newartriot

Updated 9 February 2009

What is H.264?

H.264, also known as ISO/IEC 14496-10, MPEG-4 AVC or simply AVC, is a modern video format. That means it is a standard; a way of compressing video. There are various programs that implement this standard, either by encoding (putting video in to the H.264 format) or decoding (taking video out of the H.264 format, either to encode to another format or to watch the video).

What are its advantages?

When using a good encoder like x264, H.264 achieves greater compression (better quality at a certain file size or a lower file size for the same quality) than other popular video formats like MPEG-4 ASP (the format implemented by Xvid and DivX) and MPEG-2 Part 2 (DVD video) in most situations.

What are its disadvantages?

H.264 video is much more processor intensive to decode than older video formats. This can make it unplayable on some players with low powered processors, like old computers. It also is not supported by many hardware players, including DivX certified DVD players.

What file extension will it have?

H.264 video is usually in the MP4 or Matroska container, giving it the .mp4 or .mkv extension. It is also possible to put it in the AVI container, giving it the .avi extension, but this is not recommended.

How can I play it?

H.264 can be played on the computer using software such as VLC, MPlayer and Xine, or Windows Media Player and Media Player Classic if a decoder like FFDShow is installed. Hardware devices such as the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Apple TV and iPod can play H.264 video if it meets certain restrictions, the iPod being the most restrictive about what it will play.