# Which HD video format has the best quality? .mkv or .mp4 or other



## LuciferRising

Which is the best quality format for HD video? mkv , mp4 or other? And can a video (lets say a .mkv) have a .flac audio in it ?


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## sugarhell

Mkv is not a format for HD. Mkv can have mp4,subtitles,different audios etc etc.


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## LuciferRising

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *sugarhell*
> 
> Mkv is not a format for HD. Mkv can have mp4,subtitles,different audios etc etc.


How is it not? All the HD movies have .mkv format? Or at least 99% of them? All those Blu ray 1080p/720p movies.

I dont understand?


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## DuckieHo

MKV is a container for other files... including the video, subtitiles, etc. MKV is not the video itself.


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## LuciferRising

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DuckieHo*
> 
> MKV is a container for other files... including the video, subtitiles, etc. MKV is not the video itself.


SO Mkv is better?


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## RevZ

the Matroska video container (MKV) files are not per definition better or worse than *insert random true video extension here* since you don't know what type of video is in it just by looking at the fact that it's an MKV.

Just think of MKV files as being a collection of files, for example let's say an MP4 video file, OGG audio and subtitle file, all integrated into that one MKV file.


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## LuciferRising

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *RevZ*
> 
> the Matroska video container (MKV) files are not per definition better or worse than *insert random true video extension here* since you don't know what type of video is in it just by looking at the fact that it's an MKV.
> Just think of MKV files as being a collection of files, for example let's say an MP4 video file, OGG audio and subtitle file, all integrated into that one MKV file.


So Mkv can contain a mp4, a flac , a subtitle file ? So it depends on what the codec is? Speaking of codecs, is there any lossless video codec, which is the best quality video codec? Like .flac for music (lossless)?


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## ramicio

Yes, there are lossless video codecs, but they are still not going to yield any usable size, unless you're recording something with a small color palette, like an emulated 8 bit console game. It's general consensus that x264 is the best video compressor, which compresses to the h.264 video codec.


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## D-Dave

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *LuciferRising*
> 
> Speaking of codecs, is there any lossless video codec, which is the best quality video codec?


Many people who need/want lossless videos tend to use HuffYUV, Lagarith (what I personally use), or lossless H264. However, unless you are doing video editing with multiple terabytes of storage space at your disposal and like to be paranoid about the effects of generation degradation (me being one of those individuals







), sticking with H.264/x264 is a better option. Off the top of my head, lossless files tend to have a bitrate (1080p at 60fps) of ~350 Mbps (a lot better than the 2+ Gbps from uncompressed AVIs I use to work with







). If you are simply converting videos for convenient watching, using H.264 (I recommend x264) is a much more ideal approach to storing videos.


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## sugarhell

I am using only x264 for pc, mp4 for ps3. Not worth to compress to something else


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## LuciferRising

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *D-Dave*
> 
> Many people who need/want lossless videos tend to use HuffYUV, Lagarith (what I personally use), or lossless H264. However, unless you are doing video editing with multiple terabytes of storage space at your disposal and like to be paranoid about the effects of generation degradation (me being one of those individuals
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ), sticking with H.264/x264 is a better option. Off the top of my head, lossless files tend to have a bitrate (1080p at 60fps) of ~350 Mbps (a lot better than the 2+ Gbps from uncompressed AVIs I use to work with
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ). If you are simply converting videos for convenient watching, using H.264 (I recommend x264) is a much more ideal approach to storing videos.


When I want to create a video (lets say with Sony Vegas Pro), a simple video in fact, how do I make it h.264? Okay, maybe I didnt make that clear enough. Lets say I want to make a simple video: A .flac song with 10 pictures, and that will be the whole video, that song which will play 4 or so minutes and during that time 10 pictures are switching and thats the whole video. How do I make this video h.264? I mean, do I make it .mkv first and set the resolution (1920x1080) or what?







I hope you understood me.


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## ramicio

So you basically want to create one of these [ANNOYING] videos people upload to YouTube that is just a song playing with some pictures? If so, you've lost my interest in this topic.


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## LuciferRising

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *ramicio*
> 
> So you basically want to create one of these [ANNOYING] videos people upload to YouTube that is just a song playing with some pictures? If so, you've lost my interest in this topic.


Hahahah, no of course. I just gave an example, and wanted you to clear that up for me, because I dont know how Im supposed to do those simple things, let alone editing and converting videos with those codecs and stuff.







the simple things first, I always say


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## D-Dave

I'm not at my computer at the moment so I can only suggest what you can do until I return to my computers. I know that Vegas Pro has its own h.264/AVC codecs, however, they aren't as flexible (in my opinion) as x264. I know that it's possible to use codecs outside from Vegas Pro, that's how I am able to work with Lagarith, but I have yet to use Vegas Pro to render videos with x264 (I typically finish off with MeGUI or StarRip). What I would check first is the configuration option that says "ignore 3rd party codecs" and make sure that it's not selected. I'm not sure what to do after that point other than check the list of containers/codecs in the render page to see if it has shown up. I'll report back when I get the chance to check this out myself.


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## ramicio

I've never used anything but Adobe Premiere (ages ago) and the hacky AviSynth to edit videos.


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## evernn

i like hd mkv video


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## evernn

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *bastik;67818*
> Change the splitter for MKV and MP4.
> 
> Preferences (F2) > Filter-Control > Splitter
> choose Gabset for both.
> 
> or install Haali's Media Splitter and let it split MKV and MP4
> F2 > Filter-Control > Source-Filter > [The Rest]
> 
> Use SuperSpeedMode (Alt+F)


such as mkv to mp4 converter it is good at keep the audio track.


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