Spice and Wolf

[KrayZ33]

and if its 720p vs h264 vs Xvid (in quality)

i think the ranking would be:

720p
h264
Xvid...

am i right?

[tnynyn]

h264 is normally 720p so they're both the same

[David75]

h264 is normally 720p so they're both the same

It's as BoC wrote it.

h264 is a way of encoding the video
720p is the resolution and refreshement type for the image (short for 1280x720 progressive)

h264 and 720p are unrelated.
It's just that h264 is more efficient for encoding, hence it's choosen for 720p encodes that require a lot more data than usual resolutions.
Xvid would give much bigger files for the same visual quality.
Xvid is fine for older machines. When it was first developped, it was a bit power hungry... not anymore.
h264 being more recent benefits from newer hardware speeds (although h264 isn't that recent and hardware got more power in the lapse of time)

[Ryllharu]

It's just that h264 is more efficient for encoding, hence it's choosen for 720p encodes that require a lot more data than usual resolutions.
Xvid would give much bigger files for the same visual quality.

However, this is entirely dependent on the diligence of the encoder. I've been seeing more and more encodes from the newer groups that are still at 704x400 but are around 233 Mb.

That's lazy encoding. If skilled encoders can get a 170 Mb file crammed into an XVID avi and still get great visual quality, they can certainly do it for the h264s in .mkv containers. I've seen mpeg-4's that are even smaller.

EDIT:

Standard definition mkvs in h264 shouldn't be a problem on just about any computer anymore. The only issue is usually the HD releases. Does anyone roughly know the min cpu speed to play 720p in H264 using Media Player Classic(CCCP)? All our computers have H264 hardware decoding graphics cards, so it's a bit hard to measure sole cpu usage.

It's not dependent upon your processor solely, it's also largely due to the decoders you are running.

I switched from CCCP (and therefore the FFDShow) to CoreAVC to decode my h264, and I no longer have any issues with 720p encodes with my ancient 2.66 Ghz Pentium 4. CoreAVC is just that much more efficient.

[Lucifus]

I'd say we've all got enough information about that. Back to Horo and Chloe. >.>

[Death13a]

At last scene with Chloe; was she at barn or somewhere else? i kinda confused about it.

[Buffalobiian]

h264 is normally 720p so they're both the same

ep 1 in 1024x576

Standard definition mkvs in h264 shouldn't be a problem on just about any computer anymore. The only issue is usually the HD releases. Does anyone roughly know the min cpu speed to play 720p in H264 using Media Player Classic(CCCP)? All our computers have H264 hardware decoding graphics cards, so it's a bit hard to measure sole cpu usage.

edit: BoC beat me.

edit2: sometimes though, I will prefer SD xvid to HD mkv when they're both the same file size. Not an encoder myself, but I'd expect the HD version to run at a lower bit rate, since it's the same size, despite the higher compression H264 offers. Qualitatively, I just find 170MB HD quality lacking, and I just prefer SD Xvid. 230MB/343MB are the bomb though, they look amazing.

[KrayZ33]

great i understand even less now xD

Qualitatively, I just find 170MB HD quality lacking, and I just prefer SD Xvid.

hmmm i've got a h264.avi and a normal .avi(230mb) from ookiku furikabute and they both seem to be the same except that h264 is alot smaller (170mb)

i ve also got a .mkv file,which is the smallest(119mb), yet it has by far the best quallity... the colours seem to be stronger while the .avi files seem a bit blurry..

230MB/343MB are the bomb though, they look amazing.

are you referring to a h264 or .mkv file with a size of 230/343mb here?

[Board of Command]

Does anyone roughly know the min cpu speed to play 720p in H264 using Media Player Classic(CCCP)? All our computers have H264 hardware decoding graphics cards, so it's a bit hard to measure sole cpu usage.

To take advantage of video card assisting/decoding, you have to use PureVideo (for Nvidia cards) or a DXVA-capable player (both Nvidia and ATI). I'm going to assume that none of your computers are actually taking advantage of your video card's H264 capabilities.

For CPU requirements, any consumer dual-core CPU would be enough. Not because it's dual-core, but because all dual-core CPUs are recent enough for 720p H264 decoding to be fast enough. A fast single-core CPU (e.g. my old Athlon 64 2.5 GHz) is also fast enough to decode, but you won't be able to use intensive filters on top of the video like noise reduction.