Bucket619 I don't know about other SLR members experiences between the Original Studio file (Which is NOT the Raw VR Camera file BTW, but I would say not far from it in terms of visual quality) and the SLR Re-encoded file (from the Original file) for streaming and downloading (Yes, "Re-encoded" because the Original file is already encoded from the VR Camera Raw file) Otherwise, believe me, it can reach terabytes in size!
So, I'll talk about my own experience here with all respects to others. In simple word, Yes, I can tell the difference in quality between the two files by the following:
1- Look at the faraway areas or when a girl walks from far to close to you. You will notice how much sharper the Original file is, especially in the area between the background and girl hair.
2- Look at dark scenes or black areas/ objects and you'll notice square splotches in the Re-encoded file which are absent from the Original one.
3- Look at the girl face and eyes when in missionary position for example and notice the difference in details between the two files. In the Original you can see more skin details, even the tiny Acnes under the makeup (for good or bad) and the eyes look more natural, reflective and sharp unlike the Re-encoded file which can't reveal such details in the face and the eyes look "almost" blurry and unnatural and not as reflective.
With that all said, it's not like the SLR Re-encoded file is THAT bad or anything, No, at all. I'm actually still impressed how they can reach this level of quality with that file size. So, yeah, kudos to SLR encoding team!
In addition to SLR's great encoding job. There are situations when some really... How I say it in a respectful way... "inexperienced?" Studios that encode their Raw VR Camera files in questionable codecs like MPEG-4 from the 90's! OR using AVC/ H.264 for resolutions higher than 4K which is ridiculous! Because in these cases you can't play these videos smoothly at all by using hardware acceleration like GPU decoders for example because they don't support these resolutions in these codecs! Kudos to SLR encoding team again for saving us from these """Studios""".
In the end, see for yourself and decide by your own vision quality and unbiased judgment. If the Re-encoded file is good enough for you go ahead, you'll NOT lose that much TBH. If not, then, Original is your new way.
For me. I only download the Original as long as it's in HEVC/ H.265 or the soon to be added "AV1" for any resolution higher than 4K as I can see the difference as I said previously. Actually, Original files are what keeps me an SLR Dweller :p
Respectfully.
