I downloaded the following programme & I wanted the best quality etc & I used the following in the CLI.

get_iplayer --url http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00...am-special

But about 3/4 of the way through when watching it, the video froze for about 2 secs. So I re-downloaded it but using the following,

get_iplayer --url http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00...am-special --modes=flash

This time there it didn't freeze at that same point in the video.
Out of curiosity I clicked on each video file & looked at the Properties for each & this is what it said for each.

1st Download
TOTP2_-_Wham_Special
Size                 355MB
Video
Length              00:29:22
Frame Width      960
Frame Height     540
Data rate           1592kbps
Total bitrate       1686kbps
Frame rate         24 frames/second
Audio
Bit rate               94kbps
Channels             2 (stereo)
Audio sample rate 24kHz

2nd Download
TOTP2_-_Wham_Special
Size                   315MB
Video
Length               00:29:22
Frame Width       832
Frame Height      468
Data rate            1403kbps
Total bitrate        1497kbps
Frame rate          25 frames/second
Audio
Bit rate                93kbps
Channels              2 (stereo)
Audio sample rate 48kHz

Obviously looking at the stats above one is a larger file size than the other which I'm assuming is because of the larger frame width & height of the one. The one has more fps than the other plus the one has double the audio sample rate than the other.
What I don't know is which one is the better quality download?
Do I assume that the audio sample rate of 48kHz is better than the 24kHz?
Any feedback on this would be appreciated, thank you.

(29-01-2017, 11:19 PM)Do I assume that the audio sample rate of 48kHz is better than the 24kHz?

Yes, that is a higher sample rate. Higher sample rate or higher bit rate or generally higher frame size = better quality, or at least larger file size.

There is a wrinkle in this case. The audio has been encoded differently in those two files, but you're not seeing it. Use Mediainfo to show the full picture. If your player can decode HE-AAC (used by the BBC for lower bit rates in non-Flash content - google it) the audio will be played at 48kHz (via some replication of higher frequencies). Otherwise, you only get the base 24kHz audio. Your ears will tell you which is better, if the difference is perceptible.

Thanks Dinky, I will look into that.