I've noticed that motion in mkv or mp4 format often fatigues my eyes like it is skipping frames or something. I've downloaded the same TV show in avi and mp4 format. Motion when viewing the avi version seems consistently "easier on my eyes". The mp4 in my example is twice the size so you would think it would have more better motion but it doesn't. Both show the same frame rate 29.970 Can someone help me understand why? Does AVI encode motion better? Here are the specs for each video. Based on the specs maybe someone help me understand why avi seems to display smoother motion? Thanks.. BTW: When I open up both videos on my pc (side by side) on the same screen (both sized identically to about 4"x6") you can really see how the motion seems smoother with the avi. The MP4: Code: Format : MPEG-4 Format profile : Base Media Codec ID : isom File size : 638 MiB Duration : 45mn 13s Overall bit rate mode : Variable Overall bit rate : 1 973 Kbps Format : AVC Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec Format profile : High@L4.0 Format settings, CABAC : Yes Format settings, ReFrames : 3 frames Codec ID : avc1 Codec ID/Info : Advanced Video Coding Duration : 45mn 13s Bit rate : 1 841 Kbps Maximum bit rate : 5 012 Kbps Width : 832 pixels Height : 464 pixels Display aspect ratio : 16:9 Frame rate mode : Constant Frame rate : 29.970 fps Color space : YUV Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0 Bit depth : 8 bits Scan type : Progressive Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.159 Stream size : 595 MiB (93%) Writing library : x264 core 66 r1092 60f4cd8 Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=3 / deblock=1:-1:-1 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=umh / subme=9 / psy_rd=1.1:0.0 / mixed_ref=0 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=0 / trellis=0 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=3 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / mbaff=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=0 / b_adapt=2 / b_bias=0 / direct=3 / wpredb=1 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=25 / scenecut=40(pre) / rc=2pass / bitrate=1841 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=10 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / vbv_maxrate=25000 / vbv_bufsize=14000 / ip_ratio=1.40 / pb_ratio=1.30 / aq=1:1.00 The AVI: Code: Format : AVI Format/Info : Audio Video Interleave File size : 350 MiB Duration : 44mn 49s Overall bit rate : 1 091 Kbps Writing application : VirtualDubMod 1.5.10.2 (build 2540/release) Writing library : VirtualDubMod build 2540/release Format : MPEG-4 Visual Format profile : Advanced Simple@L5 Format settings, BVOP : 2 Format settings, QPel : No Format settings, GMC : No warppoints Format settings, Matrix : Default (MPEG) Codec ID : XVID Codec ID/Hint : XviD Duration : 44mn 49s Bit rate : 951 Kbps Width : 512 pixels Height : 384 pixels Display aspect ratio : 4:3 Frame rate : 29.970 fps Color space : YUV Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0 Bit depth : 8 bits Scan type : Progressive Compression mode : Lossy Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.161 Stream size : 305 MiB (87%) Writing library : XviD 1.0.3 (UTC 2004-12-20)
It doesn't encode better on avi as i've done dvd's to avi,file size set as high as i can get it under 4gb,trimmed front & end credits,removed all but one language & still could on occasion see what you mention,the dvd doesn't appear to show that (as far as i remember perhaps it is there it's just moving faster) so all i can assume is it's something to do with the compression & what i would call frames moving from one to the next,most of them only have a few bits like that.You could try over at videohelp.com & see if there's any mention already
Is the avi bigger? I agree with scorp it is probably not the format but the fidelity. Remember a wide screen movie on an old fashion DVD runs 6 or more gigs. You really want to keep your videos above 4g if you are going to watch them on on a screen of any decent size. I reserve mkv files for blue ray and I keep them a lot bigger than 6 g. Otherwise what is the use?
These TV shows are about 45 mins and the files sizes are 350mb and 638mb as shown above. Not 4GB at all. Looking closer, it seems the avi is also using mp4 so it must be all in how it was encoded. (which I did not do) Another angle to consider, is it possible that my WDTV that I use to play it on my TV is lacking the horse power to play highly compressed video smoothy? Or does the compression aspect have no effect when being played back?
Probably more compression less bandwidth. How are you getting the file to the player? I have one and it is a bit slow while I am navigating to find a file on a flash drive. I can't ff more than 4x. Maybe you have a band width problem. The avi looks like it was less. Same f per sec but the frames are smaller.
Don't know how many reference frames the WDTV thingy can retain in memory - I think it uses the reference frames to recall display data - but 3 sounds like it should handle it ok (I think the maximum frames that the encoder can provide is 16).
I've got some dvd's of babylon 5 original uncompressed,there is jagged motion when played on the pc when i used vlc,however i then switched to klite ,the issue is no longer there,i also did an mkv conversion & the same thing happened on episodes that were set as the max i could make them under 4gb.Mp4 was the encoder i used for the mkv container,So begs the question is it to do with the players decoding ability & not so much the file format.Keep in mind the skipping you mention i usually find is more prevalent on cgi action not real human etc
A HD is faster than a flash drive. I play DVD I s o files which are larger than 4 g from a flash drive with no problems. Your problem is beyond my technical ability. I have one last wacky thought. In the audio world Trans coding can cause lots of problems. The combination of ignorance and poor tools degrades audio. The fools think the process is fool proof but it isn't. Maybe this applies to videos as well.