the two candidate video settings are...
Ultra Fine: 720x480p, 8.5 Mbps (VBR)
or
Fine: 720x480p, 5.5Mbps (VBR)
so the question is...
can I get away with recording at 5.5Mbps VBR and still be considered high enough bitrate for "dvd5 quality"? Naturally I'd like more space that comes with the Fine setting but I want to comply with current trading standards sp I'm willing to run at 8.5 Mbps.
Any opinions?
The problem with hard drive recorders is that they encode to MPG2 'on the fly'. So a video encoded at 5.5 Mbps through your video camera will never look at good as a video encoded at 5.5 Mbps on a PC (3-4 passes VBR).
Personally, I'd run at 8.5 Mbps on the camera - this will allow you to fit about 60 minutes on a DVD5. But don't be tempted to re-encode your footage to fit more on a disc.
Also, will you be synching up a PCM audio track with your video? If you're using the 8.5 Mbps setting on your camera, make sure that the video + audio bitrate doesn't exceed the DVD spec when you add in your PCM track.
Hope this helps.
it helps greatly.
thank you!