theora - May 2011 - Theora decoding performance

As far as my very limited knowledge goes the Theora video format is less 
complex than H.264 (High Profile for example). Please correct me if I am 
wrong.

Does this also mean that I can expect that decoding a Theora stream is 
easier/faster to decode than a H.264 stream with comparable quality / or 
comparable bitrate?

My (very practical) tests do show that it's easier for my computer to 
decode the same video as Theora than H.264 which stutters more easily. 
It would make sense that decoding something less complex is faster than 
something more complex. At least as long as no hardware video 
acceleration comes into play.

Can someone confirm this or has someone perhaps verified this in the past?

Regards,
Franz

On 05/18/2011 02:38 AM, fboehm wrote:
> As far as my very limited knowledge goes the Theora video format is less 
> complex than H.264 (High Profile for example). Please correct me if I am 
> wrong.
> 
> Does this also mean that I can expect that decoding a Theora stream is 
> easier/faster to decode than a H.264 stream with comparable quality / or 
> comparable bitrate?
...
> At least as long as no hardware video 
> acceleration comes into play.
Yes.  In pure software decode, decoding Theora will generally be faster
than decoding H.264 (especially High Profile), all else being equal.

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