FLV Video quality

Flash video is a decent format -- comparable to any other video format. The video codec was developed by Macromedia and Sorenson. A couple of years ago, when Macromedia first enabled video in the flash plugin, Sorenson took some heat from Apple/Quicktime -- as if Apple were saying... "hey, Sorenson, you can't use the same technology you developed with us for someone else."

So anyway, technically the video FLV video format is on version 1 -- with forward thinking companies like Macromedia and Sorenson this technology will only get better with time. I haven't done any high-level testing with the quality, but the pro version enables the codec to load up with all of the major compression utilities, like Avid Cleaner, Quicktime, etc. FLV video exporter/compressor is set up much like windows media video exporter/compressor.

They are entering the race late, but have a huge advantage - near 100% plugin penetration... I haven't done any research on Real, Windows Media or Quicktime plugin market saturation figures, but if i had to guess, i'd say:

Real: 25%
Windows Media: 50%
Quicktime: 25%

These percentages reflect a personal (yet professional) guess at "real world usage" -- like, what do people really use. Right now, the video scene is a real pain in the but for developers... FLV is a dream come true.

See Also:

What does streaming mean?

How does Wimpy stream audio and video?

FLV compression settings.