Is x265 AMD VCE GPU encoding really better quality than x264 CPU for a 1080p video ?

[JohnAStebbins]

@Hodrakir, the key phrase in what BradleyS said is

For high quality 1080p encodes at medium to higher bit rates, x264 generally produces a result equal to x265 and exceeding hardware encoders.

He left out "at the same bitrate", but that is what he meant.

AMD VCE is a hardware encoder and does not produce the same quality output as the software encoders used by HandBrake. x264 easily beats AMD VCE h.265 in quality of output with the currently available hardware. x265 is a software encoder that does produce higher quality than x264 under the right circumstances. But as BradleyS said, there are circumstances where x264 can equal x265 in quality at the same bitrate.

[Deleted User 13735]

The tendency of consumers to think of x265 as having better quality at the same bitrate as x264 is backwards, because there is no quality better than optimal for the source.

We would be closer if we think of x265 as giving the same quality at a lower bitrate than x264, generally speaking for motion video.

[rollin_eng]

We would be closer if we think of x265 as giving the same quality at a lower bitrate than x264, generally speaking for motion video.

If x265 provides the same quality at a lower bitrate are you saying quality decreases as bitrate increases?