[Theora] troll or truth ?

[Borphee]

A slightly differing opinion of VP3.1 (not 3.2, much less Theora) can be found on Doom9.org

http://www.doom9.org/codec-comparisons.htm

Back in 2002, they compared 
DivX3 in the form of SBC (Smart Bitrate Control) as done in Nandub
DivX4.12
ON2 VP31 (later on called VP3)
WMV8 (Windows Media Video v8)
XviD (CVS build dated 1/25

And in this test, vp31 didn't fair too well.

Not as good as the other codecs, but of course, that would still put it far above mpeg-1.

The complete test results, including screen shots,can be downloaded from the link above.

The conclusion mentions vp3 only briefly, saying:

***
We can clearly see that neither VP3 nor WMV8 can quite keep up with the other two codecs. If I had to decide between these two I'd chose VP3. Not only is it open source, it's also faster and I liked its quality slightly better.
***

Not a strong endorsement, but still above anything mpeg-1 can acomplish.

Of course, everybody has differeing opinions on lossy codecs.  Some prefer blurring, some prefer blocky, and so on.


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Maik Merten" <maikmerten at gmx.net>
To: <theora at xiph.org>
Sent: Tuesday, March 22, 2005 6:31 PM
Subject: Re: [Theora] troll or truth ?


>>b) VP3 performs much better than MPEG 1. I don't know where people get
>>those strange ideas that VP3 is only comparable to MPEG 1.
> 
> 
> Please back up this with facts. E.g tests showing otherwise.

Oh, the c't (Magazin für Computertechnik, the most renowned computer
magazine in Germany) had a video-codec test in 2003 (introduction at
http://www.heise.de/ct/03/10/146/default.shtml , PDF version available
for money). They tested:

- Windows Media Video 9
- DivX 5.0.4
- RealVideo 9
- Sorenson Video 3.1
- VP3.2.5.0
- and pre-1.0 XviD

They were very pleased with the results produced by VP3, even
outperforming DivX according to their analysis (they seem to hate blocky
artifacts). Too bad the results are not online (I do have the printed
edition) - they said they are looking forward to Theora.

Even when you disagree with their conclusion (rating VP3 very high) this
makes the "VP3 is not better than MPEG 1" statement look rather weird.

In my personal experience Theora is much better than MPEG 1. You can
believe me (but you have every right to be sceptic, of course) - or do
your own tests (which would be even better and not too difficult).


Greetings,

Maik
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