Relacion Bitrate Calidad Multimedia

Posted : admin On 04.08.2019

Format, Dimensions SD pixels (4:3), Dimensions HD pixels (16:9), Field/Frame Rate fps, File type, Encoded today, Bitrate (kbit/s), Directory, Other info. Esqeue para poder comprender al 100 como cambia la calidad de sonido hay que jugar con los 2 parametros: Bitrate y Sample rate, por ejemplo si tengo una cancion que esta en 320kbps pero tiene un bitrate 44100 es algo desconpensado y sonara esactamente igual que una 128kbps con 44100, la calidad de audio sera la misma pero el peso sera variable.

Dear Lifehacker,
I hear a lot of arguing about 'lossless' and 'lossy' music these days, but I'm having a hard time getting straight answers. Does bitrate really matter? Can most people tell the difference between high and low bitrate music files?

Thanks,
Angry Audiophile

Photo by Tess Watson.

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Hey Angry,
We understand your frustration. While you may have some idea about what bitrate is, the 'can audiophiles really tell the difference' argument has raged on for quite some time, and it's hard to get people to drop their egos and actually explain what these things mean and whether they really matter. Here's a bit of information on bitrate and how it applies to our practical music listening experience.

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Blast from the past is a weekly feature at Lifehacker in which we revive old, but still relevant, posts for your reading and hacking pleasure. This week, we revisit a much-needed explainer on digital music quality.

What Is Bitrate?

You've probably heard the term 'bitrate' before, and you probably have a general idea of what it means, but just as a refresher, it's probably a good idea to get acquainted with its official definition so you know how all this stuff works. Bitrate refers to the number of bits—or the amount of data—that are processed over a certain amount of time. In audio, this usually means kilobits per second. For example, the music you buy on iTunes is 256 kilobits per second, meaning there are 256 kilobits of data stored in every second of a song.

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The higher the bitrate of a track, the more space it will take up on your computer. Generally, an audio CD will actually take up quite a bit of space, which is why it's become common practice to compress those files down so you can fit more on your hard drive (or iPod, or Dropbox, or whatever). It is here where the argument over 'lossless' and 'lossy' audio comes in.

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Relacion Bitrate Calidad Multimedia

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Lossless and Lossy Formats

When we say 'lossless', we mean that we haven't really altered the original file. That is, we've ripped a track from a CD to our hard drive, but haven't compressed it to the point where we've lost any data. It is, for all intents and purposes, the same as the original CD track.

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More often than not, however, you probably rip your music as 'lossy'. That is, you've taken a CD, ripped it to your hard drive, and compressed the tracks down so they don't take up as much space. A typical MP3 or AAC album probably takes up 100MB or so. That same album in lossless format, though—such as FLAC or ALAC (also known as Apple Lossless) would take up closer to 300MB, so it's become common practice to use lossy formats for faster downloading and more hard drive savings.

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The problem is that when you compress a file to save space, you're deleting chunks of data. Just like when you take a PNG screenshot of your computer screen, and compress it to a JPEG, your computer is taking the original data and 'cheating' on certain parts of the image, making it mostly the same but with some loss of clarity and quality. Take the two images below as an example: the one on the right has clearly been compressed, and it's quality has diminished as a result. (You'll probably want to expand the image for a closer look to see the differences—look at the fox's ears and nose).

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Remember, of course, that you're still reaping the benefits of hard drive space with lossy music (which can make a big difference on a 32 GB iPhone), it's just the tradeoff you make. There are different levels of lossiness, as well: 128kbps, for example, takes up very little space, but will also be lower quality than a larger 320kbps file, which is lower quality than an even larger 1,411 kbps file (which is considered lossless). However, there's a lot of argument as to whether most people can even hear the difference between different bitrates.

Does It Really Matter?

Since storage has become so cheap, listening to higher-bitrate audio is starting to become a more popular (and practical) practice. But is it worth the time, effort, and space? I always hate answering questions this way, but unfortunately the answer is: it depends.

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Part of the equation is the gear you use. If you're using a quality pair of headphones or speakers, you're privy to a large range of sound. As such, you're more likely to notice certain imperfections that come with compressing music into lower bitrate files. You may notice that a certain level of detail is missing in low-quality MP3s; subtle background tracks might be more difficult to hear, the highs and lows won't be as dynamic, or you might just plain hear a bit of distortion. In these cases, you might want to get a higher bitrate track.

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How to Choose the Perfect Pair of Headphones

Whether you're at home or on the go, many of us spend a lot of time listening to music on our…

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If you're listening to your music with a pair of crappy earbuds on your iPod, however, you probably aren't going to notice a difference between a 128 kbps file and a 320 kbps file, let alone a 320 kbps file and a lossless 1,411 kbps file. Remember when I showed you the image a few paragraphs up, and noted that you probably had to enlarge it to see the imperfections? Your earbuds are like the shrunken-down version of the image: they're going to make those imperfections harder to notice, since they won't put out as big a range of sound.

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The other part of the equation, of course, is your own ears. Some people may just not care enough, or may just not have the more attuned listening skills to tell the difference between two different bitrates. This is something you can develop over time, of course, but if you haven't yet, then it doesn't particularly matter what bitrate you use, does it? As with all things, go with what works best for you.

So how high of a bitrate should you use? Is 320kbps okay, or do you need to go lossless? The fact of the matter is that it's very difficult to hear the difference between a lossless file and a 320kbps MP3 (though you can run this test to find out if you can hear the difference). You'd need some serious high-end gear, a very trained ear, and a certain type of music (like classical or jazz) to hear the difference. For the vast majority of people, 320kbps is more than adequate for listening. You don't need to pain yourself with finding lossless copies of all your favorite songs. Photo by Marcin Wichary.

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Concluding the Great MP3 Bitrate Experiment

And now for the dramatic conclusion to The Great MP3 Bitrate Experiment you've all been…

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Other Things to Consider

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All that said, lossless file types do have their place. Lossless files are more futureproof, in the sense that you can always compress music down to a lossier format, but you can't take lossy files back to lossless unless you re-rip the CD entirely. This is, again, one of the fundamental issues with online music stores: if you've built up a huge library of iTunes music and one day decide that you'd like it in a higher bitrate, you'll have to buy it again, this time in CD form. You can't just put data back where it's been deleted. When possible, I always buy or rip in lossless just for backup purposes, but I'm a little overly obsessive—MP3 is a great standard, and it isn't likely to change anytime soon, so unless you plan on converting your music at a later date, you're probably fine just ripping or buying in MP3 format. Photo by Charlotte L.

Solo divinity original sin 2

All of this is merely scratching the surface of the audiophile's challenge. There is of course a lot more to talk about, like variable bitrate and coding efficiency, but this should provide a simple introduction for the uninitiated. As I said before, it all depends on you, your hearing, and the gear you have at your disposal, so give it a shot. Compare two tracks side by side, try out some different audio formats for awhile, and see what it does for you. At the worst, you've spent a few hours listening to some of your favorite music—and isn't that what this is all about anyway? Enjoy it!

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Sincerely,
Lifehacker

P.S. Many of you undoubtedly have your own views on the subject, whether you're a bitrate-hungry audiophile or if you belong to the 'if I can hear it, it works for me' philosophy. Share your thoughts and experiences with us in the comments.

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Los formatos de vídeo pueden ser confusos, y es posible que algunos no funcionen en el reproductor de vídeo de su elección, especialmente los formatos menos comunes como MKV. A menudo es más fácil o incluso necesario convertirlos a algo más usable, como MP4. Afortunadamente, esa conversión es fácil de hacer.

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Nota: Estamos usando Windows para nuestros ejemplos y capturas de pantalla en este artículo, pero todas las aplicaciones que estamos usando aquí funcionan de forma prácticamente idéntica en MacOS.

¿Qué son los archivos MKV y por qué debería convertirlos?

MKV no es un formato de vídeo. En su lugar, se trata de un formato de contenedor multimedia utilizado para combinar diferentes elementos como audio, vídeo y subtítulos en un único archivo. Esto significa que puede utilizar cualquier codificación de vídeo que desee en un archivo MKV y seguir reproduciéndolo.

El problema surge con la compatibilidad. No todos los dispositivos o aplicaciones de vídeo pueden reproducir archivos MKV, y eso es especialmente cierto en los dispositivos móviles. MKV es de código abierto, y no un estándar de la industria, por lo que no tiene soporte en muchos dispositivos. Ni siquiera funcionará en el Reproductor de Windows Media o Quicktime, con los valores predeterminados para Windows y MacOS.

La solución: Convierte tus archivos MKV a MP4. MP4 es compatible con la mayoría de los dispositivos y aplicaciones, y no perderá mucha calidad (si la hay) en el proceso de conversión.

La solución más completa: Conversor de vídeo WinX

En este programa, hay mucho más bajo el capó de lo que usted podría desear, pero en caso de que este haciendo algún trabajo de producción de vídeos, le resultaría muy útil. Use WinX VideoProc para que haga todo el trabajo.

Cuando lo abra, haga clic en la pestaña “Video” en la parte superior, y la primera pantalla que vea le pedirá que arrastre el contenido multimedia hacia ella. Arrastre el archivo y el resto de los controles aparecerán.

También puedes añadir carpetas enteras de vídeos y codificarlos todos a la vez, pero por ahora nos limitaremos a un único vídeo.

Una vez más, la opción de conversión por defecto es MP4, así que no tenemos que cambiar mucho allí, pero si quieres echar un vistazo debajo del capó, puedes hacer doble clic en el perfil para cambiar la configuración. Luego haga clic en “Bien”.

Desde aquí se pueden cambiar muchas opciones, entre las que destacan las siguientes:

  • Calidad de imagen, para ajustar la calidad en cada fotograma, y la velocidad de codificación
  • Bitrate, para reducir el tamaño de los archivos a costa de la calidad
  • Velocidad de fotogramas, para convertir hasta 30 o 24 fps de vídeo
  • Resolución y relación de aspecto

También hay opciones de códecs de audio, pero el audio constituye una parte tan pequeña del vídeo que vale la pena mantenerlo en una configuración alta.

Una vez que haya terminado de configurar, puede pulsar “Run” para iniciar la conversión.

La conversión de vídeo puede tardar un poco, especialmente con los vídeos de mayor tamaño, pero una vez finalizada, la aplicación abrirá automáticamente la carpeta en la que guardó los archivos.

Alternativas de código abierto

WinX es shareware, y aunque puedes hacer muchas cosas con la versión de prueba, la aplicación completa está bloqueada a menos que pagues por la versión Premium. Si quieres el mismo nivel de personalización gratis, vale la pena probar HandBrake

HandBrake es un poco más aerodinámico, pero su interfaz puede ser un poco confusa. Con tantas opciones y botones, es un poco difícil saber quién hace qué, pero los básicos que necesitas saber son los presets (que afectan a la calidad y a la velocidad de codificación) y el formato (que por defecto es MP4 como los otros).

Handbrake tiene una buena cola para alinear múltiples codificaciones pero no tiene la misma opción de codificar carpetas enteras que WinX. Sin embargo, puede agregar varios archivos individualmente y luego agregarlos todos a la cola. Sin embargo, sigue siendo útil, ya que la codificación de archivos muy grandes a veces puede llevar horas, dependiendo de las especificaciones de su ordenador.