Quality Setting

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Meikei
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon May 07, 2007 11:17 pm

Quality Setting

Post by Meikei »

I just downloaded handbrake today, everything is working fine but for some reason when i try to type something for the quality setting it would only allow me input it for only one part. For instance, once i have a number for Avg Bitrate and then i try to type something for target size, the one for Avg Biterate disappears.. what can i do to change this?
mduell
Veteran User
Posts: 8207
Joined: Sat Apr 21, 2007 8:54 pm

Post by mduell »

Clearly, you need to either redefine the size of a byte or the duration of a second.
Meikei
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon May 07, 2007 11:17 pm

Post by Meikei »

I don't think that's the case because when i try to move the bar of the constant quailty it also erases what i have. It only allows me to have something in only one of the three slots. whenever i try to fill in the others it erases the previous one.
Tegeril
Posts: 25
Joined: Mon May 07, 2007 2:58 am

Post by Tegeril »

I think mduell was making a bit of a sarcastic joke. All three of those options are exclusive. Changing the bitrate will change the target file size, etc. You can only set one because each would override the previous.
PuzZLeR
Bright Spark User
Posts: 287
Joined: Tue Apr 24, 2007 4:01 am

Post by PuzZLeR »

Actually, I'd be worried if I was allowed to input more than one of those three options! Meikei, I assure you, HB is working fine.

Think of it this way. You're about to cook something for a certain amount of time. You can have possibly three options.

-Set the exact length of time it should cook.
-Set the exact clock time for it to stop cooking.
-Cook until a certain color/crispness.

As you can see, it would not make sense to choose more than one of these options. For example, once you set how long you want it to cook, you can't set the time for it to stop, or vice versa. If the time is 5pm, and you want it to cook for an hour, you either set it for 1 hour, or set it to stop cooking by 6pm (not both). You can't set it for an hour and also set it for 7pm at the same time for example.

Avg video bitrate + avg audio bitrate has a uniquely related final file size almost exactly. They cannot be different. It's up to you to pick a bitrate or a file size.

But let's say you don't care about the length of time or the clock but want a certain texture to your food, or a certain quality.

Let's say you want it to cook until it turns brown. Then it's no longer up to time or a clock. It's up to a certain quality. And it's up to you to select whether you want it soft, brown, crispy, or even black regardless of how long it takes.

This is how CRF works. You decide on a quality that you like and HB will give it to you no matter what the amount of bitrate or the final file size necessary was to get that level of quality.

It's like telling your oven that you want a certain color or crispness, and it will cook until it gives it to you exactly that way whether it took 30 minutes, 1 hour or till midnight. You don't care. You just want the certain flavor.

But then you might say, to heck with it. I don't care how it looks. I can't afford to cook longer than 2 hours. Then you cook for 2 hours or till 7pm and what you get is what you get.

Play around with these options with smaller files and use them interchangably. It will make sense soon.

Now I'm hungry...
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