My understanding is that MJPEG capture boards run in the $10K price range,
while an MJPEG playback capable board costs $300-500. I have no idea where you
go to buy a MJPEG capture board. But, the main reason
AVI is less expensive is the hardware cost issue. MJPEG is superior on the
basis that it allows smoother faster use of video at higher resolutions, ie.
you can get faster frame rates and can playback at full screen sizes. Looking
at an MJPEG demo recently it also struck me that the audio playback was
superior and in stereo. You should be able to find an MJPEG playback board demo
at most of the larger Computer stores, where the current offerings seem to be
Hollywood movies on CD-ROM.
Dave,
I may be wrong but I think that you are confusing M-JPEG with MPEG. Realtime
MPEG encoders are very expensive but you can get M-JPEG encoders for under
$1000.
-John