List of Top Video Codecs
Background knowledge does matter a lot in learning something new. The same applies to know the best lossless video codec. Prior to go directly to the best visually lossless video codecs, you'd better have a basic understanding about the current most popular video codecs and their advantages and disadvantages. Thus, it would be much easier for you to conclude the best virtually lossless video codecs. Certainly, you can skip this part and jump to the section you need if you know a thing or two about the top video codecs. If not, you're suggested to spend 2 mins here reading the brief introductions of best video codecs.
H264: is one of the most commonly used video compression standard for video recording, compression and distribution. Since H264 is jointly developed by ITU-T Video Coding Experts Group (standard setter of H261, H262, H263) and ISO/IEC JTC1 Moving Picture Experts Group (standard setter of MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4), H264 is also called MPEG-4 AVC or MPEG-4 Part 10. It's extended from H263, MPEG-4 Visual and extended to H265 (HEVC).
Pros: 1. Unparalleled compatibility, accepted by almost any device, player and platform.
2. Keep good balance between file compression and quality, virtually lossless in quality.
Cons: The H264 file size of 4K/8K Ultra HD is comparatively large in size.
MPEG-4: also a compression standard of audio and video digital data, absorbs a lot from its predecessors MPEG-1, MPEG-2 and others. Different from H264, MPEG-4 is an evolving standard, disintegrated into several parts, including MPEG-4 Part 2, MPEG-4 Part 10, MPEG-4 Part 14, MPEG-4 Part 16, etc.
Pros: 1. Supported by most devices and platforms.
2. Produce excellent output quality, visually lossless.
Cons: The compression ability is still needed to get improved.
H265 (HEVC): the abbreviation of High Efficiency Video Coding (aks. MPEG-H Part 2), is a compression algorithm, much more efficient than its predecessor H264. When it comes to compare H265 with H264, the biggest difference lies in coding tree units. The pattern CTU sizes in HEVC can be extended from 16×16 pixel to 64×64 while H264 only has the power to support the block-size up to 16x16. Basically, HEVC offers around double compression ratio compared with H264, which makes it a primary choice to shrink and encode video to 4K/8K Ultra HD video.
Pros: 1. High compression ratio, 2 times that of H264.
2. High effeciency without the expense of quality. Highest possible quality is guaranteed.
Cons: Higher demands on hardware configurations. The video codec compatibility leaves something to be desired.
Video Codecs |
Definition |
Advantages |
Disadvantages |
WMV |
the short form of Windows Media Video, WMV is a series of video codecs developed by Microsoft, with a purpose to replace QuickTime related tech standards and WAV/AVI file extension names. |
1. ASF container format to contain the encoded multimedia content.
2. High data compression ratio, suitable for online video streaming. |
Obvious quality loss |
VP8 |
developed by Google, has something similar to H264, also a block-based transform coding format. It's usually contained by MKV or WebM container format with Vorbis and Opus audio. |
1. Royalty-free public license, no patent fees.
2. Keep an even development between video file size and video quality. |
1. Slightly lower quality than H264, visually no difference.
2. Poor compatibility. |
XviD/DivX |
a video codec library with ability to abridge length file to smaller size while maintaining highest possible quality. As the successor to DivX, XviD is now in active with MPEG-4 ASP standard to encode video with .AVI file extension name. |
Excellent output quality |
1. Weak compression ability.
2. Poor compatibility. |
MPEG-2 |
a video codec standard widely used in digital television broadcasting and DVD video. |
Excellent video quality |
1. Large in file size.
2. Less compatible with mobile devices. |
MPEG-1 |
the predecessor of MPEG-2, used mainly in VCD. |
Excellent in quality |
Poor in size and compatibility |
After reading the above explainations of the most commonly used video codecs, you may have an overall understanding about the 8 video codecs. Yet, it's still hard to distinguish the delicate difference among some similar video codecs in respect of quality video compression ratio and file size. To make this clear, here we conduct a real test on these video codecs and use the actual test data to help you tell the specific differences among them.
