I've used everything from freeware tools to high-end encoders to accomplish various audio & video trans-coding tasks over the last 15 years or so, and when time permits, I love testing out new tools.  Recently, when installing software on to a new PC, I decided to try another low-cost solution that's been around for quite some time, but I've never used; AVS Video Converter.

If you have a PSP and aren't using its video playback capabilities other than via UMD, you're missing out on one of its best features. The PSP can basically serve as your personal wide-screen video player, which comes in quite handy for those who travel frequently. A 1GB Memory Stick Pro Duo card can hold several hours of good quality video and still have room for your music, pics, etc.

The only problem with this is that the PSP is very finicky with regard to MP4 files. It'll balk on image sizes, frame rates, bit rates, file names, file locations, and just about anything else you can think of. And to top it all off, each firmware release for the PSP seems to handle things differently. But then again, I suppose if it were a simple standard process that remained consistent, Sony wouldn't be able to market and sell software to manage this process for you (a.k.a. PSP Media Manager).

This real-time hardware encoder offers strong output. If only it weren't beset by limitations and technical snafus.

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This article appears in the February/March issue of Streaming Media Magazine.

There are three categories of software encoding tools: bundled, desktop, and enterprise. In this article, I'll walk you through the general buying considerations within each category and detail when you need to consider stepping up to the next category.

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Sorenson Media introduced the latest version of its popular video encoder today with the release of Squeeze 8. Improvements include greater adaptive bitrate support, x264 support, enhanced GPU acceleration, and integration with Sorenson Squeeze Server. In addition, Sorenson will offer a lite version for smaller needs and budgets.

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Parallel processing allows Squeeze 8.5 to offer encoding times 200 percent faster than Squeeze 8.

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Support for x264 is now available in Sorenson Squeeze. How does the encoding quality stack up against MainConcept H.264?

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