SheerVideoWhy did SheerVideo make my DV | H.264 | HDV | MJPEG | MPEG files bigger?
DV, H.264, HDV, MJPEG, and MPEG are destructive, or “lossy” codecs, which “compress” the video by throwing a lot of the image information away. SheerVideo, in contrast, is a nondestructive, or “lossless” codec, which truly compresses the video, by packing the image information more efficiently without throwing any of it away. Whereas a nondestructive codec such as SheerVideo cannot compress video beyond its intrinsic entropy, there is no theoretical limit to the “compression” power of destructive codecs; in fact, a destructive codec could easily attain infinite “compression” power by throwing away all the information – although the “restored” video would then no longer have anything to do with the original. SheerVideo is designed for professional video and film production and archival, where quality cannot be compromised. DV and HDV are designed for consumer and prosumer video acquisition, where compactness and cost are more important than quality.
