HandBrake H.264 vs MPEG-4: After Handbrake Converts DVD to H.264 and MPEG-4
- lizaoes
- Dec 1, 2014
- 2 min read
I have a Frozen DVD (by Disney) and I want to convert it by HandBrake without losing quality so I want to know which one is better, h.264 or mpeg-4, after ripping by HandBrake?
Without any doubt, HandBrake supports Xvid (MPEG-4) and AVC/H.264 (Handbrake uses free x.264). Both MPEG-4 and H.264 are nice video formats (different from MP4, a container format). MPEG-4 is a widely used (audio and video) compression method standardized by MPEG group, and H.264 is a new video codec standard that realizes high quality video in relatively low bitrates. But what are the differences between the HandBrake conversion of MPEG-4 and H.264 if you want to get an .mp4 video file?
HandBrake to Rip DVD: H.264 or MPEG-4? (H.264 vs MP4)
HandBrake H.264 vs MPEG-4: Compression Rate
One of the merits of H.264 is the high compression rate. It is about 1.5-2x more efficient than MPEG-4 encoding.
HandBrake H.264 vs MPEG-4: Output Quality According to some tests, H.264 is about 5-10% better quality. It's safe to say H.264 has more fluent and better video quality for real time playback. But most users say their disparity of image effect is too slight to notice.
HandBrake H.264 vs MPEG-4: Encoding Speed/Time It does encode way slower on all Macs (this was not tested on an Intel Mac). H.264 encoding takes about 75-100% more time when all else is equal so the trade off is your call. H.264 takes about twice the time to encode a higher quality video at the same file size.
HandBrake H.264 vs MPEG-4: File Size If in a same image quality, H.264 video will take less space. However, the file size of H.264 video is larger compared with MPEG-4 video that is converted from the same DVD or file, and it consumes more power and space on cell phones, such as iPhone, correspondingly.
HandBrake H.264 vs MPEG-4: Network transmission H.264 has lower bit-rate requirement for network transmission. In other words, AVC has better network transmission.
HandBrake H.264 vs MPEG-4: Versatility/Universality Although both MPEG-4 and H.264 video formats are accepted by many common Browsers (e.g.: Firefox supports H.264 on Windows 7 and later), video players and portable devices (e.g.: Apple integrated H.264 support into Mac OS X v10.4 "Tiger" and QuickTime 7), MPEG-4 obviously is more widely used and supported.
Anyway, MPEG-4 and H.264 are just two encoding methods for a MP4 video. We can feel free to play back our MP4 videos on iPhone (from 3G to 6 Plus), iPad (from 1st Gen to iPad Air 2 Retina), Android smartphones (incl. Samsung Galaxy S5, Note 4, HTC One M8, Sony Xperia Z3), Android tablets (incl. Amazon Kindle Fire HDX, Google New Nexus 7), website (YouTube, Facebook, Vimeo), game consoles (Sony PS4, Microsoft Xbox One), WP8, Surface Pro 3, Chromecast and so on. Also see: iPhone H.264 vs MPEG-4
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