DVDShrink 68% Compression.

[diE]

Hi,
How would the quality end up if a file is compressed 68%? Can someone please post screenshots of a file before it's put through compression at 68% in DVDShrink and after.. if so it would be really helpful.

Regards,
diE

[RMaddog]

It only takes a little HDD space to try it yourself. Just reauther and select 5 or 10 minutes and try it each way.

[FulciLives]

As has been said many times on these forums ...

The compression ratio in a program like DVD Shrink is somewhat subjective to the viewer based on his/her eyes and equipment used (for instance some televisions show more MPEG-2 compression artifacts than others).

It also has a lot to do with the picture quality of the original DVD because a very high quality DVD will compress down better than one that is already less-than-steller in the picture quality department to begin with.

So it is nearly impossible to say what 68% will look like with any given source and equipment used to view it on etc.

So the best thing is to try it and burn to a DVD-RW or DVD+RW and watch it on your TV and if you are happy then burn it again onto a DVD-R or DVD+R and be done with it.

If you are not happy with it then there are things you can do sometimes that allow for less compression to be used ... for example use the Re-Author mode in DVD Shrink to make a back-up of the movie sans extras. You can also cut out audio and subtitles tracks not needed etc.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[jimmalenko]

As mentioned, there's no way to predict how a given DVD will react to a given compression level. Try it yourself.

[edDV]

Also, compression artifacts are mostly temporal (i.e. in motion) so a still is not a good representation of a video compressor.

[kenmasters83]

if the source is excellent quality you will not see any compression at all..

i backed up some of dvd's which are dual layer with 73% compression and it looked totally fine..

i know some will say i am wrong BUT dvd shrink is a magical shrinking tool which gives superb results.

[steve2713]

And to add to what's already been said, use Deep Analysis and AEC for the best results. At 68% compression I'd suggest an AEC setting of 'smooth' or 'max smooth', it will take longer to process but the results will be improved.

[jtommyj]

It really depends on 68% of what ? 68% of a 2 hour original will be better generally than a 68% of a 3 hour original so just using %'s isn't always helpful without knowing the length of the project. So if you are starting with a higher bitrate to begin with it should look better,everything else being equal.

Tom [/i]

[diE]

Hi,
Alrite.. I have a 100% DVD Quality DVD... and I want to compress it to 68%... so is the quality going to be good or is it going to be drastically decreased? It's about a 2 hour movie.

Regards,
diE

[Sifaga]

try it

and post back with your findings

[jtommyj]

Hi,
Alrite.. I have a 100% DVD Quality DVD... and I want to compress it to 68%... so is the quality going to be good or is it going to be drastically decreased? It's about a 2 hour movie.

Regards,
diE

Generally 2 hours is ok for a movie on a disc to be decent quality depending on the original. So if it is movie only and no extras and junk,i would say it SHOULD be ok,but it really doesn't take long to try it. Thats what i do with all of mine is to just try it and see. I use DVD-Rebuilder and CCE and i check every one of them after to see how they look.

g

[shelbyGT]

most of my episodic disc backups are at this level (ie CSI and Nip/Tuck). You can tell they aren't the same quality as the original, but still look as good if not a little better than their original Cable broadcast.
Those are my findings, anyway...

[BSpielbauer]

Hi,
Alrite.. I have a 100% DVD Quality DVD... and I want to compress it to 68%... so is the quality going to be good or is it going to be drastically decreased? It's about a 2 hour movie.
Regards,
diE

At the risk of being overly repetitious, let me see if I can put it in another way... No one can answer your question as asked, and the reasons are basically spelled out in the replies above.

As others have said: the question you are asking is subjective, much like asking "how high is high?" The answer depends on MANY, MANY variables, and no one here can honestly answer because of those variables.

Variable: How picky are you about video quality? I tend to be very picky, and I notice an overly compressed image even when others in the room do not. Because of this, I use NO compression on any of my backups. That is a choice I make, and I compromise in other areas. I also realize I am in the minority, though. We all exist on a "sliding scale" when it comes to video quality (and audio quality), so no one can predict what YOU will judge as satisfactory, and what YOU will judge is not.

Variable: What are you viewing this material on? What will you be viewing this material on in two years, and do are you concerned about that? As a general rule, the larger the displayed image, the more obvious any flaws become. Thus, what is acceptable on the 27 inch screen in my bedroom looks awful on my carefully calibrated 65 inch screen in the home theater. A viewer with a front projector viewing at 108 inches is even more apt to notice any compression artifacts. A viewer watching on a 17 inch LCD monitor mounted under the kitchen sink may never notice what I see on my 65 inch image. Is your setup HDTV? Are you viewing with a progressive scan player? ALL of these things matter.

Variable: How much action / fast motion / quick camera pans / quick editing cuts are there in the source material? Compression artifacts are much more obvious if the source material had lots of movement. So, the "arena battle scene" in the most recent Star Wars film will look awful if overly compressed, while the Imax film on the Grand Canyon (with its slow, lingering incredible shots) or the steady camera work on most of "Mystic River" will be much more forgiving of any compression.

Variable: How long is the film? This one seems to be the one variable you do understand, so I will not dwell on it.

Variable: What is the bitrate used? This may seem to be the same as the item directly above, but it is not. Some films have almost no extras, no animated menus, and use almost every bit of bitrate they can, so the main program takes up almost the entire DVD. Otherts try to cram as many extras on that disc as possible, and sacrifice a lot of bit rate. This second type of DVD is already overly-compressed, and often to the point where any new compression is likely to be obvious, as soon as you try it. A Superbit DVD will suffer less if you compress it to 85% than a DVD which exists on one disc, and is "packed with extras and bonus material," like "Spiderman 2."

I could go on, and point out the importance of such issues as black and white versus color, and film versus digital video, and the original QUALITY of the source material (you may not notice an overly compressed "Dark Shadows" DVD collection much at all; you may not notice a compressed "Minority Report" because the original is so grainy, and was supposed to be that way; you may quickly notice if you use too much compression on "Moulin Rouge," though...

-But -- my point is simply this: the only way you can answer your question, is to try it. Even then, the answer you learn will only be relevent for THAT disc, and for YOUR eyes, and for YOUR equipment, and for YOUR experiences.

-Bruce in Chi-Town