"Quality" = compression amount = visual quality.
All video compression is lossy. That means you
will lose detail, especially around sharp high-contrast edges, as compression increases. This is a pretty big problem with photos, but with video it isn't a big deal as the images flit by so quickly we don't notice the errors, and we are already "programmed" to expect blur (hence, the ND filters people put on their lenses to lower exposure time and elicit this blur).
Cable TV (which I jetisoned a little while ago) is a great place to see the awful effects of over-compression. It's EXTREMELY noticeable when there is are overlayed scores and other solid graphics - artifact city.
Digital 4k (2160p) versions of movies from Hollywood are usually > 30GB. Rips of these (i.e., torrents) are compressed down to just a few GB, with little noticeable loss of detail - but believe me, it's there, and if you have a large TV you'll likely see it (and not care anyway

) .