A quick computer video questionaire...

I'd like to assess my guests' video-playing capabilities. Why? Because when I move to a new and better (ie, more flexible and functional) blog format sometime this year, I'd like to have the ability to include High-Definition video clips instead of being limited to the small YouTube ones I use now.

I appreciate you taking just a few minutes, if you can, to answer these 10 questions, to the best of your knowledge. If you don't know something, don't worry about it - There's an "I don't know" option for pretty much every question. Just do your best; any info is better for me than nothing at all.

So if you would, please answer the following questions about your current computer.

1. Operating system - I use:
a) Windows 7
b) Windows Vista
c) Windows XP
d) Mac OS X (any "cat" version)
e) Linux (any "flavor")
f) Other (please name if you know)

2. Media player - For video (music may be different), I usually use:
a) Windows Media Player
b) Quicktime Player
c) VideoLan player (VLC)
d) Windows Media Classic
e) RealPlayer
f) Other (please name if you know) or more than one of these

3. I can play files using the following extensions/filetypes (list all you know that work):
a) AVI
b) MPG (or MPEG)
c) MOV
d) WMV
e) MP4 (or MKV)
f) I don't know about any of this

4. My computer has the proper codecs to play/decode (list all that apply):
a) Divx
b) Xvid
c) H.264
d) Quicktime
e) WMV
f) I don't know about any of this

5. I prefer videos in an aspect-ratio (width to height) of:
a) 4:3 - old standard for television; most close to "square"
b) 16:9 - the majority of newer widescreen computer monitors use this
c) 16:10 - I have a Dell monitor!
d) 1.85:1 - many feature films use this, especially comedies and lighter fare
e) 2.35:1 - most "epic" films use this widest of all ratios; Panavision invented it
f) I have no idea or no preference (or I want to leave an explanation)

6. I use this size monitor for my computer:
a) 14"/15" (upgrade!)
b) 17"/19"
c) 20"/21"
d) 23"/24"
e) 27"/30"
f) other

7. To surf blogs and watch video on the computer, I typically use:
a) A desktop computer
b) A laptop
c) An iPad (coming soon)
d) An iPod or Zune
e) A mobile phone ("smartphone")
f) I'm not sure (or comments)

8. My computer (CPU, Videocard, etc, as a whole) can smoothly play back:
a) 360p video (everyone who can watch youtube can handle this)
b) 480p video
c) 720p video
d) 1080p video
e) Even higher than 1080p
f) Check here if you're not sure about the higher resolutions - try all three...

9. My primary computer monitor is:
a) Standard (older style, more nearly square, like an older TV)
b) Widescreen (like newer HDTVs)

LAST QUESTION!
10. My normal screen resolution is:
click here and report what it says! (if you're on your own computer now)

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The more feedback I get, the better I will know what kind of target machines to design for. It's always a balancing act between wanting the biggest, highest resolution video possible while still allowing nearly everyone with a reasonable computer to play it back smoothly, without freezing or stuttering or just showing a blank.

I like 720p wide format (6:9 or so) for most general video clips (maybe a wider format for movies), as it seems like a good compromise between high quality and still reasonable size. But I won't force that on people if few people's machines can handle it. Although, any computer purchased in recent years should have no problem. Technology has progressed rapidly, as usual.

Thank you!