Recommended MPEG-2 Encoders ?

[hadenp]

I have been using the MainConcept Mpeg-2 encoder that comes with my editing package (Sony Vegas) and happy with it - but what do I know?; I'm still new to digital video. So now that I'm beginning to learn a bit, more the questions arise:

Is there any consensus on the best 'raw' DV to MPEG-2 (if that's the correct way of putting it) encoder available to individuals?

Can you give me an idea of what some of the tradeoffs involved are?
eg. size of file vs quality of image vs compression speed

Assuming there's a better one out there, Anyone know if it's possible to add it as the encoder of choice?

Thanks.

[fmctm1sw]

Do a search for stuff like TMPG vs CCE vs Mainconcept" or "MPEG 2 encoder shootout." There's a couple guys that put a lot of research into this.

Here's one...

https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=217238&highlight=encoder+shootout