Calculating loss when converting from MTS to AVI using FFMPEG I am using the following script to convert my MTS video to an AVI video:


  for %%a in ("*.mts") do ffmpeg.exe -i "%%a" -vcodec libxvid -s 848x480 -maxrate 4800k -b 4000k -qmin 3 -qmax 5 -bufsize 4096 -acodec libmp3lame -ac 2 -ab 160k -y "%%~na_xvid.avi"


I have very little background in image editing - I found the above script through some google / forum searching, and it served my purposes quite well.

However, for the paper which I am writing, I have been asked to mention what degree of loss there was from the conversion, and whether that had any impact on my results. I know from the end result that there was no impact, however, I would still like to be able to mention in the paper a more accurate response as to what the percentage of loss was from the conversion.

Can anyone help me out with this? Thanks in advance!
Your paper is asking for an impossible data point unless you have some method of evaluation specified.  By definition, lossy compression results in a loss of data.  Modern lossy compression is very good at discarding data that is not visually meaningful to people, but it is still discarding data.

The amount of data loss when related to a human viewer is thus very subjective and can't be measured.  There are specific methods for comparing the source and output videos for differences and determining loss mathematically, but you need a particular choice of method to apply and you simply apply it.