.Avi or .Rmvb

[blackparadox]

What video file type would be better?

What is the difference of the two?

[BlackBlade]

Usually, an AVI file is better than a RMVB file. The AVI container can hold a ton more file types than RMVB can (do you understand the difference between the container and the actual file type of a file?). AVI files can be read by almost any media player, while RMVB files require a media player from Real, or a Real codec before they can be played. Here is a quick comparison:

Comparison of container formats - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Long story short: Use AVI if you can.

[Barzillal]

I like AVI files than rv files but the thing is Rmvb takes little space than AVIs quality wise AVis are much better

[kiltev]

there is no big difference between the qualitys, but RMVB files r like in 4 times less in the size than the AVi files, the only problem is that u need RMVB file reader which is only the real player... even VLC dosent read it...

[xenos219]

like kiltev said, for anime's there isn't any real difference in quality but the sizes can be be almost half of what the avi's are. When I first got into animes I kept all my stuff in avi format (converter's are so wonderful) but after I found out about the quality over size difference I converted all my anime and now keep it all in rmvb format (mkv's and ogm's still manage to screw a few things up). For a little bit of encouragement, this is my current anime stash - 1,782 files in 61 folders (series) totalling 140GB, just imagine that all of them are generally between 1/3 and 1/2 of the avi files that I grabbed...

[shomazta]

wow your all very much wrong (cept Barzillal). Theres a HUGE difference in the qualities... RMVB is meant to be compressed and its a very lossy format (usually very pixelated, you often see RMVB versions hosted for DDL on sites that can't afford better servers and on sites like rapidshare that require your files be less then 100mb)

AVI (XviD) and MKV (h264) are the better quality options when looking for anime... if your not willing to take the time to install codec's or better media players its best just to stick to downloading/torrenting AVI releases since they are Windows Media Player compatible.

the only problem is that u need RMVB file reader which is only the real player

you can view ANY file type in Windows Media Player once you've setup / installed the CCCP Codec Pack (which includes Media Player Classic) : Get it here

[Barzillal]

and...rmvb files are hard to convert lol there are some prgrams to convert it but it doesnt come cheap anyway if you need a player for rmvb here download it here the latest version MEGAUPLOAD - The leading online storage and file delivery service enjy

[kiltev]

thx brazillal, but u already gave it to me :P ^^ and the quality diference aint that big, actually its quiet small, and the size of is not half but 1/4 of the AVI files...

[Riogi]

Usually animes aren't encoded directly into .rmvb, they are first created into .avi/.mp4/.mkv/.ogg files then converted. So basically, since people are taking .rmvb to reduce the size, yes, it's the quarter size of a regular episode size. By having watching a few .rmvb videos, the quality isn't the same at all...

The .avi files are DVD equivalent in quality. I can watch them with my eyes close to the computer screen without any problem. With .rmvb ones, I need to be far (two meters at least) from the screen to see them properly (without the pixelisation).

Now, about your post, Kiltev: to give you an equivalence, for me the difference between .avi and .rmvb is equivalent to the difference between 128 kbps and 64 kbps encoded songs, so there's a significative difference. If the difference was between 320 or 264 and 128, yes, for me the difference wouldn't be noticeable. But right now it is.

So to answer to your question, blackparadox:
1-.rmvb if you don't see any quality difference, or if you're estimating the quality loss worth the size gain.
2-.avi or any other format if you prefer quality over quantity.

Personnally, the better format experience I had was with .mkv format: multiples languages availlable along with subtitles...

[kiltev]

i was an adict of AVI files because i didnt know how to open RMVB, but its much easyier with RMVB files... i cant notice such a big difference in the quality, and there is another thing that influent on quality, the type of screen and the video card of your computer, my screen is really new and its the last version of it in the shop, so i just see it in magicaly wonderfull quality...