What format should I convert my home video to for web and mobile?

Question

I have a c# mvc4 twitter bootstap appharbor web site. Currently I use Vimeo but I want to do it myself. I want to convert to an html5 & mobile friendly format and need to know the best format to use and what I can use to convert to from a straight home filmed DVD

Answer 1

There is actually no single "best" format. You will need to use different formats depending on the devices / browsers you intend to support.

From Zencoder - How Many Formats Do I Need For HTML4 Video:

Minimally, you must use MP4 + H.264, with AAC or MP3. MP4 video plays natively in Safari, Chrome, and IE9 (Vista/Windows 7). It is also your best option for a Flash video fallback, and plays natively on many devices (iOS, Android, Blackberry, PSP, Xbox, PS3, etc.). Use H.264 High Profile for the best quality, or Baseline profile if you want the same video to be playable on mobile devices.

Beyond that, use either WebM + VP8 or Ogg + Theora with Vorbis audio for other browsers. WebM works in Firefox (4+), Chrome (6+ or Chromium), and Opera (10.60+), and Ogg works in Firefox (3.5+), Chrome (3+), and Opera (10.54+).