Resolution vs. Video Quality

[Chad Davis]

Sorry to bother the group but I could not locate any other emails on this topic. I have been using Clone DVD Mobile to convert my library for use on an Apple TV but I can't seem to get a sense for the right balance between using a higher resolution setting or bumping the video quality. For example, is a video resolution of 1020 x 720 at a medium level better then 640 x 320 at the highest level.

Does anyone have a recommendation on which one produces a better combination?

I am displaying the video on a 50" Plasma via the Apple TV. Thanks for your help.

 

[KnoWei]

Sorry to bother the group but I could not locate any other emails on this topic. I have been using Clone DVD Mobile to convert my library for use on an Apple TV but I can't seem to get a sense for the right balance between using a higher resolution setting or bumping the video quality. For example, is a video resolution of 1020 x 720 at a medium level better then 640 x 320 at the highest level.

You don't say whether you are PAL or NTSC. I'll assume NTSC. I don't think you will get any appreciable improvement by using a resolution larger than 640x480 for a 4:3 source and 720x404 for a 16x9 or other wide source. Players tend to adjust the final size of the movie to more or less fit your screen based on what kind of display device (your TV) you've told the player it's connected to.

The video quality slider will increase or decrease the average bits per second for the movie. Lots of contrast or change in a scene requires more bits; less change in scenes require less bits. If final file size is not a constraint then go for the highest quality setting and use one of the resolutions above.

You can always experiment a bit by simply encoding a single chapter from the same movie with different settings and see if you notice a difference.

I have tried to play a lower resolution (320x240) file on a regular TV. The player upsized it to fill the TV screen but there was definitely pixilation (large color squares) in the picture. Whereas the same movie encoded with a high quality setting and 640x480 resolution looks very clean.

~KnoWei