What are the best video settings?
 

I have run a successful members site for several years now and have always provided the videos in WMV format. We output the videos at a bit rate of 768Kbps so a 15 minute scene is only about 100Mb. This was originally done so no-one would have problems downloading the final scenes. However, as broadband speeds have improved over the years and as we actually shoot in much better quality than we export the final footage at, I am now looking to improve the quality of what we output.
Can anyone tell me if there are "preferred" settings for a video scene on a members site these days? For example, would a member expect a higher bit rate or are they looking to have the films shot in progressive rather than interlaced? Is there a maximum file size that we should avoid going above for, say, a 15 minute scene?
I have been discussing it with my video editor recently but I wanted to get the views of some of the guys on the forum here as well.
Your comments / views would be apreciated.
Thanks,
Charlie

I find that 5 to 8 minute clips work out the best. If you have a 15 minute scene cut it up into 3 clips and put thumbnails with them so users can navigate through your video selection easily. Our system is set to automatically play the next video file once one ends. You may want to offer multi-bit formats for example 600k, 800k, and 1200k. In my opinion most people prefer streaming over progressive download.

Yeah we already offer the scene in four separate chunks as well as the main movie. It was more the settings such as bitrate / 720p, etc . . that I was after, but thanks for your reply :-)