Best preset for DVD quality

[gentleben]

Description of problem or question:

I am encoding a lot of DVDs which to my knowledge are 720 x 576 PAL (UK). What is the best preset to use? HandBrake will encode the video with a resolution of around 704 x 544 (after automatic cropping, it varies).

So is 720p the best option? Is there any quality benefit to using 1080p preset over 720p preset when the output video size is lower than 720p? Does 1080p preset produce higher quality than 720p preset if the quality slider is set to the same as 720p (21)?

Also, are there any recommended settings for encoding commercial DVDs (movies, etc)? I usually use Fast1080p but movies always seem to be vastly inferior to what I've seen other people produce. I have tried SuperHQ but the file size ends up being huge. Are the default Fast1080p preset settings really best for commercial DVDs (movies)?


Steps to reproduce the problem (If Applicable):




HandBrake version (e.g., 1.0.0):

1.3.3


Operating system and version (e.g., Ubuntu 16.04 LTS, macOS 10.13 High Sierra, Windows 10 Creators Update):

Windows 7 64-bit


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[musicvid]

No, you use the preset that matches the height of the video, not the width. Handbrake GUI does not upscale to 720 or 1080.
Fast 576 p25 or HQ 576 p25 Surround are the best general presets to use for your purpose.
Logs are required for individual support.

[gentleben]

Oh, I see. So you're saying that using 1080p30 or 720p30 will not be any better quality (not even a tiny bit better) than 576p25 for UK PAL region 2 commercial movies? You're saying that using 1080p30 or 720p30 will actually produce worse quality than 576p25?

[musicvid]

Handbrake GUI will not allow you to upscale 576i video to 720p or 1080p that I am aware of.

[gentleben]

So are you saying that there's no difference in quality between 576p25 and 720p30 and 1080p30 for DVD commercial movies (UK PAL region 2)? In that case, why is it better to use 576p25 instead of 1080p30 if the resolution and quality is going to be the same?

[musicvid]

No, I'm not saying that.

There is a reason that Handbrake developers do not permit upscaling in the Handbrake GUI.
You may draw whatever implications from that you may wish.

Feel free to ask whatever general questions you may have in the appropriate subforums. But please don't put words in my mouth.

[gentleben]

I didn't intend to.

For a DVD, why is it better to use 576p25 instead of 720p30 or 1080p30 if the resolution is the same in the output file (assuming that the quality slider is set to the same for all 3)?

And if there is a difference in output quality for DVDs with those 3 presets, what is the difference?

[Woodstock]

When a preset has a size in it, that is what it will limit the output to. Smaller than that? Nothing done. Bigger? Shrink to fit.

The "under 1080p" presets default to de-interlace active, because DVDs are mostly interlaced. This is one reason to prefer the "lesser" presets over 720, 1080, or 2160 presets.

[gentleben]

Thanks Woodstock but with my computer, all of the 'General' presets have Deinterlace set to 'Decomb' by default. The only difference is the 'Very Fast' presets have 'Fast' interlace detection and all the others have 'Default' interlace detection. But 1080p30, 720p30, 576p25 and 480p30 all have Deinterlace set to 'Decomb' by default.

[gentleben]

Actually, every single preset except Production presets has Deinterlace set to Decomb by default so this can't be the reason.
One thing I can see is that 1080p uses encoder level 4 but 720p and 576p use encoder level 3.1. This seems to change bufsize and maxrate. I don't know if this would give 1080p higher quality than 720p or 576p.

[mduell]

The presets targeting different resolutions have different quality targets (each suitable for their named resolution).