[MEncoder-users] which movie format for different OS (windows, apple, linux ...)

[James Hastings-Trew]

On 12-01-10 7:12 AM, Carl Eugen Hoyos wrote:
> Moritz Barsnick<barsnick<at>  gmx.net>  writes:
>
>> I can't speak for Mac, but if you assume a minimum of Windows XP, then
>> "MSMPEG4.2" might be the most effective codec to use. It is packaged
>> with Windows XP, and plays well on other systems as well. At least it's
>> better than MPEG1 or 2.
> There is a more advanced version of this codec, "msmpeg" which is Micrsoft
> MPEG4v3, but as said, QuickTime will not read the avi file.
>
> WMP12 plays isom, so if you do not want to use mpeg1video, ASP (or H264) in isom
> is the better alternative (badly supported by MEncoder).
>
> And please do not forget that MEncoder is not actively maintained and that
> ffmpeg supports all mentioned encoding methods.
>
> Carl Eugen
I think we are kind of missing the point here. He asked for a codec that 
would be widely playable on most platforms without additional software 
installation. That would eliminate all WMV, mpeg1, mpeg2, DiVX, etc. 
"Out of the box" all Windows and Mac platforms can play H.264 videos in 
.mp4 containers via their web browsers (Safari on Mac, and IE 8 or 9 on 
Windows XP or Windows 7). Linux users would have to install something to 
play those files, but in this day and age, that has pretty much become 
the default codec.

If you are running Windows older than XP, or running XP and NOT running 
IE 8 or some third party browser, you are a danger to yourself and the 
internet. ;) If you have older hardware that simply cannot handle H.264 
video, I think you've got other things to worry about than the ability 
to play some stop motion plant videos, especially considering the price 
of commodity PC hardware these days -- you can get a fairly robust 
netbook with full Windows 7 on it that can easily play these kinds of 
videos in the $200 - $300 range. And I think most Mac users have at 
least updated to OS X by now, so they have Safari of some version 
available to them.

At some point you have to stop working to the lowest possible 
denominator and aim for a machine that was built in the last 10 years as 
your bottom line.