Most "universal" type of video file?

[Karl Kuehn]

On May 13, 2008, at 6:27 PM, R.L. Grigg wrote:

> What is the most "universal" type of video file? What could be  
> viewed on almost any system, Mac or Windows, without requiring  
> certain packages or codecs?
>
> .wmv
> .avi
> .mov
> .mpg
> .asf
> .mp4
>
> I have some .3g2 files to convert and have all these choices but  
> don't know which one would be the best to give out to people. I  
> don't plan to use any special encoding I just want to make a simple  
> movie file anyone can play.

	I am split between MPEG 1, MPEG 4, and Flash, and here is why:

MPEG 1
+ almost anything can play it
+ only format that really works in MS Office on both platforms
- the compression is not so good, and the artifacts can be bad
- had to find a good encoder on the Mac that is not expensive

MPEG 4
+ most things can play it
+ compression is good, and the artifacts are reasonable
+ good availability of encoders
- non computer devices, and older computers might not play it

Flash
+ playable in any computer with a browser
- lousy format (visual quality, and developer)
- usually needs a wrapper to play (just html, but you now have 2 files  
rather than 1)

--
	Karl Kuehn
		larkost at softhome.net