video compression

[avextraxjp]

I've seen downloaded movies that seems to be of DVD quality, with a file size of less than 700MB.
I tried ripping a movie with DVD Shrink, and it could only reduce a 4.3GB movie by half and the picture turns grainy in fullscreen
Which program do I use for good video compression without losing the quality?

Thank you.

[Baldrick]

Convert the dvd to avi divx/xvid or mp4 h264 using for example autogk, fairuse wizard, xvid4psp, handbrake.

[guns1inger]

And they are not DVD quality, unless you are legally blind, not wearing your glasses, and left your seeing-eye dog in the other room.

[raffie]

And they are not DVD quality, unless you are legally blind, not wearing your glasses, and left your seeing-eye dog in the other room.

Well, or you're watching widescreen movies on a 17" 4:3 monitor.
But yes, you do need a higher bitrate even in divx/xvid for some descent quality. I would assume that if compressed from the same source the DVD was compressed from, (and not re-compressed with the DVD as the source), you'd get DVD quality starting with a 1,5 Mbps bitrate.