picture quality

[craig 870]

after downloading some films or videos the picture quality is very poor ive got windows media player 10 how can i make the picture better thanxs all videos i download have more than 700mb

[Lord of the Rings]

Most videos offered are converted to around VCD or SVCD quality. So that's the quality you get. VCD = 352 x 240 (depending whether PAL or NTSC) & SVCD = 480x480
See description here: http://www.videohelp.com/vcd

Different encoders may be used. It depends on the quality of the ripper & converter & skills of user. Encoders used might be DivX, XviD, mpeg 1, 2, 4 or H.264, or 3ivx, etc. Quality settings will also apply to original conversion.

If you're having problems viewing, might I recommend VLC - (click on link) _ (choose nearest mirror site) as it has it's own in-built codecs for playback.

[RunningBare]

A 2 hour Divx formattted movie is not going to be as good as the DVD version so do not expect it, however I encode DVD to Divx at 700kbits this gives good viewable quality but if I want it close to DVD quality then I would need to encode at around 1500kbits, this would create a file size of 1.5gbyte or more, anything below 500kbits severly affects picture quality, I find 700kbits to be a good compromise for downloading/shareing, space saving and viewing.

I also attempt to download .avi only, so far I'v not seen many good quality from .mpg .mpeg.

A hint for the file size: If its of a series make sure the file is over 300mbyte, if its for a full length movie then above 600mbyte should give you reasonable quality.