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Other: Videos
Here you will find general considerations when compressing videos using any encoding/compression software. Additionally, we have included two tables with recommended compression settings for every format (H.264 and FLV).General considerations
Optimize for streaming
This is very important, especially when compressing videos in H.264 format, look for an option to optimize (or prepare) the compressed videos for "streaming" or "fast start". If you don not encode your videos optimized for streaming, users won´t be able to watch them until they are fully downloaded. Videos optimized for streaming can be watched while they are being downloaded.
Deinterlace or not to deinterlace...
Internet (computer) is different from television, television displays videos in an interlaced way* and computers display videos in a progressive way*. If your source video is interlaced (most videos recorded by video cameras are) then you will need to deinterlace it before encoding it, or you can also use the deinterlace option that is built-in the majority of compression programs. If your source video is NOT interlaced, then the best thing to do is not to deinterlace it in order to produce a higher quality encoded video.
*More info about progressive vs interlaced video here:
Wikipedia: Progressinve scan
Wikipedia: Interlaced video
Recommended settings: compressing H.264/FLV
You will find two tables with recommended settings for compressing video in H.264 and FLV format. Generally, these settings produce very good quality videos (depending on the compression/encoding software being used).Note: The following recommended settings should only be used as a starting point. Visible video quality also depends on the encoding software. We recommend to experiment with your tools and different settings until you get the desired results.
H.264
| WebTV Quality | ||||||
| Settings | 500Kbps | 700Kbps | 1000Kbps | 1250Kbps | HD 720p 2000Kbps |
HD 1080p 3500Kbps |
| Video Track | ||||||
| Optimized for |
Streaming / Fast start | |||||
| Compression quality |
High / Best - if available - | |||||
| Frame reordering |
Yes - if available - | |||||
| Frame Rate |
25 (PAL) 30 (NTSC) |
|||||
| Bitrate |
450 kbits/sec | 604 kbits/sec | 904 kbits/sec | 1122 kbits/sec | 1902 kbits/sec | 3378 kbits/sec |
| Dimensions |
512 x 288 | 640 x 480 | 720 x 480 ( NTSC) 720 x 576 (PAL) |
720 x 480 ( NTSC) 720 x 576 (PAL) |
1280 x 720 | 1920 x 1080 |
| Audio Track | ||||||
| Format |
AAC | |||||
| Sample Rate |
32, 44 or 48 kHz | |||||
| Channels |
Mono | Stereo | Stereo | Stereo | Stereo | Stereo |
| Bit rate |
48 kbps | 96 kbps | 96 kbps | 128 kbps | 128 kbps | 128 kbps |
FLV
| WebTV Quality | ||||||
| Settings | 500Kbps | 700Kbps | 1000Kbps | 1250Kbps | 1500Kbps | |
| Video Track | ||||||
| Compressor / Encoding |
On2 VP6 | |||||
| Compression quality |
High - if available - | |||||
| Frame Rate |
25 (PAL) 30 (NTSC) |
|||||
| Bitrate |
436 kbits/sec | 636 kbits/sec | 904 kbits/sec | 1122 kbits/sec | 1372 kbits/sec | |
| Dimensions |
320 x 240 | 512 x 288 | 640 x 480 | 720 x 480 ( NTSC) 720 x 576 (PAL) |
720 x 480 ( NTSC) 720 x 576 (PAL) |
|
| Audio Track | ||||||
| Format |
MP3 (MPEG Layer III) | |||||
| Sample Rate |
32, 44 or 48 kHz | |||||
| Channels |
Mono | Mono | Stereo | Stereo | Stereo | |
| Bit rate |
64 kbps | 64 kbps | 96 kbps | 128 kbps | 128 kbps | |