Universal Web Video File Format

[Craig Seeman]

H.264 .mp4 Baseline Profile. If you’re willing to lose older mobile devices you can use Main Profile.

[Michael Banks]

Thanks, Craig. Part of our core audience is legacy Windows users, possibly even back to Windows 2000. These are not people we can necessarily tell to upgrade their PCs.

As I understand H.264, it is processor-intensive. Would you say that Baseline H.264 MP4 is still a valid option for this group of users?

-Michael

[Craig Seeman]

Baseline would make it much easier to decode. That’s why it’s used for older mobile devices.
H.264 .mp4 plays in Windows Media 12 which is only available for WIndows 7.
If you’re on Vista or XP, Quicktime can handle it (or VLC or a number other players).

I have an old Pentium 4 on Windows XP that can handle it. Just don’t try to push anything that would be needed for 720p. A standard def file size would be fine across the board. Depending on source aspect ratio 640×480 or 640×360 should work. You want those sizes to be safe for older mobile as well. Some older mobile devices want .3gp though but most of those should be gone from circulation though.

[Michael Banks]

That’s a wealth of information! Thanks, Craig.

One final question if you wouldn’t mind: since there is Flip4Mac (our core users are primarily Windows-based), would you agree that WMV could serve as a universal video file format on desktop computers (Windows and Mac), excluding the use of mobile devices?

[Craig Seeman]

What core base is in generally is changing radically these days so you may want to do some quick observation.

One question is number of Windows XP/Vista with Quicktime vs Mac with Flip4Mac. Add in the number of people now user iDevices for media consumption.

It really depends on your target market demographic.
You could break down things (these aren’t necessarily accurate number but show you how to look at it)

Windows7 40%
WIndowsXP/Vista 30%
Mac 10%
iDevices 20%

Lets say WMV losses half the Macs and all iDevices so you hit 85% of your market
Lets say H.264 looses 1/3 of XP/Vista so you hit 90%

Then it’s what product or service or industry you’re trying to hit. If it’s a gov’t public service you can skip iDevices and Mac share will be lower and maybe even Windows 7.

If you’re selling a high end product or service you may want all iDevices and Macs and be willing to lose the market that never spends money on computer upgrades (XP/Vista).

There’s also certain corporate targets that won’t have Quicktime. If they’re “upscale” they’ll have Windows 7 though and will handle H.264. If they’re older or slow moving businesses then you’ll need WMV.

Again these aren’t accurate numbers but you have to consider which eyeballs are the highest priority. In my experience gov’t services were the slowest to move away from WMV.

Keep in mind if you’re including older computers in your target and offering only a single encode then the upscale users are going to get a poor experience (lower bit rate and frame size) then your competitors may be offering.

Basically the choice of codec and compression settings are really a combination of both the technology and the target market you’re pursuing.

[Michael Banks]

Craig, thanks for the example breakdown and showing that it’s not a simple answer, though it is a simple question that must be asked.

Your experience with gov’t services’ dependence on WMV is helpful.

Your responses are much appreciated!