How Much Disk Space Recompressing Videos Saves: 11 Clips Measured
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.
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
One batch run with the Phone Video Archive preset.
| Clip | Before | After | Saved | VMAF |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| iPhone, 720p, 83 s | 86.1 MB | 30.0 MB | −65 % | 87.6 |
| Phone, portrait 720p, 12 s | 28.9 MB | 4.51 MB | −84 % | 90.2 |
| Pocket camera, MOV, 20 s | 22.2 MB | 1.83 MB | −92 % | 91.7 |
| Pocket camera, MOV, 15 s | 19.9 MB | 1.79 MB | −91 % | 97.9 |
| Folder total | 157.1 MB | 38.1 MB | −76 % |
VideoRecompress Studio 2026.2.21 command line, batch on a folder of four files with the Phone Video Archive preset (H.265, quality 23), encoded on the GPU (hevc_nvenc) of an RTX 3080.
Size after recompression as a share of the original, with the default H.265 quality 23. Further left is smaller.
- CPU (x265)
- GPU (NVENC)
- Dashed line: the median clip
| Clip | CPU (x265) | GPU (NVENC) |
|---|---|---|
| DV tape (PAL) | 7 % | 4 % |
| Phone video, 720p | 40 % | 35 % |
| Lecture recording, 1440p | 45 % | 64 % |
| Wedding camera, 1080p | 51 % | 60 % |
| Drone, 1440p | 53 % | 52 % |
| Web video, 720p | 77 % | 92 % |
| Travel video, 1080p | 79 % | 95 % |
| DivX film | 86 % | 65 % |
| SD TV episode | 87 % | original kept |
| Timelapse, 1440p | 97 % | original kept |
| GoPro, 1080p | original kept | 69 % |
Validation run of 18 September 2026 on a Ryzen 9 3900X and an RTX 3080. Final size after the keep-the-original guard, default quality 23.
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.
Related
See what your own files save
Run Test Encode (10s) on one of your videos before the whole folder. Free trial with no time limit: your first 10 files convert with no watermark; after that files get a watermark and a 10-minute cap. Buying removes both.
Download Free Trial