How does H.264 compare with MPEG-2?
HD MPEG-2 content at 1920×1080 traditionally runs at 12-20 Mbps, while H.264 can deliver 1920×1080 content at 7-8 Mbps at the same or better quality. H.264 provides DVD quality at about half the data rate of MPEG-2. Because of this efficiency, H.264, an ISO standard, stands to be the likely successor to MPEG-2 in the professional media industry.