[MEncoder-users] Scaling quality

[Reimar Döffinger]

On Sun, Nov 03, 2013 at 02:09:05PM -0500, Steven Miller wrote:
> Back to my initial question, I vaguely remember this topic coming up in the
> past. I've searched my usual haunts with no luck. If I remember correctly,
> the general consensus was that the quality loss was less on the y. The
> reason is what I was hoping to find.. or re-find rather. These days I take
> a good deal more notes.
> 
> Thoughts? Speculations?

Analog displays like TVs and CRT strictly speaking do not have a
horizontal resolution, but only a vertical one.
Also, for aspect scaling (e.g. for displaying a DVD on a LCD)
it is customary to scale the x resolution.
Since in addition the horizontal resolution is usually higher,
I'd expect you'd generally risk fewer artefacts by scaling
horizontally even for digital displays.