Video on a Site

[KatherineT]

Hi,
I need to place some video on my site. I'm curious to know what formats/sizes to place to make it browser/platform/connection speed friendly.....any ideas?

[Justin]

I don't know much about streaming video, but I personally recommend using straight MPEG, no special encoding (ASF, QuickTime) and no "Digital Rights Management"... I only say this because 99% of the sites I've seen use some proprietary format, and Linux users are left out... Normal ordinary standard MPEG works everywhere...

Assuming Linux users aren't a concern, Real Video seems to be a popular choice. The quality isn't great, but it can be done at relatively low bandwidth. I've seen RA streams at 28.8 that were at least viewable...

<EDIT>
I just noticed you're looking for cross-platform. MPEG is the best choice, but you might consider offering different formats, assuming you can afford the various tools required (encoders, etc)... Unfortunately I don't know what bitrates are available for MPEG off-hand, but I think you can do 56k with it.

You might look into Xing's MPEG encoder (for Windows, but the resulting file plays on any platform).
</EDIT>

[YFS200]

RealVideo is available for Linux.
The newest 8.5 producer and server are outstanding. I have two RH6 boxes in locations for dial up video surveillance. I see 10 frames per second on a 320x240 window with a 28.8 dialup. No sound. :)

If you are not streeming, then MPEG would be a good save-to-drive-and-play choice.

YFS