Original Document found on WeetHet.nl
Video formats in the table below are both for analog and digital video - the analog part might not be very acurate.
For common television and analog video, the framerate times two indicates the refreshrate of the display. So for example PAL has a framerate of 25 fps, this means that a television will refresh it's display 50 times a second (50Hz) using 50 half images. In the first cycle the even lines are redrawn, in the second cycle the odd lines, in the third cycle the even lines, and so on ...
| Framerates | |
|---|---|
| PAL | 25 fps |
| Pseudo PAL | 29.97/59,94 fps |
| NTSC | 29.97 fps |
| Pseudo NTSC | 25/50 fps |
| FILM | 23.976 fps |
| SECAM | 25 fps |
| Digital
Formats |
Resolution |
Compression |
Mb/min
|
Min/CDR | Hrs/DVDR
|
Compatibility | CPU load
|
Quality
|
||
| PAL | NTSC | Video | Audio | 74min CDR | DVD players | |||||
| VideoCD (VCD) | 352x288 | 352x240 | MPEG1 | MPEG1 | 10 | 74 min. | ~9 hrs | Excellent | low | OK |
| Super VideoCD (SVCD) | 480x576 | 480x480 | MPEG2 | MPEG2 | 10 .. 20 | 35 .. 60 min. | ~2 .. 7 hrs | Good | high | Good |
| Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) | 720x576 | 720x480 | MPEG2 | MPEG2 (AC3 opt.) |
30 .. 70 | 15 .. 25 min. | ~2 .. 4 hrs | Excellent | high | Best |
| Extended VideoCD (XVCD) | 720x576 or lower |
720x480 or lower |
MPEG1 or MPEG2 | MPEG1 or MPEG2 | 5 .. 70 | 15 .. 74 min. | ~2 .. 9 hrs | Poor | high | Misc |
| DivX | 720x576 or lower |
720x480 or lower |
MPEG4 | MP3 | 1 .. 10 | 60 ..180 min. | ~13 .. 26 hrs | not compatible | high | Good |
| ASF | 320x240 or lower |
320x240 or lower |
MPEG4 | MPEG4 | 1 .. 5 | 60 .. 300 min. | ~13 .. 26 hrs | not compatible | medium | Poor |
| nAVI / SMR | 320x240 or lower |
320x240 or lower |
MPEG4 | MPEG4 | 1 .. 5 | 60 .. 300 min. | ~13 .. 26 hrs | not compatible | medium | Poor |
| Realmedia | 320x240 or lower |
320x240 or lower |
RM | RM | 1 .. 5 | 60 .. 300 min. | ~13 .. 26 hrs | not compatible | low | Bad |
| Digital Video (DV) | 720x576 | 720x480 | DV/AVI | DV/AVI | 215 | 3 min. | ~20 min. | not compatible | high | Best |
| Other
Formats |
Resolution |
Compression |
Mb/min
|
Min/CDR | Hrs/DVDR
|
Compatibility | CPU load
|
Quality
|
||
| PAL | NTSC | Video | Audio | 74min CDR | DVD players | |||||
| Laserdisc (LD) | 450x576 | 500x480 | analog | PCM | - | - | - | not applicable | - | Good |
| Super VHS (SVHS) | 400x576 | 400x525 | analog | analog | - | - | - | not applicable | - | Good |
| Hi-8 | 400x576 | ? | analog | analog | - | - | - | not applicable | - | Good |
| Beta | 250x576 | 250x525 | analog | analog | - | - | - | not applicable | - | OK |
| VHS | 240x576 | 240x480 | analog | analog | - | - | - | not applicable | - | OK |
| Broadcast (TV) |
400x576 | 330x480 | analog | analog | - | - | - | not applicable | - | Good |
| CDi | 352x288 | 352x240 | MPEG1 | MPEG1 | 10 | 74 min. | - | not compatible | low | OK |
Note: Keep in mind, when converting one format to another, that it's not usefull to render a lower resolution to a higher resolution. For example: it's not very usefull to convert a VideoCD movie to a Super VideoCD format. You will only add static to your movie - the movie will NOT enhance in quality.
Additional info: Commonly used DivX resolutions
DivX users use the weirdest formats for creating their movie files. Below you will find some commonly used formats. The reason why these formats differ, is due to the fact that a full DVD resolution not always generates additional quality value over for example 640x480 (which is the most commonly used format). It does however add additional bandwidth (ie. disk-space) load.
Most DivX users do not make a difference between PAL and NTSC. What's the use anyway, since playback is mostly done on a PC anyway (I dare to differe on that statement - since I usually use my TV for playback).
Keep this in mind: when resizing a resolution, make sure the aspect ratio remains.
| Resolutions |
720 x 544 640 x 480 592 x 448 544 x 416 512 x 384 448 x 336 400 x 304 384 x 288 336 x 256 320 x 240 |