Bitrate

[JamieBecks23]

if encoding at 720x576 wats the lowest bitrate to use without blocks appearing?

[Capmaster]

if encoding at 720x576 wats the lowest bitrate to use without blocks appearing?

It's dependent on too many things to get a specific number.

A movie with all dialog then maybe 4000 avg 6500 peak. A lot of action and flashing lights then maybe 7000 avg. and 9800 peak.

[bugster]

if encoding at 720x576 wats the lowest bitrate to use without blocks appearing?

It's dependent on too many things to get a specific number.

A movie with all dialog then maybe 4000 avg 6500 peak. A lot of action and flashing lights then maybe 7000 avg. and 9800 peak.

I disagree, to an extent anyway. in low motion scenes with lots of dialog you can go much lower than 4000kbps. A talking head will look fine at 2000kbps and possibly even less. Using VBR encoding, the encoder does the maths for you. As Capmaster (sort of) said, it is the average bitrate you need to worry about if you are concerned with file size or getting max playing time of your DVDr.