11. Effect Of Settings On Performance

The new features like quarter pixel (QP), global motion compensation (GMC), and bi-directional encoding (BD) can have a positive impact on the quality of the output file. In practice, bi-directional encoding offers improvements that even the lay user will recognize. In certain circumstances, QP can detract from the perceived result, if it is output on a PC monitor. On a television screen, on the other hand, QP is very convincing. Whenever the new settings are activated, encoding performance declines rapidly. This chart shows the impact on performance. The 1-Pass and 2-Pass modes and every possible QP/ GMC/ BD combination were all taken into consideration. In terms of performance, definite advantages can be seen in the Athlon XP over the Intel Pentium 4.

The values for the Athlon are shown in the green bars, and the Pentium 4 results are in gray.