But the quality became impaired and had nuff lines all the way down it
Does it slightly look like the middle/right picture
here? Just make sure you use "None (progressive scan)" as the "Field order" option. Well the resolution depends on your recorded footage and display aspect ratio of course. Same kinda goes for the bitrates, so I'll just attach some chart with usual-like quality versions of nowadays (listed 16:9 resolutions only), so you got some references. Well I assume you ain't into codecs and that kind of stuff so I suggest you to try simple formats like .wmv or .mp4.
1920x1080p, 10 mbps video, 320 kbps audio
1280x720p, 6 mbps video, 256 kbps audio
960x540p, 4 mbps video, 192kbps audio
640x480p, 3 mbps video, 128 kbps audio