[parody]

So I'm about to archive off all my blurays, only the ones i've watched, and compress them to DVD5 size for storage on the MC and playback with XBMC. I want to do DVD5 size so I can later dump them to disc if I want to.

Any preference, given the same bitrate/filesize as a target, whether to use 720p or 1080p? Technically and objectively... I have 1080p TV and use HDMI.

I would convert the same movie twice and compare but the PC wasnt built for that and takes 18 hrs to do one movie!

[MidnightWatcher]

A good 720p encode looks better than a not-so-good 1080p encode, imho.

[CSB!]

Some people can't tell the difference between a scene standard sized 720p movie an a 1gB 1080p 3 hour movie... a surprisingly low proportion of those people are in fact not blind. That being said, you should take a demo clip (maybe something with a lot of motion in it) and encode it with various settings, and see what you like best. If you don't want to do that, I'd use the suggested settings:

2.13) Video bitrate should be as follows:
2.13.1) 720p - Minimum 4000 kbit, maximum 8000 kbit. Minimum bitrate for animation is 2300 kbit.
2.13.2) 1080p - Minimum 8000 kbit, maximum 14000 kbit, though not more than source-2000kbit. Minimum bitrate for animation is 5000 kbit.

[ Suggested encode settings for 720p ]
3.1) First pass:
x264.exe --pass 1 --profile high --stats movie.stats --bitrate 4000 --preset slow -o NUL movie.avs
3.2) Second pass:
x264.exe --pass 2 --profile high --stats movie.stats --bitrate 4000 --preset slow --ref 5 --subme 7 --analyse all --no-fast-pskip -o movie.mkv movie.avs

[procrastinator]

It's also worth considering whether you'd actually notice any difference when watching it on your TV. Unless you have a very big TV, or sit very close then you might not even be able to tell the difference between 720p and 1080p.

Consult this chart for more info
http://hd.engadget.com/2006/12/09/1080p-...reen-size/

[parody]

Cool, thats a handy chart, and i sit in the 1080p starts to become visible region.

However the general assumption, I think, is that 1080p will also be a higher bitrate.

What I'm more interested in is an equivalent bit rate at different resolutions. i.e I would expect less artefacts in 720@5000kbps than 1080@5000kbps, however the image has to still be stretched by the TV or PC to fill 1080 resolution, so what ends up better? Also how about 1080i@5000kbps?

You are right I do need to test some sample, but I was wondering if there is a general consensus or technical reason to choose one over the other.

[>>X<<]

Its kind of a no brainer if you ask me go for 720p

You might get away with 1080p at DVD5 sizes with some movies but any with fast detailed scenes are going to suffer

[parody]

thats the kind of authorative answer I'm after!

[>>X<<]

I've compared a few movies at the two sizes 720p and 1080p and found it really difficult to see a difference that's on a pretty good 50" 1080p screen of course that's just my personal opinion