AppleTV Preset + 2-pass encoding?

[dylan_atv]

I've read several threads, including the fairly technical "ATV 2.x Advanced Settings (All Sources)" thread, but I'm still clueless...

Since I'm very lucky and able to do my encoding with a brand new 8 core Xeon Xserve I can afford to be allow a little more CPU work than some folks. But I'm pretty lost even after hours of reading. How much benefit (if any) would I see if I did nothing more than use the current AppleTV preset and enabled 2-pass encoding? Is there another preset that I should consider since encoding times are not so onerous with this hardware (it still needs to play on the ATV at the end)?

Thanks for putting up with another newbie.

[dynaflash]

How much benefit (if any) would I see if I did nothing more than use the current AppleTV preset and enabled 2-pass encoding?

Short answer: it depends. Since your machine is so fast, try two encodes of the exact same source and take a look for yourself. Some claim its a huge difference, others claim they cannot even tell. I guess if I wasnt using the crf type encoding and had your machine I would probably enable 2 pass. As you said, encoding time is not an issue.

[dylan_atv]

Since your machine is so fast, try two encodes of the exact same source and take a look for yourself.

Yeah, I get over 130 fps average on this puppy even using the AppleTV preset 2500kbps. For what it's worth, I've encoded my most recent disc both ways and honestly don't see a difference yet (they both look great). What I need is to find my DVD of The Eagles Farewell Tour I, which looked awful with the Apple TV preset, and see if a second pass helps that.

[Freis968]

Hey dylan, I see you are having the same dilemma I am having. From what I am reading here, it is best to always use the 2-Pass option. That is what I am doing atleast. Are you having any cropping issues?

See my post here..http://forum.handbrake.fr/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5911

[dylan_atv]

Hey dylan, I see you are having the same dilemma I am having. From what I am reading here, it is best to always use the 2-Pass option. That is what I am doing atleast. Are you having any cropping issues?

See my post here..http://forum.handbrake.fr/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5911

I would use the 2-pass option if I could find a clip that benefited from it, so far I can't see a difference. I hate feeling like I'm throwing away quality, but even at 100-200 fps, it still takes time to rip these things, why double it without gain? Admittedly, I've only tried two tests, but in those two I could not distinguish between the single pass and the 2-pass version.

re: your cropping question. I'm DEFINITELY not an expert, but in my experience cropping is a good thing. I'm encoding for the AppleTV, but do sometimes watch the files on my iPhone (which requires a transcode later, it's just a single button click in iTunes), or watch them on another computer in the house somewhere. On anything but a television, wasted black pixels are annoying. Even on TV's these days, it seems like there is so little overscan that it's safe to crop to the film to the very edge. On my Panasonic plasma, I think there is hardly any overscan... one of these days I'm going to make a test movie that let's me measure exactly how much I'm getting just out of curiosity.

[Freis968]

Hey dylan,

I don't mind if the movie gets cropped to take the black bars out of the movie, but I DO mind if it actually crops the doggone movie!