why all the fuss about choosing the resolution?

I've been doing dvd rips using divx 502 and gknot and I had no problems. I really think it's the best app out there. I always follow the guides. They put big emphasis on choosing the "right" resolution by doing comp. checks etc. But, I've been thinking lately, isn't all this useless? I mean, we take a dvd at the typical 720x576. What's the point in encoding lower than 640x??? if we're gonna view it at at least 640x480? I am thinking of having a lower limit of resolutions in my rips from now on, @ 640x???. Is it a right decision? What do you think? Am I geting sth wrong here?

I'm wrong. (Manono corrected me via e-mail, so I'm still living up to my tagline.) Bitrate doesn't change. The larger the resolution, the fewer bits available to each block of pixels. Quality is something of a balancing act.

I don't remember if I used 2-pass or quality based. But it doesn't matter, if you use quality based the filesize will be different. If you use 2-pass encoding the filesize will be the same, as long as the codec isn't maxed out, in which case you may end up with a smaller filesize.