Diminishing returns

[VioletHue]

Being new to all this but learning fast, I was wondering what the current thought is on quality vs size.

I don't mind buying new storage but I would like to have true DVD quality in a file size that is as small as possible. I am not interested in burning, just storing on hard drive. I would like the movies to be around 2GB however if there is still a highly noticable difference going to 2.5GB or 3GB then I would bite the bullet and just decide on buying a lot of hard drive space this year.

So I am open for opinions on the issue.

[pelle412]

This is a topic that is usually not discussed very much since it doesn't have a definitive answer. It's a matter of individual preference.

If you are going to watch your movies on a TV set, going to such extremes is mostly a waste, but if you're watching them at high-res on your computer.... you can see why there are 1000s of answers to this topic and none of them are really right or wrong.

There's a forum rule about these discussions, you may want to check them out.

[VioletHue]

Indeed, I was not looking for a "best" answer, only seeking opinions. I will be watching on 65" HDTV with component inputs from ATI AIW 9600.

[Teegedeck]

So are we talking about DVD resolution or HDTV resolution? For the former I'd say with 2GB you should well get close to an original DVD's quality for an average movie. Provided you encode anamorphically (just cropping, no resizing) and don't insist on putting the AC3 sound in there but rather use stereo AAC or 5.1 HE AAC.

In that 'high end' area you should turn to custom matrices like SixOfNine(-HVS) or semi-insane. Do the first pass at quant=3 and read the related threads we had here.