ipod Video Codec

M4V, MP4 and MOV are all containers that are supported by the iPod (no surprise since they ae all variations on a theme) The codecs in question are MPEG-4 or H.264.

Are these for use only on your iPod's screen or do you plan on hooking it up to a TV? The main difference between the two codecs is the resolution and bitrate that they support. H.264 will support up to the resolution of the iPod's screen 320x240 (VCD/VHS quality) while MPEG-4 will support up to 480x480 (SVCD resolution) or 640x360 (widescreen, but almost full DVD quality).

You might be happier with MPEG-4 if you are planning to display on anything other than the iPod's screen thanks to the higher resolution, but you will pay for it in disk space.

Remember that "Holds up to 150 hours of video" for the 60 GB is based on 750-Kbps H.264 video combined with 128-Kbps audio. If you want decent results from MPEG-4 at the higher resolution you need to go to a higher bitrate and thus lesser capacity...

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