About three weeks ago, I embarked upon a new project called WFTL Bytes!, an occasiodaily FOSS and Linux news show delivered, as you might expect from me, in a seriously casual style with a possibly unhealthy dose of goofiness tossed in. I sincerely hope you like these newscasts and that they provide you with some interesting FOSS/Linux news stories to follow up. But that's not what this post is all about.
In getting this news show going, I decided to try a couple of different streaming services to show off the videos I created. These have included Ustream.tv, YouTube.com, Vimeo.com, blip.tv, and of course, my own site. The two best looking players, I think, come from Vimeo.com and blip.tv. Before I continue down this road, I'd like your help. By clicking the 'Read More' link below, you'll see two different embedded players showing the same video. In both cases I started with and uploaded the same show. The difference has to do with how the respective sites convert and then display the resulting videos. This is where you come in.
Since I've been using the Vimeo player on my pages, let me start by giving Blip.tv first dibs in this comparison.
The next video is exactly the same as the one above, but coming to you from Vimeo.com.
So, what do you think? Do you like the Vimeo.com clip better than the blip.tv one? The other way around perhaps? Please leave your comment and let me know why you think one is better than the other.
Thanks. -- Marcel
#1Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 2008-10-17 01:45.
I like Blib.tv. Because it has less drop outs and runs smooth. vimeo, which isn't bad at all, does look like it has less resolution and it had it's drops and hangs.
BUT! As a user of free and really free OS I miss an offer that uses a free codec like ogg theora. Flash or the pest of the internet isn't very funny when running Linux on a PowerPC.
So write a letter to RMS demanding a free video-share side supporting free codecs without the need for flash ;-)
And I miss your show on wftlbytes.com. Taht one with the lawyer from Digital Tipping Point. Was that on upstream or ustrem? Can't find it any more, where is it?
Any chances that you run out of unique press hats? Go on!
I'm responding from Australia where broadband isn't always what it is cracked-up to be. I'm on a 512 Kb/s plan and I normally get about 59 or 60 kbps download speed. I found that I was getting the Blip.tv video as an almost continuous service. There were four significant pauses in the running of the video. There were also five very small dislocations of the sound and the video during the whole session.
With Vimeo there were 14 significant pauses and about five dislocations. I have a download speed monitor in my Ubuntu 8.04 panel and in both cases the download seems to be continuous and at about the same level (maybe 95% of full height).
I used both small-screen and full-screen modes. I liked the full-screen presentation of Vimeo (very minimal) but thought that the resolution of your movement was poorer than with Blip.tv.
What I see onscreen before the show, with Vimeo, says more about what I will be looking at, whereas Blip has only the words "wftl bytes!" to show what will appear when I play it. But I thought that that might just be your original setup Marcel, and that Blip will have as good a presentation if you managed to configure it to summarise the video.
My sound is a real cheap system but both videos had the same quality sound - but I'm also partly deaf so anyone else will be a better judge.
I think that, overall, I'd prefer the Blip.tv presentation, but I can tolerate either in the future.
Blip.tv looks a little clearer to me. I like the way Vimeo hides the controls until you mouseover, but blip.tv gives you a larger viewing pane - and, as I mentioned, it does look a tiny bit less muddy than Vimeo. (Or, Vimeo seems to be a little less clear as far as video quality goes. I was perfectly happy with the Vimeo player before seeing Blip.tv.
As for secondary details, like title blocks and the controls interface, I think Vimeo is the hands down winner.
2009.0, 1 Gb RAM). Blip.tv stops and locks up during playback, after a variable interval of 30 secs - 1 minute. This may be another bug in Mandriva, which has served up a wealth of them in this version. Vimeo plays through without a hitch. I prefer Vimeo. Besides I didn't see the half-naked chick some other viewer was treated to in Blip.tv. Probably another Mandriva bug.
I think the press hat you wore today needs reblocking. Other than that, I enjoy the show. Keep up the good work.
System: Slackware 12.1, AMD Athlon XP1800+, 768MB ram, Asus A7N8X-2 mobo with nForce2 sound, nVidia GeForce 7600GS with 512MB video ram, Samsung 226BW monitor. Both clips are very close in quality, but my choice goes to Vimeo because of better sound and more natural skin tones.
I gave Blip every possible chance, as well as, allowing the video stream to completely load. I am not surprised by the fact that Vimeo won out. The integrity of the stream definitely won me over when first I saw you on line for Tuesday's show. Blip, I allowed to load approx. half way before switching to full-screen mode. However, I immediately went to full-screen mode when viewing with Vimeo and saw (only the usual artifacts of quick motion) better definition and color. WFTL, I hope this helps you make your decision. Also, to close I would recommend that you say something about what streaming server domain you are using on the episode's announcement. With all the "clickjacking" going on I was hesitant to allow Blip.TV's server even temporary access.
LF: a.k.a Joseph
PS: I will enjoy having access by any stream you choose! Please, put a blurb on the page regarding which server I am supposed to allow access (If I missed this somehow, please, accept my humble apologies).
PPS: Are you taking more of an interest in Xandros as an alternative Linux system? I have noticed that it is being provided on some of the smaller and lightweight laptops I have been perusing lately. I have tried to use the UBUNTU distros but something always seems to not work for me, audio, video, etc..
I like Blib.tv because I like the Blip TV version a little bit better than vimeo.com. It's simple to use. You can download the original quality version of any video from Megavideo.com. vid23.com is the only site that offers this feature. Before, only premium members on Megavideo were able to download the original quality version of the videos on the site, but now anyone can download them through vid23.com.
Blip needs less bandwidth
On my not so fast ISP Blip needs about half the bandwidth compared to vimeo.
BlipTV
While either would be a perfectly good choice, personally I like the Blip TV version a little better. The UI is on the bottom and out of the way.
None
Hello from Europe.
I like Blib.tv. Because it has less drop outs and runs smooth. vimeo, which isn't bad at all, does look like it has less resolution and it had it's drops and hangs.
BUT! As a user of free and really free OS I miss an offer that uses a free codec like ogg theora. Flash or the pest of the internet isn't very funny when running Linux on a PowerPC.
So write a letter to RMS demanding a free video-share side supporting free codecs without the need for flash ;-)
And I miss your show on wftlbytes.com. Taht one with the lawyer from Digital Tipping Point. Was that on upstream or ustrem? Can't find it any more, where is it?
Any chances that you run out of unique press hats? Go on!
Which one, which one...
I like the color slightly more in Blip, and the vimeo letter boxing is frustrating.
BTW, I like the widescreen video. :)
This is v hard...
I'm responding from Australia where broadband isn't always what it is cracked-up to be. I'm on a 512 Kb/s plan and I normally get about 59 or 60 kbps download speed. I found that I was getting the Blip.tv video as an almost continuous service. There were four significant pauses in the running of the video. There were also five very small dislocations of the sound and the video during the whole session.
With Vimeo there were 14 significant pauses and about five dislocations. I have a download speed monitor in my Ubuntu 8.04 panel and in both cases the download seems to be continuous and at about the same level (maybe 95% of full height).
I used both small-screen and full-screen modes. I liked the full-screen presentation of Vimeo (very minimal) but thought that the resolution of your movement was poorer than with Blip.tv.
What I see onscreen before the show, with Vimeo, says more about what I will be looking at, whereas Blip has only the words "wftl bytes!" to show what will appear when I play it. But I thought that that might just be your original setup Marcel, and that Blip will have as good a presentation if you managed to configure it to summarise the video.
My sound is a real cheap system but both videos had the same quality sound - but I'm also partly deaf so anyone else will be a better judge.
I think that, overall, I'd prefer the Blip.tv presentation, but I can tolerate either in the future.
Blip is much clearer ...
I am running Debian 4 with Iceweasel. The Blip is much, much clearer and there is no lag or choppy frames.
Troy in New Mexico
Vimeo
Vimeo Vimeo Vimeo!!
blip.tv has this, hey come look at this half naked chick run theme.
Vimeo has this hey come look at this cool opensource theme/sundancesque video I made that is Creative Commonsed...
Vimeo much more respectable.
Blip.tv looks a little
Blip.tv looks a little clearer to me. I like the way Vimeo hides the controls until you mouseover, but blip.tv gives you a larger viewing pane - and, as I mentioned, it does look a tiny bit less muddy than Vimeo. (Or, Vimeo seems to be a little less clear as far as video quality goes. I was perfectly happy with the Vimeo player before seeing Blip.tv.
As for secondary details, like title blocks and the controls interface, I think Vimeo is the hands down winner.
Gar
Vimeo
Vimeo Vimeo Vimeo!!
blip.tv has this, hey come look at this half naked chick run theme.
Vimeo has this hey come look at this cool opensource theme/sundancesque video I made that is Creative Commonsed...
Vimeo much more respectable.
Vimeo vs. blip.tv
2009.0, 1 Gb RAM). Blip.tv stops and locks up during playback, after a variable interval of 30 secs - 1 minute. This may be another bug in Mandriva, which has served up a wealth of them in this version. Vimeo plays through without a hitch. I prefer Vimeo. Besides I didn't see the half-naked chick some other viewer was treated to in Blip.tv. Probably another Mandriva bug.
I think the press hat you wore today needs reblocking. Other than that, I enjoy the show. Keep up the good work.
Chuck
vimeo vs blip
System: Slackware 12.1, AMD Athlon XP1800+, 768MB ram, Asus A7N8X-2 mobo with nForce2 sound, nVidia GeForce 7600GS with 512MB video ram, Samsung 226BW monitor. Both clips are very close in quality, but my choice goes to Vimeo because of better sound and more natural skin tones.
Vimeo is better full-screen IMHO
I gave Blip every possible chance, as well as, allowing the video stream to completely load. I am not surprised by the fact that Vimeo won out. The integrity of the stream definitely won me over when first I saw you on line for Tuesday's show. Blip, I allowed to load approx. half way before switching to full-screen mode. However, I immediately went to full-screen mode when viewing with Vimeo and saw (only the usual artifacts of quick motion) better definition and color. WFTL, I hope this helps you make your decision. Also, to close I would recommend that you say something about what streaming server domain you are using on the episode's announcement. With all the "clickjacking" going on I was hesitant to allow Blip.TV's server even temporary access.
LF: a.k.a Joseph
PS: I will enjoy having access by any stream you choose! Please, put a blurb on the page regarding which server I am supposed to allow access (If I missed this somehow, please, accept my humble apologies).
PPS: Are you taking more of an interest in Xandros as an alternative Linux system? I have noticed that it is being provided on some of the smaller and lightweight laptops I have been perusing lately. I have tried to use the UBUNTU distros but something always seems to not work for me, audio, video, etc..
Blip.tv
I like Blib.tv because I like the Blip TV version a little bit better than vimeo.com. It's simple to use. You can download the original quality version of any video from Megavideo.com. vid23.com is the only site that offers this feature. Before, only premium members on Megavideo were able to download the original quality version of the videos on the site, but now anyone can download them through vid23.com.
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