On my XH-A1 MTS files, I notice a small difference in detail between Medium and High, so I usually use High. I use software raid-5 for storage, so I can have lots of storage for very cheap (three 6 TB raid-5 arrays for $500 each). Most people use hardware raid, though, so their storage is a lot more expensive.


If the files are still too large at the lowest quality setting, I guess the only option is to resize them to a smaller resolution. Cineform can do a high quality down-conversion in the converter itself (such as going from 1080p to 720p). But I would encourage you to try to buy enough storage to keep the full resolution and use at least "Medium" quality.