How Much Disk Space Recompressing Videos Saves: 11 Clips Measured

Updated September 26, 2026

About half, on our test set: 11 real clips went from 254.9 MB to 128.4 MB with H.265 on an NVIDIA GPU, and to 138.1 MB on the CPU. Single files ranged from no saving at all to 96 %. How a file was recorded decides it more than what it shows.

−50 %total size of our 11 test clips with H.265 on an RTX 3080 (254.9 MB → 128.4 MB)

0 / 11clips that came out bigger: when an encode is larger, the app keeps the original

−33 %median saving of H.265 over H.264 at the same quality setting (11 pairs)

Measured in September 2026 at VideoRecompress's default settings on a Ryzen 9 3900X with an RTX 3080. The test clips run from DV to 1440p; the 4K timing further down comes from 4K iPhone HEVC footage.

What decides the saving

The bitrate it was recorded atA high recording bitrate leaves the most room. Our old DV tape shrank by 96 %; a web video that was already compressed hard saved 8 % on the GPU.

The codec it is in nowH.264 files gain the most. At the same quality setting, H.265 files were a median 33 % smaller than H.264 in our 11 measured pairs.

The setting you chooseA lower CRF keeps more detail and saves less. Wedding / Event Archive (CRF 18) keeps the most; Security Camera Archive (CRF 28) saves the most of the H.265 presets.

How much space you save: 11 clips measured

Our 11 test clips at the default setting (H.265, quality 23), measured in September 2026 on a Ryzen 9 3900X and an RTX 3080. Savings run from nothing, where the source was already efficient and the original was kept, to 96 % on an old DV tape. Yours depend on your footage.

Clip	CPU (Ryzen 9 3900X)	GPU (RTX 3080)
Timelapse, 1440p	−3 %	original kept
Drone, 1440p	−47 %	−48 %
GoPro, 1080p	original kept	−31 %
Lecture recording, 1440p	−55 %	−36 %
Travel video, 1080p	−21 %	−5 %
Wedding camera, 1080p	−49 %	−40 %
DivX film	−14 %	−35 %
DV tape (PAL)	−93 %	−96 %
Phone video, 720p	−60 %	−65 %
SD TV episode	−13 %	original kept
Web video, 720p	−23 %	−8 %
All 11 clips	254.9 → 138.1 MB (−46 %)	254.9 → 128.4 MB (−50 %)

None of these clips is 4K. For 4K footage, run Test Encode (10s) on one of your own files before the whole folder.

Estimate your own library

Run Test Encode (10s) on one typical file of each kind you keep: phone video, camera footage, screen recordings. The app encodes 10 seconds from the middle of the file and shows the size and quality. Scale that by how much of each kind you have.

Three habits that save the most

Start with the H.264 files; they gain the most.
Keep the originals until you have played the new files.
Leave hard-compressed files alone: when an encode would come out bigger, the app keeps the original.

The Complete Guide to Video Compression in 2026 HEVC vs H.264: how much space you really save (measured)

See what your own files save

Run Test Encode (10s) on one of your videos before the whole folder. 30-day free trial: your first 10 files convert with no watermark; after that files get a watermark and a 10-minute cap. Buying removes both.

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