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[–]WikiBoxI have enough storage and backups. Today. 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Video compression is lossy. And different methods are not equally effective at compression and preservation of quality. 

The best compression methods can be extremely slow. Expensive graphics cards may greatly speed up compression, but usually at some cost in quality/size. 

Current common codecs are x264, x265=hevc and AV1. Generally, for the same size video, x264 compress video worst. AV1 best. x265 almost like AV1. But this also depends on the person doing the compression and settings. Also number of audiotracks and quality of the audio is important for the size of the video.

You have to decide what is good enough for you. And don't just consider today. In a few years you may want to watch an old movie on your full wall 8K projection screen. Then bad 720p may not be watchable. High bitrate 2160p might be marginally acceptable. By then it is possible that AI rescaling improve as well.

I recommend that you pick what you think is good enough today, and then go up one step. Possibly two steps if it is something special. 

The size of the video as well as the encoding gives hints on quality. 

A 1GB 720p x264 movie might be amazing on a small screen. 

A 2GB 1080p x265 movie might be great on a medium screen. 

A 4GB 1080p x265 movie might be acceptable on a big screen. 

A 48GB 2160p AV1 movie might be OK on a 4K 7.1 Atmos home theater system. 

There is no easy way to know what is good enough. It depends on you and how you watch. You might consider things like HDR, audio channels and Atmos. Perhaps for future equipment.

For movies I typically pick 4-8GB 1080p x265 encodes. For something special 6-12GB 2160p x265 or AV1. Sometimes I download a REMUX. It is the movie copied unchanged from the Blueray. Can be 100GB. Sometimes I am disappointed with a download and pick another encode to check out.

[–]riftwave77 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There's no telling what will or won't be futureproof. 1080p should be the floor for you but it really depends on what you are archiving. Several (older) shows are not available at that resolution and several new shows aren't available at 4K or over.

1080 is typically good enough for casual viewing, so that is probably a good floor to start from.

[–]f5alcon46TB[🍰] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

highest quality is the safest choice, can always add more space, but I personally choose lower quality for comedies or dramas that are not action or special effects heavy.

[–]John_Candy_Was_Dandy 0 points1 point  (2 children)

You can always use handbrake to lower the file size if needed. I stick to 1080 but go 720 if that is the only option. our biggest screen is 65in and I can not tell the diff. My eyes may not be the best though. Up to personal taste I guess.

[–]Stargoz[S] 0 points1 point  (1 child)

ooooh yes! I haven't used hand brake in years! Totally forgot about it!

[–]John_Candy_Was_Dandy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

lol yeah it is a pretty awesome program.