Slashdot Mirror


Video Formats for non-Windows Users?

ccdotnet asks: "I look after a small web site for a rising sports star. We have a small number of short videos in .WMV (9) format available for download. These .WMV files are typically 3-5 MB in size (we do a "low res" and a "hi res" version). Each video is typically 1-2 minutes and 320x240. The site gets maybe 100 visitors per day. Our outbound hosting bandwidth is _very_ limited, so although we are keen to cater for non-Windows users (around 7% of our visitors), I've struggled to find a suitable video format which doesn't blow the size of the file right out. Ideally I would like to keep these files at a similar size but at the same time want to maintain a reasonable video quality. Are users of other platforms just out of luck? What non-Windows/Mac video formats can people recommend so that I can deliver this content to people who can't play .WMV for one reason or another?" A few years ago, playing .WMV files might have been problematic for users who didn't use either a Macintosh or a Windows-based operating system. Now, with MPlayer and its derivatives making strides, it's not as much of an issue. Of course, there are still .WMV files that don't play well in Mplayer, but what suggestions would you have for creating Mplayer-safe .WMVs as well as other, more cross-platform friendly formats?

5 of 749 comments (clear)

  1. Re:I would say by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    fuck you you fucking morons who refer to 'avi' as a video compression or format. especially when you are pretending to know what youre talking about. avi is nothing but a container format 'audio video interleave'. you can put all sorts of video compressions inside it.....same with audio.
    get a clue.

  2. Re:Xvid by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    What's wrong with Xvid? It plays on Windows and Linux (and other things).

    If you're concerned about bandwidth, why not Coral Cache things?


    Why not stop answering like the "you're dumb cause you don't know what I know" geek?
    What's wrong with not acting like an ass?

  3. Re:Xvid by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    This is about decoding, not encoding

  4. Re:Flash Video by repetty · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Q: You know who likes Flash?

    A: People who make Flash presentations.

    Period.

    The rest of us think Flash stinks or at least wish it would quietly go away.

  5. Re:Xvid by Basehart · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    "You haven't looked around much have you?"

    Why are Xvid proponents so fucking condescending? One pseudoswot even told me to Google xvid to find the installer when I indicated that because an xvid file wouldn't open on my Mac, PC or Linux box I doubted it would have much of a chance in the "real world" when joe normal clicks on it and nothing happens.

    Is Xvid the Ogg Vorbis of video codecs now? Millions and millions of posts about Xvid every time someone asks for an alternative to wmv?

    If Xvid is so cool stick it up your ass and see if it plays up there!