Best method for conversion and compression of large video files?

[Reaper4578]

Hi, I have some very large (8-12GB) .mkv 4K video files that I'd also like to have 1080p copies of. So I have a few questions:

1. Which will look better, native 1080p or 4K down-sampled/down-scaled to 1080p? Should I even bother down-scaling, or should I try to find native 1080p copies?

2. What is the best way to go about down-scaling/down-sampling these files to 1080p? What software/settings/methods should I use?

3. Finally, as I'd still like to keep them, what is the best way to losslessly compress those large 4K video files so that they don't take up as much space?

Thank you so much for answering any of these, it's really helpful. Hope you all have a wonderful day!

[jagabo]

what is the best way to losslessly compress those large 4K video files so that they don't take up as much space?

You can't. They're already compressed. Any re-compression to a smaller size will only decrease the quality. For downscaling and reencoding try Handbrake.

[pandy]

8 - 12GB for 4K video doesn't sound particularly as lot of space nowadays. Real 4K downscaled to 1080p will be usually better than native real 1080p but usually your 1080p will be produced by downscaling source used to create 4K video. Generally it is way better to use higher resolution to create lower resolution target.

[fornit]

Hi, I have some very large (8-12GB) .mkv 4K video files that I'd also like to have 1080p copies of.

Are your 4K videos HDR? If so, do you want to keep HDR properties?

[jagabo]

Oops, wrong thread.