# What's better? .mp4 or H.264?



## Bjornbro (Feb 19, 2000)

Given a choice for best video quality output, which is better? I know H.264 encoding will make a smaller file size, but what would the advantage be to encode video as .mp4?


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## guytoronto (Jun 25, 2005)

h.264 is an .mp4 codec

Read more at H.264/MPEG-4 AVC - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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## Bjornbro (Feb 19, 2000)

Thanks guytoronto, I wondered why there really wasn't any noticeable difference. I have video files in both formats, but I wanted to settle on a "standard" and H.264 it is.


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## Todd (Oct 14, 2002)

The more advanced CODECs require more computer horsepower for playback.

Keep that in mind if you intend your audience to be anyone other than owners of the newest, greatest hardware.


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## irontree (Oct 28, 2006)

I find the quality of H264 to be far superior personally... Less pixelation I find


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## kloan (Feb 22, 2002)

The encoders make a huge difference in quality, even though they process the videos into the same codec.

I've been finding Quicktime's encodings consistently look like crap.

I'm on the hunt now for a fast, free, easy to use app to re-encode my files.


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