iPod touch Quick question regarding Handbrake bitrate for iPod touch

[jellis629]

I've recently discovered the joy of watching shows / movies on my iPod touch while flying.

Really quick question about bitrates - there seem to be a lot of experienced folks here that could maybe help.

Let's say I have an xvid encoded avi that's 750kbps for the video. I want to run it through Handbrake (to mp4) - what bitrate should I pick for the video? If I set it at 1000, is that extra 250 wasted?

Should I set a specific number, or should I just move that quality bar to 100% so it matches the source exactly?

Thanks!!

 

[revisionA]

I use 768 and save to mkv files. Image size set to 408xNNN which keep aspect ratio selecting the other resolution.

I have 384 quality movies that aren't bad if you want to save space. But these are the settings when I backup my dvd collection to digital archive.