Downloading Video

[gennisis]

I've been downloading films from 'graboid' who say that it is legal.!! Dont understand how but...??

Anyhow,I have noticed that a film is available but with widely different file sizes...ie,840 mbs....4200 mgbs....same film same legnth.

I have tried both and after converting to DVD I can not detect any difference in quality.

Since I pay per GB downloaded ,the smaller files are 1/4 price of the other.

I am sure some of you experts can explain.

[2008bangkok]

i would say that you can buy the films in different quality,unless your a serious film buff then you win all round if you go for the lesser file size..less time to download , less money to pay etc

[filingaccount]

Anyhow,I have noticed that a film is available but with widely different file sizes...ie,840 mbs....4200 mgbs....same film same legnth.

I have tried both and after converting to DVD I can not detect any difference in quality.

It's all about bitrate. The higher the bitrate, the higher the quality. Since you are again converting to DVD you will lose a lot of the quality improvements from the higher bitrate download.

If you are watching on a smaller screen (eg. 17" or less), then you will not notice as big a difference as when you are watching on larger sceens. The same goes if you are watching on a CRT TV since the resolution is quite low (480 lines) or have a low resolution LCD (eg. 1024x768 or less).

Look in the specifications in the description. You should see something like:

352x280 (or similar. Very low, VCD quality/youtube quality. About 350 Mb in size for a 90 minute movie)

640x480 (or similar. Low quality, SVCD. Generally 700-900 MB in size)

720p (1360x720 or something similar. Good quality. about 4 GB in size)

1080p (1920x1080 or similar. Very good quality. about 8 GB in size.)

Why are you converting to DVD? Isn't it better to download an ISO and burn the ISO to DVD (this is after all what ISO's are for) if you absolutely need DVD?

If you are watching on a TV, and it is an LCD TV, you can very easily connect your computer to the TV and enjoy much better quality than you have with your converted files.

If you have a CRT TV, and you have a SVDO out on your computer/laptop, you can then again connect your computer to the TV and enjoy the movie without having to convert and burn to DVD.

If you are in Bangkok, I'd be happy to assist you getting the best out of your system. PM me.

[jerrylee]

I've been downloading films from 'graboid' who say that it is legal.!! Dont understand how but...??

Anyhow,I have noticed that a film is available but with widely different file sizes...ie,840 mbs....4200 mgbs....same film same legnth.

I have tried both and after converting to DVD I can not detect any difference in quality.

Since I pay per GB downloaded ,the smaller files are 1/4 price of the other.

I am sure some of you experts can explain.

There are difference in the releases, verisons cuts, file format of the upload sometimes in .rar (compressed) or even in .avi,

and of course the HD television programs and Blu-Ray disk will be much larger ...

the avi file on the computer goes through encoding and formating to become DVD, so it depends also on the setting you select to do the work, need to select for optimum quality unstead of speed or disk space ...

but if you look at any recent korean movie - which is using even more advance technology - the shared one are sometimes better than other originals!

on sites like <http://www.divxturka.net/index.php> the title will even indicate as DVD Retail Rip, the latest movies are of course even camera rips .... YES, its all illegal, only shared amongst movie enthusiast pursuing to buy the real copies !!

plus these contents are not censored for Thailand's viewing!

[jerrylee]

Anyhow,I have noticed that a film is available but with widely different file sizes...ie,840 mbs....4200 mgbs....same film same legnth.

I have tried both and after converting to DVD I can not detect any difference in quality.

It's all about bitrate. The higher the bitrate, the higher the quality. Since you are again converting to DVD you will lose a lot of the quality improvements from the higher bitrate download.

If you are watching on a smaller screen (eg. 17" or less), then you will not notice as big a difference as when you are watching on larger sceens. The same goes if you are watching on a CRT TV since the resolution is quite low (480 lines) or have a low resolution LCD (eg. 1024x768 or less).

Look in the specifications in the description. You should see something like:

352x280 (or similar. Very low, VCD quality/youtube quality. About 350 Mb in size for a 90 minute movie)

640x480 (or similar. Low quality, SVCD. Generally 700-900 MB in size)

720p (1360x720 or something similar. Good quality. about 4 GB in size)

1080p (1920x1080 or similar. Very good quality. about 8 GB in size.)

Why are you converting to DVD? Isn't it better to download an ISO and burn the ISO to DVD (this is after all what ISO's are for) if you absolutely need DVD?

If you are watching on a TV, and it is an LCD TV, you can very easily connect your computer to the TV and enjoy much better quality than you have with your converted files.

If you have a CRT TV, and you have a SVDO out on your computer/laptop, you can then again connect your computer to the TV and enjoy the movie without having to convert and burn to DVD.

If you are in Bangkok, I'd be happy to assist you getting the best out of your system. PM me.

You'll have to use the DVD method if one need to hardcode the subtitles, this opens to all the foreign films?

YOu can also watch avi files plugged thru USB on current generation 1,500 bht DVD players and by-pass the computer !

Edited June 16, 2009 by jerrylee

[Plus]

DVD is a rather old format for compressing videos, so the sizes are big, about 4.5GB. Same movie in a newer format, DivX, for example, would probably fit on a single CD - about 700MB.

Most DivX movies are compressed to fit on a CD, so resolution is a bit smaller than that of a DVD, and sometimes you'll need two CDs. You also won't have various DVD features like subtitles or scene selection, but subtitles in major language can be found easily on the Internet, too, and players that can show DivX videos will also show these "external" subtitles.

If you decide to burn your downloaded videos on DVD you will hardly see any difference in the end, especially on smaller TVs.

Check out .mkv files - those are usually High Definition videos, majority are TV shows recorded off the air, not many movies yet. Quality is higher than DVDs and they are still significantly smaller files.