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QuickTime
QuickTime is Apple's multi-platform, industry-standard, multimedia software architecture. It is used by
software developers, hardware manufacturers, and content creators to author and publish synchronized
graphics, sound, video, text, music, VR, and 3D media.
QuickTime 3 is the current version for both MacOS and Winodws.
The latest free downloads, and more information, are available at
Apple's QuickTime site.
QuickTime offers support for a wide range of delivery media, from WWW to DVD-ROM. It was recently
announced
that the MPEG-4 standard (now in design) will be based upon the QuickTime file format.
QuickTime is also widely used in digital video editing for output back to videotape. As Codec Central
is focused on multimedia delivery, that is beyond the scope of this site. However, we have included a
list of software codecs used in capturing digital video, as a convenience to the reader.
QuickTime is widely used for putting movies on the World Wide Web, due to the fact that it is free,
easy to use, and has a very large installed base. There is no dedicated QuickTime server software
at this point; any HTTP or FTP server (Mac, Windows, or UNIX) can support QuickTime's
"progressive download" method, also known as "Fast Start". However, at this point
QuickTime does not support broadcast of live events, or "true streaming".
New codecs in QuickTime 3 are much better suited to WWW usage than anything previously available
for QuickTime. These include Sorenson Video, QDesign Music Codec, Qualcomm PureVoice, and H.263.
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Progressive download lets users watch movies without having to completely download first.
If the movie was optimized for the bandwidth of the user's connection, this may mean they start
watching the movie immediately.
If the user has a slow connection, or if the movie was made at a high data rate, there will
be a delay before the movie starts playing.
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QuickTime is the dominant architecture for CD-ROM video. It enjoys an impressive market share due to its
cross-platform support, wide range of features, and free licensing. QuickTime is used on the vast majority
of CD-ROM titles for these reasons.
DVD-ROM is quite similar to CD-ROM in many respects, so the same codecs still work fine. There is room
for improvement, however, and new codecs are on the way that promise to provide substantially better
DVD-ROM playback.
QuickTime is a good choice for kiosks, as it integrates well with Macromedia Director, MPEG, and a range
of other technologies.
Similarly, QuickTime movies are commonly used for presentations played on portable computers, whether in
presentation software like Persuasion, or as stand-alone full-screen movies.
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Media Types and File Formats Supported
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QuickTime supports many media types, including audio, video, text, MPEG, music (a superset of MIDI),
curve media (similar to Shockwave Flash), VR (panoramas and objects), and 3D.
QuickTime 3 will support more file formats than ever, including:
- Digital Video - AVR (Avid Video Resolution)*, DV*, M-JPEG, MPEG-1, OpenDML*,
QuickTime Movie, Video for Windows (AVI)*
- Audio and Text - AIFF/AIFC, AU, Audio CD Data, DV, MPEG Layers 1 and 2, Sound
Designer II, System 7 Sound, WAVE
- Still Image - BMP*, GIF, JPEG/JFIF, MacPaint, PhotoShop*, PNG*, PICT, QuickDraw
GX Picture, QuickTime Image File, Silicon Graphics Image File*, Targa Image File (TGA)*, TIFF*
- Animation and 3D - 3D Meta File (3DMF)*, Animated GIF*, FLC/FLI*, PICS*
- Other - Text, Standard MIDI, General MIDI, Karaoke
*These file formats require QuickTime 3
Codec
(Primary Use)
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Pros
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Cons
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Availability
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Cinepak
CD-ROM
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Plays on wide range of machines ('486/'040 or better), generally gives acceptable
image quality
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Doesn't work well under about 30 KBps,
slow compression, mediocre image quality
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Included in QuickTime
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Sorenson Video
WWW and CD-ROM
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Very good image quality at low data rates
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Very slow compression; playback requirements higher than Cinepak
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Included in QuickTime 3
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Eidos Escape
CD-ROM (4x), DVD-ROM
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High video quality, fast compression
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High data rates; current QuickTime version has some limitations
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Available through Terran
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ClearVideo
WWW
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Well suited to the Web, good at data rates between 2 and 30 KBps
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Needs at least a mid-range PowerMac or Pentium for
optimal playback
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Available from Iterated Systems
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Indeo 3.2
CD-ROM
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Slightly better than Cinepak when compressing "talking heads" video,
compression is a bit faster
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Not well suited to Web data rates, more color artifacting than Cinepak
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Free from Intel
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Indeo Video Interactive 4
CD-ROM
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Excellent image quality (similar to MPEG)
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Requires fast Pentium for playback
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Included in QuickTime 3 for Windows (no Mac version yet)
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Power!Video
CD-ROM (4x), DVD-ROM
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Very good image quality at high data rates
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Not well suited to 2x CD-ROM or Web data rates
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current status unclear
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Video
Video |
Good for testing edits, doesn't "top out" at higher data rates
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Not generally useful for final delivery
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Included in QuickTime |
Animation
2-dimensional animations |
Lossless at 100%, produces smaller files than the None codec
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Files may be quite large at 100% quality
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Included in QuickTime
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Photo-JPEG
Photographic still images
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Generally has good image quality, works well for "slide show"
type movies with very low frame rates
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relatively slow decompression; limited usefullness for motion video
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Included in QuickTime
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Component Video
Video capture
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Can improve capture frame rate, can help eliminate degradation when used
as interim storage format
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Not generally useful for final video delivery
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Included in QuickTime
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MJPEG
Video editing
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At 100% quality, image degradation is minimal
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Requires large amounts of CPU power, large image and/or high frame rate
movies don't play smoothly without special hardware
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Included in QuickTime 2.5
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Graphics
2-dimensional animation
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Generates a compressed image 1/2 the size of the same image compressed
by the Animation codec
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Slower decompression than the Animation codec
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Included in QuickTime
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None
Processing
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Lossless, can extend the capabilities of other codecs
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Produces huge files, movies usually won't play smoothly
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Included in QuickTime
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MPEG-1
CD-ROM
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Excellent image quality
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Majority of systems can't playback (requires special hardware or very fast computer)
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Included in QuickTime 3 for Mac (no Windows version yet)
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Codec
(Primary Use)
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Pros
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Cons
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Availability
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IMA
CD-ROM
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Low playback requirements; works well on most samples
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Relatively high datarates
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Included in QuickTime
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QDesign Music Codec
WWW music
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Full bandwidth, 16-bit, 44.1kHz stereo over a 28.8K modem
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Not as well-suited for voice as PureVoice
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Included in QuickTime 3
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Qualcomm PureVoice
WWW voice
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Excellent speech reproduction over a 14.4K modem
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Not well-suited for music
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Included in QuickTime 3
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Software codecs for video capture cards
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