Video Format Annoyances

I usually watch F1 on the Monday after the race. The torrent conveniently shows on the trackers by Sunday evening, just in time for overnight downloading and seeding. This is a high quality video of the entire 3+ hours of BCC coverage in a compact 1-1.5GB .mkv file and H.264 video. The quality is stunning, even after it is scaled to fit my 1920x1200 monitor.

This time both the qualifying and race torrent never appeared. Given consistency of the source for these torrents, something has serious has gone wrong. The most likely suspect is The Pirate Bay which is in its death throes. The uploader probably hasn't found another reliable tracker site yet.

Since I now have hellanzb configured, I decided to download the qualifying session from Usenet. This was an ~800MB .avi with XviD video. Yuck! The lower quality of the video really becomes noticeable after it is scaled x3 to fit the screen. When I get this from a torrent, the .mkv file is about the same size. The video resolution is also the same, around 640x350. The difference is, after the scale up, the artifacts are barely notice with the H.264 video.

The real killer is that the .mkv includes the entire BBC coverage, which is about twice as much video as the .avi in the same file size. The chatter before the qualifying session was removed from the .avi. Given the obvious advantages, why is .avi/XviD still the most popular format?

The main reason is H.264 requires significantly more CPU power to decode, and there are still many older systems out there. Another problem is the best decoder for H.264 isn't installed on Windows by default so you need to install additional software (CCCP) to get the best results, which is annoying for the average user. Finally, there is inertia, which is by far the most difficult problem.

It is interesting how the anime fansub culture is leading the way here. The .mkv/H.264 format has definitely grown in popularity amongst many fansubbers over the last year. The fansubbers, who are generally an arrogant bunch, decided it was worth changing and are forcing the users to adapt. Basically, it is "take it or leave it."

The annoying part is the new format would be a great advantage on Usenet where reducing file size would be very helpful.