

The smaller the resolution, the smaller your file size. The resolution describes the number of horizontal lines your video file has in each frame. There are thousands of different codecs in circulation, many of which are patent protected.

The codecs used to compress the video file will determine the ratio of quality to file size. Codecs use different compression algorithms to encode files. A codec is a software tool used to compress or decompress a video. CodecĬodec stands for compression/decompression. When you are preparing video for the web, you will most likely be transcoding the file. For example, you start with an H.264 file and convert it to MPEG4. This typically involves lossy compression. This is the process of changing one form of digital encoding to another. You can also add filters, subtitles, chapters, and other meta information to the file through encoding. All the compression happens during encoding. Video encoding is the process of formatting the file for output. A large amount of information is lost to reduce video file size.
