Higher bitrates on future Warner releases?

[Verbal]

Codec is short for Compression/Decompression (the same way modem is short for modulator/demodulator). It's a term used to describe an algorithm that performs both processes on digital media. In other words, it's a way of shrinking a large amount of data into a smaller space than would normally be required on a disc, and then expanding it to its original state when it's played.

VC-1 (or Video Codec 1) is an advanced version of Microsoft's WMV (Windows Media Video) codec.

AVC (or Advanced Video Coding) is the "competing" codec for HD media. AVC is part of the MPEG-4 video/audio standard, developed by the Motion Picture Experts Group.

As to which one is better, that's really in the eye of the beholder. I personally prefer AVC because it has a more "filmic" look about it. I find VC-1 looks a bit too much like video.