Video Codecs

Video codecs are much easier to distinguish from each other than audio codecs. Video quality is still on the rise, with each new codec release improving quality. However, most video codecs are proprietary, meaning they won't play back on other players. If you're embedding your podcast in a Web page, then you can do all sorts of checking via JavaScript to see whether people have a certain plug-in installed. If you're targeting portable media players, then you'll have to be careful about which video codec you choose.

H.264: Part of the MPEG4 standard, H.264 is quite an improvement and, what's more important, is the video standard supported by the iPod.

Windows Media Video (WMV): Currently at version 11, the WMV codec provides outstanding quality, along with lots of advanced functionality. It is also supported by the "Plays for Sure" family of portable media players.

RealVideo (RV): Recently voted the best video codec by http://StreamingMedia.com author Jan Ozer. RV provides lots of advanced functionality, but is not supported on the iPod or the "Plays for Sure" devices. However, RV is supported on a number of cell phones.

OGG Theora: The sister project to the Ogg Vorbis audio codec project. Theora videos play back in a number of open source players, as well as the RealPlayer and QuickTime, though they require the installation of an additional component.