Optimal width for Xvid conversion

[MysticE]

I had a favorite DVD (NTSC) that had some scratches. Was finally able to make a copy. The final size was 5.71GB. I decided to make an Xvid for my Philips player

I used this little app with it's best (I presume) one pass setting.

-ovc xvid -xvidencopts fixed_quant=2:max_bframes=1:bquant_ratio=162:bquan t_offset=100:vhq=2:me_quality=6:chroma_me:chroma_o pt:hq_ac:trellis:lumi_mask:autoaspect:bvhq=1

http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=127298

It auto crops the width to 656. My question is would I be better off using the "Original Size' option instead, that way avoiding any resizing?

[guns1inger]

Not all players observe aspect ratio flags, so it is generally best to encode Xvid/Divx AVI files with a 1:1 PAR. This means resizing along the way. I encode my (PAL) material with a 720 width. It needs a little more bitrate due to the increased resolution, but it looks good on my LCD.

[MysticE]

I had tried it both ways, but these old eyes were hard pressed to notice a difference on my plasma. I'll stick with 720.

Thx