When you watch a video on the web or your mobile phone, the odds are pretty good you are using the MP4 video format and the H.264 codec. There are a lot of choices when it comes to video formats. But, MP4 is the top pick for both web and mobile viewing, according to a new survey released this morning by Sorenson Media.
69% of video professionals use MP4 regularly for the web, and 58% use it for mobile. Nearly four out of every 5 pros say they use the H.264 codec for file compression.
The report has some bad news for WebM, Google’s sponsored royalty-free open video compression format. WebM came out on the button with just 5% usage on the web and 3% on mobile.
Here’s the full results for web video by percentage of video pro users:
- 69% MP4
- 54% Flash
- 45% QuickTime
- 34% Windows Media
- 5% WebM
(Note: A majority of those surveyed selected more than one format, so the results total more than 100%.)
For mobile videos:
- 58% MP4
- 16% Flash
- 16% HTML5
- 9% Windows Media
- 3% WebM
Video formats have undergone major changes since the early days of streaming when Windows Media and Real were the dominant players.
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To create the distribution formats above, the pros use very different input formats. Apple’s QuickTime Reference Movie was the favorite source format.
Here’s a look at the preferred inputs:
- 28% QuickTime Reference Movie
- 25% .mov
- 10% ProRes
- 9% AVI
- 8% DNxHD
- 7% MPEG-4
- 3% MPEG-2
- 2% FLV
- 2% WMV
Where do all these videos wind up? The web is the most popular platform but there are many other destinations:
- 89% Web
- 67% DVD
- 46% Mobile
- 45% Corporate
- 43% Broadcast
The survey, released during the National Association of Broadcasters convention, was conducted by Sorenson Media, a leading video encoding solutions company, with users in a majority of broadcast station groups in the U.S.
