Best format for Importing video?

When I create a new event in Imovie and import video it will give me two options, "Large 960x540" (which says it will "reduce image size with little quality loss") or "Full" (which says "selecting full on this computer may result in degraged video playback").
Here is my dilemma.
I would think Full would give me the best image quality when I create a "project" and export it. So I tested it. I imported the same 15 sec clip with both options. The clips were shot from my Iphone 4s. I put both clips in the same "project". So my project is 15 seconds of "Full" video followed by 15 seconds of the same footage in "large" format. I "finalized" the project and then exported it to my desktop. I actually did it two ways, one was at 720p and one was at 1080p.
When I watch the video, it actually looks like the second half of the "project" is slightly crisper/clearer which is the part of the "project" that came from the "Large" import not the "Full" import.
Is that possible or are my eyes playing tricks on me? I am viewing it with QTplayer and utilizing my full screen of my computer which is a 13" MBP. Should the section of the video from the "Large" import look better than the "full" or vice versa?
Thanks,
Ehren

QuickTimeKirk,
We posted our responses about the same time.
I agree with what you're saying but he did ask for the best possible quality.
I imagine with all the reencoding between the formats the video isn't going to look that great.
As a side note, given the above scenario I've seen better quality video acquired, when the DVD Players output is connected straight to a mini DV camcorder and imported into iMovie.
That's just my experience when converting video of questionable quality to begin with.
I don't know how important it is to get the best quality but, there is a program called Cinematize that guarantes no loss in quality during the conversion process (never used it though).
Cinematize 2 for Macintosh $60.00
Cinematize 2 Pro for Macintosh $130.00
15 day free trail
http://www.miraizon.com/index.html

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Thanks for all the advice. And I mean everyone.
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Though 15 years old, the original Vhs's play beautifully. Aside from some (expected) glitches in the beginning or end of some of the shots, the video has not degraded appreciably. This is great news, as my cousin wanted to make back ups before degradation begins.
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+David Murray wrote: There is an industrial way to get good VhS copies but it is extremely expensive+
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The Vhs tapes of my cousins daughter are as precious to him as anything he has.
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Message was edited by: rwltrz4
Message was edited by: rwltrz4

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My company is currently evaluating Adobe Presenter to
possibly move our training efforts towards Adobe Flash technology.
Currently we produce AVI videos which are converted to WMV for web
delivery. Since we have 100's of these videos, our preference is to
convert these AVI (or WMV) files and embed them into a slide in
PPT/Presenter.
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home-grown software and how to use it. So, unlike live action
video, a lossy solution won't work for us as it distorts the fine
details of our software interface.
I've tried having Presenter convert the AVI for me into FLV
but the results were not acceptable (keep in mind we need to expand
the video to completely fill the PPT slide. For an example, see:
http://training.dmsi.com/test2/
For cases like this, is it better to try to find an separate
AVI to FLV converter or an AVI to SWF converter? If so, what
software is recommended? In my tests either the image is distorted
or the video contains oddities, like blurring then sharpening
throughout the video playback.
Any help/advice is greatly appreciated.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49_wbdKALQk
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49_wbdKALQk
The opening, featuring a ribbon of videos, was created in After Effects, using Digieffects Freeform.
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To create the After Effects project, I exported a series of video clips from Premiere to mp4.
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AVI?
MOV
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Best format for Importing video?

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