While CODECs, like H.264 and MJPEG, get all the attention, a camera's 'quality' or compression setting has a big impact on overall quality. In this training, we explain what this level is, what options you have and how you should optimize it.

Let's start by reviewing these two images from two cameras - (A) and (B):

Here's a question. Please answer before continuing:

If your gut feel is that this is a trick question you are right. Indeed, with the information presented, the best answer is likely that it cannot be determined. In this case, the technically correct answer is 'neither - they are the same resolution'. We used the same camera for each image and simply lowered the quality level for the 'B' image (while keeping everything else the same, including resolution - 720p - and CODEC - H.264).

The fact that two exact shots with the same resolution can look significantly different has a number of important implications. Inside, we dig in.