Resolution vs bitrate

[Arturo2003]

I am converting old 8mm and Hi8 videos to DVD. I capture to DV using a Sony TRV350 (Digital8) camera and process to DVD with Ulead Video Studio 7.
I want to have two hours in a disc, so I must encode at 4000 Mbs

Considering the source, what is better:

Half resolution (352 x 480) at 4000 Mbs, or
Full DVD (720 x 480) at 4000 Mbs

[MYoung]

I would say go half D1 as Hi-8 and certainly Video-8 will not be able to take advantage of full D1. In addition, having a 4000kbps bitrate for a smaller resolution will yield less digital artifacts than a 4000kbps bitrate for a larger resolution. You might want to try a small sample of each format and see what you like better. Test a sample with a little motion and one with lots of motion.

[bottle-necked]

It's hard to calculate VBR. It sounds like you calculated CBR instead. Like stated above, make a few short clips and besides checking your picture quality also check your filesize. With VBR you can probabaly raise the bitrate quite a bit giving you even more quality. A few simple 1 minute tests and a calculator will tell. If the bitrate goes much over 4Mbps then I'd use 720x480 to get the resolution up, but that's up to you.

[ZippyP.]

Most people converting home video or captured TV footage use 352x480 as that is about the resolution of the source.