damien

H.264 is a codec that improves the viability of video on the web, and has immediate application advantages for broadcast, cable, and videoconferencing. It’s also known as MPEG 4 path 10.
The implication for new media content is obvious- suddenly our productions have a more affordable distribution and marketing capability.

http://www.shapeofdays.com/2005/05/more_h264_demon.html
this site has a good demonstration of H.264 using action footage from Saving Private Ryan and talking heads in front of static backgrounds from The West Wing. Not my favorite movies but they clearly illustrate the point.
Five different samples for each clip are provided for comparison :
* Encoded at 256 kilobits per second
* Encoded at 512 kilobits per second
* Encoded at 768 kilobits per second
* Encoded at 2,048 kilobits per second
* Encoded at 4,096 kilobits per second
The important aspect here is that codecs are most susceptible to artifacting(breakdown of the pixels) when there is a lot of movement within the frame.
The results show that, even with dynamic action sequences, an encoding bit rate of 2048kbs or higher will look like DVD quality whilst significantly reducing the file size. Static scenes (eg a short interview clip, say, for a vog) could get away with 512 or 768. This is a very good thing!

QuickTime 7 features a state-of-the-art video codec called H.264, which delivers stunning quality at remarkably low data rates. Ratified as part of the MPEG-4 standard (MPEG-4 Part 10), this ultra-efficient technology gives you excellent results across a broad range of bandwidths, from 3G for mobile devices to iChat AV for video conferencing to HD for broadcast and DVD

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