I have many many dvd9 titles on my htpc that I stream to my 50" plasma. I would have no problem converting the dvd's to another format, and this part is vitally important, _if the image quality is precisely the same_
I am quite picky about image quality. So the question is, if I take a dvd9 at ~8 gigs, and convert it to mpeg-4 using encoding settings that make the new mpeg-4 file (vitally important emphasis again) _100% indistinguishable_ from the original dvd, what kind of space savings will I see? Storage savings in my personal book is not a replacement for image quality. Ever.
I dont want to sound harsh, but please be honest with your answers. mpeg-4/handbrake fanboi answers arent the kind im looking for. I really am only interested in fact.
Ok, so mpeg-4 has better compression, but at what cost?
H264 provides higher picture quality than MPEG4 for the same file size.
e.g a 500MB H264 file will look superior to a 500MB MPEG4 file.
Using the AppleTV preset for example produces very good quality video that I personally cant tell the difference between DVD and Ouputfile.
Are you even using handbrake?
e.g a 500MB H264 file will look superior to a 500MB MPEG4 file.
Using the AppleTV preset for example produces very good quality video that I personally cant tell the difference between DVD and Ouputfile.
Are you even using handbrake?
Currently, I just switch my AV receiver to an input displaying a linux desktop (connected via a dvi->hdmi adapter). I navigate to the directories where my movies are, and play them via VLC. Rather rudimentary I know, and I keep telling myself I need to use a "proper" front end such as mythtv, but this seems to just work, and its even wife-friendly!
Keep in mind that looking on a big plasma screen and being picky about image quality you will always notice some difference. If you had the uncompressed source files that the DVD was made from and you would convert them to h264 mpeg4 and compare them to the mpeg2 compression you have on the DVD now, you would notice the superiority of h264. But now you're starting from mpeg2 material and you're converting it to h264 mpeg4. There's no way you're going to get exactly the same quality, there will always be some loss (mostly noticeable in darker parts of the movie, blurry backgrounds, soft gradients...). Don't forget you're recompressing an already heavily compressed file. My advice would be to do a test with some high quality settings (check the forum on what most people use, you'll see some differences in opinions) and see if you can live with the result.
If you want to keep the exact same quality and reduce file size a little, you can always do a Main feature rip with MacTheRipper to strip off all the extras. That will usually give you a result between 4-5 GB, on shorter movies sometimes between 3-4 GB.
Good quality h264 movies can be 1.5 to 2 GB. Sometimes a bit less, sometimes a bit more.
If you want to keep the exact same quality and reduce file size a little, you can always do a Main feature rip with MacTheRipper to strip off all the extras. That will usually give you a result between 4-5 GB, on shorter movies sometimes between 3-4 GB.
Good quality h264 movies can be 1.5 to 2 GB. Sometimes a bit less, sometimes a bit more.
I'd recommend you try out the Apple TV preset in handbrake.
With anything your going to have to experiment a bit. Maybe do 2~3 chapters of a DVD and try it out. See how it looks.
The apple TV preset is just 2500Kbit H.264 with some advanced options passed to the encode to improve quality. It also uses anamorphic video (dunno if mythTV would support that. VLC does afaik)
http://handbrake.m0k.org/trac/wiki/AnamorphicGuide
H264 is slow encoding, but the results are definatly worth the wait. Were talking 3~4 times slower than Mpeg4.
With anything your going to have to experiment a bit. Maybe do 2~3 chapters of a DVD and try it out. See how it looks.
The apple TV preset is just 2500Kbit H.264 with some advanced options passed to the encode to improve quality. It also uses anamorphic video (dunno if mythTV would support that. VLC does afaik)
http://handbrake.m0k.org/trac/wiki/AnamorphicGuide
H264 is slow encoding, but the results are definatly worth the wait. Were talking 3~4 times slower than Mpeg4.
hondaman, heres what I've found, take from it what you will.
I've been using HB to encode .MP4(h264+AAC).
I use 2500kbps for full 16x9 and a little less for 2.35:1 with 6 channel audio. I also use the anamorphic settings so there is no scaling (only cropping)
I'm watching these mp4s using either VLC or FrontRow on a Mac mini hooked up to a 55" LCD rear projection tv. The connection is dvi->hdmi. The mini's output resolution is set at 1280x720.
The video is very good, but not indistinguishable from dvds viewed on the same tv with a (2001) pioneer dvd player also connected via hdmi cable.
I haven't tried the Apple TV preset, maybe the advanced options are worth a try.
DVDs are about 5000-7000 kbps. If you encode at 2500-3500 kbps, you'll be saving about 1/2 the file size.
If you want indistinguishable, you are going to need even higher bitrates, and you may find the time/effort isn't worth it.
How bout you run some tests and report back?
--sdm.
I've been using HB to encode .MP4(h264+AAC).
I use 2500kbps for full 16x9 and a little less for 2.35:1 with 6 channel audio. I also use the anamorphic settings so there is no scaling (only cropping)
I'm watching these mp4s using either VLC or FrontRow on a Mac mini hooked up to a 55" LCD rear projection tv. The connection is dvi->hdmi. The mini's output resolution is set at 1280x720.
The video is very good, but not indistinguishable from dvds viewed on the same tv with a (2001) pioneer dvd player also connected via hdmi cable.
I haven't tried the Apple TV preset, maybe the advanced options are worth a try.
DVDs are about 5000-7000 kbps. If you encode at 2500-3500 kbps, you'll be saving about 1/2 the file size.
If you want indistinguishable, you are going to need even higher bitrates, and you may find the time/effort isn't worth it.
How bout you run some tests and report back?
--sdm.
You can always keep the DVDs uncompressed. I'm currently doing this as well as encoding, at least until I run out of space on my new external hard drive. This keeps the full structure of the DVD, with all the menus, subtitles (with the option of on or off!), different languages and extras. You can always encode the movie to whatever preferences you'd like to in the future. With hard drive space costing about $2 per 6GB movie it's quite feasible!
If you are going to encode using x264 and need a constant quality then I'd recommend using the CRF (not CQP!) constant quality setting, starting at about CRF quality level 70% which is very close to DVD quality. But beware the file sizes will vary hugely as needed.
Also, if you are comparing DVD quality to encoded movies, you should always paly them on the same device to keep it fair -- e.g. playing your DVD using VLC (e.g. after ripping to your hard drive and removing any copy protection). I'm a PC user and find DVD Decrypter works very well.
If you are going to encode using x264 and need a constant quality then I'd recommend using the CRF (not CQP!) constant quality setting, starting at about CRF quality level 70% which is very close to DVD quality. But beware the file sizes will vary hugely as needed.
Also, if you are comparing DVD quality to encoded movies, you should always paly them on the same device to keep it fair -- e.g. playing your DVD using VLC (e.g. after ripping to your hard drive and removing any copy protection). I'm a PC user and find DVD Decrypter works very well.
Only when they're both encoded from the same source.sr55 wrote:H264 provides higher picture quality than MPEG4 for the same file size.
e.g a 500MB H264 file will look superior to a 500MB MPEG4 file.
Reencoding from MPEG2 to MPEG4 or H.264 will always reduce quality unless you set the quality to 100% (which will make the filesize explode and you'll end up with a bigger file at the end than what you started with). That's just the way lossy codecs work.