Output same thing to wmv9 and divx6.5 but they look different?

[AdvanTech]

To start off, I know my monitor is not calibrated and is surely off. I rendered the exact same clip to see the difference between wmv 9 and divx 6.5 and found the wmv footage had the same hue as what I saw in the preview window of my editor, while the DiVX footage looked much less warm (or less saturated).

I also saw that the wmv footage looked much less blockier, but that's probably because I've had alot of experience with it and am just experimenting with divx for the first time. My wmv is VBR 780k but I think the DivX footage is 'multi-pass nth time" 780k.

WMV version
DivX Version

 

[Demistate]

Well after looking at both videos, i'm saying that what you are expierencing is some filtering going on with Microsoft Windows Media player.

WMPlayer inadvertently adds a color and gamma curve to video signal to make it more match what outputs from an NTSC television. Therefore wmv will appear to have higher color and contrast ratio.

However if you turn off that filtering (don't ask me where it is, I havn't used it since version 9 other than for tests on other client's comptuers) or use another video player that doesn't filter the signal, you'll find that the two videos are comparable in color and compression artifacting. (to most people's eyes)

Here is a PNG image of how the colors render on my monitor.






I would highly suguest h.264 in an MP4 if you are trying to distribute high quality footage online. It will look alot better and will have better compatibility than DivX-Avi. (Also there are free utilities to do this for you like StaxRip and Megui for WinXP and Handbrake for MacOSX) The only downside is that resolution of file you handed us would require a 1.5ghz machine minimum to play back. (You can count older Mac G4s out)

 

[AdvanTech]

Wow, I didn't realise how much the player affected what I saw. Thanks for the great reply! I have been looking into h.264. What is the workflow like for rendering to h.264? I am cutting on Sony Vegas.