mpeg or wmv files, what do members want these days?

[asiangogo]

With all the video formats out there what do members want and what is preffered?
windows media streams, real player or mpegs?

[Mister X]

Mainly I think they want something that works. That means mpeg is the leader because there are compatibility issues with wmv. Real Player sucks. It's very hard for the average surfer to even find the link to download the free version if they don't already have it. And they may be pretty unhappy with all the popups and phone home shit that goes on after they install the bugger. Guys with slower connections may prefer wmv because it's generally a somewhat smaller filesize. Those that prefer quality want mpeg.

[gunner]

Originally posted by Mister X
Mainly I think they want something that works....Guys with slower connections may prefer wmv because it's generally a somewhat smaller filesize. Those that prefer quality want mpeg.

I agree.
I like .wmv files, encoded for both broadband and dial-up. Depends on what you're doing though. If you just want short clips, mpeg is the way to go. Quicktime, Real, etc., pretty much useless for adult site stuff.

[StuartD]

Users.... users want mpegs... for compatibility... webmasters though, they want wmv for file sizes... bandwidth!

So, the question is.. do you give the surfer the 200M mpeg to satisfy them, or the 60M wmv file to satisfy your wallet...

it's a little tough to decide. I guess it depends on your bandwidth prices.

We offer wmv files for now, but will be redoing everything into quicktime, so that we can appeal to pretty much all platforms at least in some way. Windows, Quicktime... you have those two, you have Windows, linux, mac... the works... and low bandwidth usage. :D

[Mister X]

It's certainly true that QT kicks ass over wmv. Much better quality/filesize ratio

[Apollo]

QT is definately the best, but since it requires a software download your next best bet is WMV (imo).....QT is a great thing to offer though for those that want to use it (especially for Mac users)....

[Mister X]

I think if you have a direct link to the quicktime d/l (if that's possible) it will cut most of the problems out of the equation. Quicktime at least is a lot easier to find a link to the free version with. The last time I checked with Real the link was buried in some small text on the bottom of the second page. WMV isn't yet a universal format but it's easy as long as they run windows. Actually you can get almost as small filesizes with mpegs as wmvs if you do some creative encoding. Most people seem to stick to the default settings when encoding though.