HandBrake

I confirmed this is a problem in build 4797. Regression since 4582. Not only is the first chapter labelled "Chapter 2" but the last two chapters are labelled the same. SVN4797 [08:52:59] mpeg2: "Chapter 2" (1) at frame 0 time 3003 [08:52:59] sync: first pts is 3003 [08:59:46] mpe...

At first blush Amazon's EC2 seems like an exciting option based on performance/cost for encoding tasks. However the huge fly in the ointment is that you have to upload your source files to Amazon's servers. Can you imagine uploading a 30-40GB blu-ray rip?

Would an installation of 64-bit Handbrake on 64-bit Win7 run faster than 32-bit Handbrake on 32-bit Win7? I assume it would. I ask because sometimes 64-bit software doesn't always perform as you might expect due to the existence of 32-bit legacy code, filters, plug-ins or something else in the pipel...

I've gotten into the habit of just encoding everything to 2-channel DD 192kpbs with DPL-II mixdown. 2-channel AAC should sound better at the same bitrate. AC-3 isn't a particularly efficient codec. Compatibility is the main reason why it's still widely used. I encode with AC3 solely because my play...

I've gotten into the habit of just encoding everything to 2-channel DD 192kpbs with DPL-II mixdown. Most of my DVD-source encodes are in the 400-900kbps range (employing all the psy-rd tricks to make them look surprisingly decent) so it seems like a waste to keep along a 448kbps 5.1 soundtrack. It's...

I've seen (uncommon) situations where reducing RF by 1 increased bitrate by 35%, which means a doubling/halving of bitrate per 2.3 RF adjustment. And it's not linear either. The steepest part of the curve (i.e. where the bitrate jump per RF is most pronounced) appears to be in the RF 20-22 range (fo...

I have your version of the WDTV (pre-Live). I always use MKV since I had various problems and glitches playing back MP4, M4V files. If you have audio sync issues check the firmware version of your WDTV. The best firmware version for avoiding audio sync issues is 1.02.03. At least that's my experienc...

I have one of the original WDTV boxes (not the Live), running 1.02.03 firmware and have not encountered problems with playing back 0.9.6 encoded videos. I always use the MKV container.

Stream #0.1: Audio: aac, 44100 Hz, stereo, s16, 131 kb/s You do not need to transcode (re-encode) the audio since the source is already AAC and smaller than the 160kbps bitrate used by the default preset. Just go to the Audio tab and on the second dropdown (Audio Codec), select "AAC Passthroug...

0.9.6: When I encode on a C2Q Q9650 (4 core, non-HT) and enable "default" decomb I never see anything faster than ~75 fps. With "fast" decomb, the max is around 130-140fps. In both cases CPU is pegged at 100%.

Also try mbtree=0. This turns off a feature that can produce artifacts (smudginess/blockiness) in images with fine detail, particularly darker ones. It may not be the source of your visual concerns but it is worth a shot. I discovered the problems with mbtree when I was making encodes at CRF 19 and ...

I should also add that psychovisual trellis should not be used with simple animation. psy-trellis can lead to artifacts in animation and is designed primarily for grainy film sources.

Trellis improves compression efficiency. The reason why it sometimes gets a "bad name" is that the trellis algorithm may decide to reduce quality (relative to non-trellis) if it determines the efficiency gains are great enough to "pay for" the quality loss. For instance, trellis ...

http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?title=Joint_stereo This link explains it well. Using joint-stereo (i.e. the default) means you let LAME decide whether to use L/R or M/S frames dynamically. (LAME does not implement intensity stereo). Because M/S frames offer lossless compression gains, you d...

improve lame audio quality by using ABR mode and disabling joint stereo mode // Lame's default encoding mode is JOINT_STEREO. This subtracts signal // that is "common" to left and right (within some threshold) and encodes // it separately. This improves quality at low bitrates, but hurts ...

Panasonic's current generation of 42 inch sets include models that display 1024x768. They are considered HD because they still provide much higher resolution than SD (720x480). I don't think you need to do anything special because your TV is going to rescale the input anyway. I would transcode full ...

Is there a way to speed up the convert? Sure. Your log indicates you are using CQ 69% which translates to approx CRF 16. You don't need to set the CQ percentage that high, try 62% instead...doubt you will notice a difference in quality. Lowering the CQ (same as raising CRF) increases encoding speed...

Also depends on your display...when I had a 36" analog TV I "got away" with CRF 21.5 but now that I have a 50" plasma I need to use CRF 19 or lower.

2500 is a high bitrate for H.264 (unless you are encoding very grainy/noisy material) so the quality should be excellent.

Note that the WD TV Live will not understand the chapter markers in those MP4 files. If you want chapters to work on the WD TV you need to use MKV (with Handbrake).

That's a large display so you'll need fairly high quality. Try CQ 62.75% RF:19 to start. Afterwards only you can answer if the resulting bitrate is too high (increase RF) or if the video quality is not good enough (decrease RF). Generally changing RF by 1 increases or decreases filesize by about 11%...

Unless encoding speed is a concern, always use b-adapt=2. A nice "effect" of b-adapt 2 is that it works well enough with a reduced amount of maximum b-frames. Whereas b-adapt 1 would sometimes use 16 b-frames in succession, b-adapt is fairly consistent in using just 2 or 3 (i.e IBBIBBIBBBI...

VidBoy, you probably checked this, but I have to ask. Did you verify that the source doesn't have the artefacts? Some dvds are produced really poorly. The "original" Matrix DVD - whose case is the cardboard kind which used to be popular before DVD cases went all-plastic - is a pretty [Cen...

I am not sure if using 19 will solve your problem on your 50" TV. Have you checked with the original SD video ? My experience is that no matter how good your x264 video is encoded, in the end it is the source that makes the difference (if it is a DVD which uses MPEG2, you won't get it better t...

The CRF you choose depends on at least the source and your playback device (i.e. TV). I've encoded SD videos (720x480) at CRF 21.5 for display on a 36" analog CRT TV and found that using a lower CRF barely improved perceptual quality. However, I recently purchased a 50" plasma TV and now t...

There must be something wrong. An Athlon X2 6000 should easily outperform a C2D T2300. It's true that you can't compare two architectures using clock speed only but in this case the X2 may have the "better" architecture given that the T2300 is a mobile CPU not primarily designed for perfor...