[mythtv-users] Tutorial on Encoding (mostly re: file sizes)

[Tony McDowell]

>I doubt that you can see the difference between a 720x480 pixel and a 
>480x480 pixel recording, so I would recommed go down to 480x480 pixels. 
>That saves 25% of the data.
>If you want to export to DVD you might however consider 720x480 pixels and 
>keep the recordings in MPEG2.
>Also if you want to use the output of a PVR-350 you should keep the 
>recordings in MPEG2. In all other cases you can let MythTV transcode to MPEG4.
>
>The encoding rate is very much up your personal taste. If your signal is 
>bad you need a higher data rate. I usually record 480x576 pixels (PAL) at 
>4.5 Mbits/s in MPEG2 and transcode it to 1.4 Mbits/s in MPEG4. On some 
>channels I can see the artifacts, on others I can't (except in special 
>situations like fast scrolling text).
>Shows that I want on DVD are recorded at 720x576 pixels at 4.5 Mbits/s in 
>MPEG2.

Thanks for the insight.  If I just keep it as MPEG2, what kind of file size 
should I expect?  I'm imagining about a gigabyte per hour.  Is that high, 
low, other?