[Tristrami]

How many MB does a standard low-res quicktime movie require? I'm considering getting a Digitial Video recorder and wondered how long of a QT movie I can burn onto a CD. Also, what length of viewing over the web is feasible with a DSL connection, and how much HD space is required?

[SMacEslin]

For some good examples, look at the movie trailers Apple has on their servers. The high definition files run about 20 MB and last about three minutes. If the quality (and size) is dropped to minimum, that same file can squeeze into about 2-3 MB. However, at this resolution, the viewing is not very pleasing.

[jac]

It all depends on what compression codec you use. Uncompressed full resolution DV is about 3.5 MB/s which gives you about 3 minutes per CD.
However, with the right type of compression you can get pretty high quality at under 100kB/s and get 90-120 min/CD.
If you're content with lower quality you can get bitrates that are viewable in real time over a DSL connection.

The On2 (www.on2.com) and 3ivx (www.3ivx.com) codecs are the best IMO. 3ivx is in fact the best, but compression is VERY slow.