Pros/Cons of encoding at 352x480 instead of 704x480

[Randm_Task]

Anyone got a run down of the benefits and disadvantages of encoding at half resolution ?

Should be around the same file size, more data per pixel (so less blockiness) but a loss in sharpness ?

Which is better ? Or is it one of those arguments like PS2 vs XBOX ?

cheers

[widemouth]

(My 2 cents worth!)

Really depends on what you are planning to use it for.

A Standard TV now days can't really display more that 352-384 horizontal lines anyway and as you say, encoding at full resolution effectively doubles the storage needed for the same video unless you are prepared for some extra blockiness.

In the future and arguably now, High end TVs will be able to display higher resolutions which would make encoding at full resolution more beneficial.

Personally for archiving footage for the future I encode at full resolution at the expense of file size but for video I want to watch now I encode at half resolution.

Sorry its not backed up by technical facts but its what works for me.

[Dodzzz]

A Standard TV now days can't really display more that 352-384 horizontal lines anyway and..

I don't think so, because I can read every tiny texts out of my PS2 games on standard TVs clearly (even on my old 14" one)

I'd go for 704 x 480, resizing it to 352 x 480 won't reduce blockiness that much because the picture is still the same, no matter 352 or 704, it holds the same curves and objects.

or, you could use 480 x 480 (SVCD) for that, great balance between both!

[energy80s]

It really depends on your source material. Most TV captures don't warrant high resolution encoding. I wouldn't recommend SVCD resolution at all as it isn't compatible with any recognised DVD standards. The only horizontal resolutions worth considering are 352, 704 and 720.

[Xtasy2002]

General rule:
VHS quality captures encode 352x480.
DVD or digital quality encode 720x480.

[Conquest10]

i got a pretty cheap tv but i can still tell the difference between 352 and 720. the 720x480 is soooo much clearer than 352. the 352 looks a little more blurry.

[Alan69]

I think if you do a bit more checking, you'll find that say 350 lines are just that, 350 black lines on a white background show clearly. IOW 350 black pixels with 350 white seperating them, 700 total. It's generally easy to see that the average TV with 300 or 400 lines resolution is far sharper than 350 pixels..

Alan