An epic battle is being waged, in cyberspace and, more to the point, in my space -- my office -- over what formats to use for online video.

Until last fall, we made our videos available in the following formats:

QuickTime
MPEG-4
MPEG-1
RealMedia (hi res & lo res)
Windows Media (hi res & lo res)

Your consumer looks at that list and goes, "Huh?" How do you know which one to click? So we installed a nifty little applet that would ping a browser's config and -- presto! -- serve up the perfect video for that user. However, many people behind firewalls will not let the applet ping their systems, and so they can't access the video, even though they have the right gear.

This fall, Apple made life easier on us in many ways by introducing the video iPod and making it compatible with only two different file formats. The codec we use is called "QuickTime MPEG-4, AAC". A codec is an algorithm that contains instructions for compressing and decompressing video. The main ratio we look at when choosing a codec is the clarity compared with the file size. The codec we use results in incredibly small file sizes (2 megabytes/minute) with outstanding clarity on an iPod. Every new generation of codec results in a geometrical improvement in quality and reduction in file size. That's what's really powering the online video revolution: Moore's Law.

So last fall, we started rendering our videos in one format instead of seven. The only problem is, you can't see the videos unless you are running QuickTime 6 or higher. Lots of people cannot see our videos now. So should we render videos in Windows Media or RealMedia or some alternative to make it easier on people?

No.

That's what my tech guru says.

Yes.

That's what my video production manager says.

Me? I'm stuck in the middle. Tomorrow, I'll present some arguments pro and con in this debate.

But I'd like to hear what YOU have to say about it. Have you had experience producing online video? What formats do you prefer? Have you been frustrated trying to use video online? Any pet peeves?

Your's for Smaller Files & Greater Clarity,
STEVE O'KEEFE
V.P. IAOC
President, AuthorViews, Inc.