compressing and retrieving information.
A container is like a toolbox. Depending on the internal volume and available compartments, a tool kit can contain certain instruments, in one quantity or another. That is, in a small and ill-conceived suitcase, except for a wrench and a bottle of kefir, nothing will fit.
Codecs are information processing tools. There are codecs with a high compression ratio, but with lower quality of the output content. Yes codecs with less compression and higher image quality.
As you can imagine, different codecs can be put into a container if so provided by the container’s own format.
An AVI container can contain many audio streams and different types of codecs for video compression.
The MP4 container has been specially designed for streaming videos online. It also supports multiple audio channels.
The WMV container is a product of Microsoft Corporation, which is always trying to create its own alternative to popular products. In many respects, the properties are similar to the other two, but with a higher compression ratio.
We won’t bore you with tables of numbers, but we will immediately inform you of the benchmark results in simple human words.
Comparison of the three video formats by consumer properties
Overall, based on the test results, it was clear that we wasted time on these tests. Everything turned out to be roughly the same, as could be speculatively predicted based on the theoretical descriptions of these three video formats on Wikipedia.
AVI
This format uses the lowest compression rate codecs. So this is what:
Image and sound output of the highest quality.
The fastest file processing speed when converting original uncompressed video material to this format. This is understandable, since compression is not particularly necessary, rendering is faster.
Larger finished file size.
MP4
The most common video format supports everything that only thinks in numbers. This time is useful for users who have many different types of devices in use on alternative platforms.
The compression ratio is higher than that of AVI. Thus:
The conversion takes about 1.5 times longer.
The size of the finished file is about half the size.
Regarding the quality of the visual range, in contrast there are certain sharp drops, not very pleasant to the eyes.
WMV
Note that this format is owned by Microsoft and is mainly supported on Windows platforms. There may be incompatibilities in other operating systems.
Higher compression ratio.
The file size is almost half that of MP
On the contrary, it turned out to be better than MP4, but the overall impression is worse: blur, lower image clarity.
The processing time of a file in WMV is the longest of the prototypes.
Who would doubt it.
Area of application
Let’s proceed to the announcement of the verdict. Based on the evidence presented by the investigation, we can confidently state the following.
AVI
The AVI video format can be recommended for watching movies and music shows on large (relatively large) screens with multi-channel surround sound.
AVI quality is not sufficient for a video projector, even when projecting on a wall in a common apartment room.
But for a large-format computer screen, if you put the couch on the far side of the room and arm yourself with the battery from the Barley Ear, then it’s quite suitable for a pleasant evening.
Note. If a romantic evening is predicted, you can cheat a bit. Record the first part of the video program in AVI format, while the girl is still looking at the screen, and the rest of the video will be in WMV format, since no one is looking at the screen anyway :))
MP4
Optimal format for watching movies on tablets. For a vertical size screen, MP4 resolution is sufficient.
The quality of the MP4 format is believed to be optimal for uploading videos to YouTube channel as well.
Although, in all honesty, the video quality of the series on YouTube leaves much to be desired, if you refrain from stronger expressions. Actually, the video quality on YouTube is lousy.
For example, on the some websites, with the same traffic consumption, the quality is almost HD.
