Recently Ive noticed more and more people doing DVDrips and BRips onto smaller and smaller file sizes. Whereas in the past, an xvidSD encode of a 120min film would result in a 600MB/800MB file, Now Im seeing 400MB and smaller mkv files (in h264 I believe). I0, seeing the same in 720p files, with more and more people getting a 800MB/900MB file instead of a 3.0GB one.
My question is, is this type of compression worthwhile? Are they getting the same results, comparatively to older xvid encodes? As an example, Im looking at the specs of the following encode and am curious to know if this is actually the result of excessive compression:
The trend started when ISPs began the trend of bandwidth caps. In my opinion these are worth all the hype, although of course the quality is subpar compared to full 2-4GB~ BD-Rips. When I'm just "curious" about a movie, these are worth saving the bandwidth and time on. Plus, on larger TVs the files don't need as much upscaling given that they are already 720presolution.
My situation exactly. But, considering you wouldn't really care for bandwidth and a 700Mb encode would be okay for a mildly interesting movie, how would you compare, say a 300Mb H264 vs a 700Mb divx? When would the compression on the h264 become unacceptable in comparison to the divx?
