this post was submitted on 05 Oct 2026
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Video file sizes: what do I need to know? (sh.itjust.works)
submitted 1 week ago by schipelblorp@sh.itjust.works to c/piracy@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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I'm getting back into digital collecting after pretty much exhausting the local thriftstores of any movies I wanted to watch / own.

I was thinking of burning everything to DVD but then I came to my senses and just installed Jellyfin.

Question:

  • What video file sizes do you guys download and why?

  • And what is the correlation between video size and quality? I see some wild variations in file sizes even for the same res.

  • Who are y'alls downloading 20+GB movies? Are you storing all that or are you downmixing? Are you stealing your harddrives out of the recycle bin?

  • Any shortcuts for getting rich blacks for space scenes? Do I just need to suck it up eat the bytes? (I'm thinking of going this route for BSG and can't remember if they go for video grain in space or true film black).

  • What is the obvious thing I clearly don't understand by asking these questions?

So for me, it seems for file size, about 700MB / 90 minutes is about as low as I can go, and arguably it's too low because I'm sometimes distracted by the low quality.

I'm a little confused by what's going on because I'll often watch a DVD that's being upscaled by the player and have no complaints, and I think that's base 480 or lower, but a labelled 720p can have some distractingly low res.

For my high end, 2GB at 1080p is about as high as I care to go unless it's some crazy high quality cinematographic shit like Lawrence or Dune.

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[–] bss03@infosec.pub 3 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

I have several TB of storage, and occasionally I will just delete stuff that I haven't revisited in a while. I really should convert to some sort of offline storage library instead of deleting, but I haven't yet.

I actually don't do that many movies, but I do a lot of TV. I do 1080p x265 because that's really all the monitor I have for VLC. I have downloaded 4K in the past, and there is a 4K TV in the living room, but I don't usually notice the quality difference and the file sizes are a lot bigger. I have a poor Internet connection (best available in my area), so smaller sizes help me keep my ratios up.

But, that's just my preference. I have a friend that insists on 4K, but they notice quality issues and are distracted by them more easily.

Often quality blacks also depends on good encoder settings, so if you find an encoder / encoding team that does well, it might be worth seeking out their version(s), even if the file sizes are larger or their releases take longer.

[–] schipelblorp@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 week ago

I've thought a lot about it, and I think it's a combination of what your sensitivity is and what you're used to seeing. There's a natural point where your brain stops caring (or even noticing) quality improvements, much to the dismay of TV panel manufacturers. But there's also that you will notice a degradation of quality until you re-adapt (if its above your natural threshhold).

Also, most TV shows aren't so much about the cinematography/visuals (with some notable exceptions); 1080 is higher than I'd want for most TV shows, especially given the sheer amount of hours. (I think most Star Trek's crunch down to 20+gigs at 720).

I'll try to keep an eye on encodings I like and see if I can't build a fan list of encoders.