Hello to you too! And what a good post.
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Let me start this reply with this review:
- DVD-Video is MPEG-2
- Blu-ray Disc is MPEG-2 and/or H.264 (AVC HD, MPEG-4 Part 10)
- The exact specs for both disc formats are rigid and must adhere to specific file sizes, resolutions, bitrates, encoding parameters, etc. This is what ensures all discs can play in all players.
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Originally Posted by lucgallant
Hi there,
I have a question about which codec to use for archiving videos. I have chosen a different route than Blu-Ray or DVD.
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Although you don't want to use the discs, or even the file/encoding specs required by those disc formats, I would still stick to the video formats (codecs) in use.
MPEG-2 and H.264 both have industry-wide uses, from broadcasting (aerial/antenna, satellite, cable), to mobile/web content delivery, to professional intermediaries (for MPEG-2, at least).
MPEG-2 and H.264 are going to be part of the video world for a long, long time. Both have been around quite a while. MPEG-2 is going on 20 years old right now, while H.264 is going on a decade old. Neither one is going anywhere for the next decade, either.
Now I've been around digital video since the early 1990s. In that decade, it was mostly dabbling, experiments, learning. Pretty much everything I ever used in the 1990s is gone, excluding MPEG-1 and MPEG-2.
Even formats that were popular from 2000-2005 are now gone. As much as I consider XVID (the open-source reverse-engineered version of Divx) a good format, it's already on its death bed. MKV files (H.264 codec) are replacing XVID in the online video-sharing downloading scene. Even On2 Flash is going away, pre-empted by H.264 in a Flash wrapper, in the video-sharing web-viewing scene (Youtube, for example).
XVID is probably fine for now, but I would not use it for an archival format.
Beyond that, H.264 encodes better than either MPEG-2 or XVID, with the way it handles noise and bitrates.
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I have captured all my old VHS tapes using a hardware based MPEG2 encoder card. Now, I want to transcode the various segments of the tapes to files using a video and audio codec that I will be able to distribute to family so that they can play on PCs and media players (TV connected) for years to come.
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I hope you captured them at a high bitrate, if you're planning to re-encode. By high, I'd be referring to 15Mbps or greater. Maybe 12Mbps at minimum. No more than 20Mbps is really required from home sources (waste of bitrate).
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The file formats supported on the device I am initially distributing to family are below:
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Video - AVI (Xvid, AVC, MPEG1/2/4), MPG/MPEG, VOB, MKV (h.264, x.264, AVC, MPEG1/2/4, VC-1), TS/TP/M2T (MPEG1/2/4, AVC, VC-1), MP4/MOV (MPEG4, h.264), M2TS, WMV9
Audio - MP3, WAV/PCM/LPCM, WMA, AAC, FLAC, MKA, AIF/AIFF, OGG, Dolby
Note:
- MPEG2 MP@HL up to 1920x1080p24, 1920x1080i30 or 1280x720p60 resolution.
- MPEG4.2 ASP@L5 up to 1280x720p30 resolution and no support for global motion compensation.
- WMV9/VC-1 MP@HL up to 1280x720p60 or 1920x1080p24 resolution. VC-1 AP@L3 up to 1920x1080i30, 1920x1080p24 or 1280x720p60 resolution.
- H.264 BP@L3 up to 720x480p30 or 720x576p25 resolution.
- H.264 MP@L4.1 and HP@4.1 up to 1920x1080p24, 1920x1080i30, or 1280x720p60 resolution
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The one thing I'd remember is that home sources are interlaced videos. While H.264 supports interlace, MPEG-2 does it better.
You don't really want to software deinterlace archival videos. Software deinterlacers are really still in their infancy. Maybe in another 10 years, the algorithms will be better.
So keeping that in mind, maybe MPEG-2 would be your best choice for quality retention. The media center computer/device should be smarter enough to either deinterlace in its hardware/software, ot simply display as interlaced to the HDTV (and let it de-interlace with it its own hardware).
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For the audio I will likely go MP3
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I'd suggest AAC, personally. Even AC3 would be a better choice. MPEG-based audio compression is lossy compared to those newer and better digital formats. A 96kbps AAC sounds about the same as a 160kbps MP3 file. A 256kbps AAC is what I'd possibly call archival. (Don't quote me on that, I might change my mind on AAC bitrates later.)
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but for the video I am still undecided. The bitrate and settings I can play with but the big thing now is, what codec?
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Progressing through the post, I really think MPEG-2 is the best solution, followed by H.264. And then AAC or AC3 over MP3.
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I was thinking Xvid but I am asking myself, will PCs and media players still play that format in 5, 10 years?
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I don't think it will, no. Divx/Xvid popularity is waning, and I don't project it's going to be out there much longer in its current implementation. The only reason its still there is TV show downloads via torrents. You don't see anybody using it for anything else.
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I want to use something that will fit 60 hours of video on 150 GB, max. Anyway, looking for some advice from the experts. Thanks.
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That's 2.5GB per hour. For H.264, that's probably fine. For MPEG-2, you're maybe starting compress it into the DVD-Video range (maybe 6 Mbps). I'd need a calculator to be more exact.
Given how you can buy a 1TB drives for under $100 now, or 1.5TB drives for about $150 -- all prices $USD -- I'd suggest upping yourself from a 150GB limitation. If the media center you have now is only 150GB, then expand it with an external drive. Or replace the internal drive. Or add one. Don't limit yourself to the current device any more than you'd want to limit yourself to codecs that will only exist now (and not in 5-10 years).
And while HDD archiving is fine, it's not good archival policy. You should still create DVD-Video versions, to vary the storage format (non-magnetic), as well as create more backups in the process.
I'd suggest BOTH the non-DVD and the DVD-Video versions.
