Linked by Thom Holwerda on Sun 23rd May 2010 09:41 UTC
Now that Google has opened up VP8, the big question is obviously how it'll hold up to H264. Of course, VP8 already wins by default because it's open source and royalty free, but that doesn't mean we should neglect the quality issue. Jan Ozer from StreamingMedia.com has put up an article comparing the two codecs, and concludes that the differences are negligible - in fact, only in some high-motion videos did H264 win out. As always, this is just one comparison and most certainly anything but conclusive. Update: Another comparison. I can't spot the difference, but then again, I'm no expert.
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RE: Doesn't have to be better just good enough
by tyrione on Mon 24th May 2010 05:20
in reply to "Doesn't have to be better just good enough"
Member since:2005-11-21
Member since:
2009-09-17
VP8 doesn't have to be better than h.264, and I sincerely doubt it can be given the very mature encoders available for h.264 and you can bet that the x.264 guys aren't going to wait for vp8 to catch up. Also given the patent situation vp8 is denied the use of many useful algorithms that could improve things a lot.
But the question isn't can vp8 beat h.264 in all cases, its can vp8 be good enough for streaming video that it is a viable patent free alternative. If patents weren't an issue h.264 would be the clear winner, but patents are an issue and they can't just be ignored if your trying to do a full comparison because technical issues won't be the only thing potential users are looking at.