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See [[algorithm]]. Format is rather a file format or a special container format. Why do we need this article and [[Video codec]]? <span style="text-shadow: 0.1em 0.1em 0.2em black">[[User:ScotXW]]</span><sup>[[User talk:ScotXW|t@lk]]</sup> 20:59, 27 June 2014 (UTC)
:Because a [[video codec]], as the article explains, is a piece of software or hardware, an implementation. Typically a software library. While video compression format refers to the specification. Two completely different things. The difference between a specification and an implementation is one of the most crucial things to understand in the world of digital technology. And "Video compression format" is perfectly fine. It is actually the bitstream format, the way the produced video bitstream must be formed to meet the specification. You could rename it to "video compression standard", as that's the way it is called in specifications such as H.264, but then you could argue what the word "standard" really means and which specification is "standardized" etc. "Algorithm" is not a good way to call it. Acutally, the implementations—codecs—use algorithms to encode and decode the video. But they are free to use any algorithm they choose to achieve the result. This is especially true with encoders. There are many different encoders made by different people that use the same format. They all use different algorithms and therefore achieve very different results (different picture quality for the same bitrate). The only requirement is that they produce streams in the specified video compression format. Because, again, specification (standard, format description) is not the implementation (codec, a piece of software or hardware that follows the specification), even though, admittedly, many people confuse these two things.—[[User:J. M.|J. M.]] ([[User talk:J. M.|talk]]) 00:58, 28 June 2014 (UTC)
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