Universal Preset / iPod/iPhone capability question

[knifehandchop]

Hey,

I really hate to do this, but I've just searched the forums and knocked about the FAQ and can't see the answer.

As far as I knew (and had been encoding as such) the iPod Classic and iPhone supported max resolutions of 640x480. However, the latest Universal preset (which looks very interesting to me) seems to allow larger ones. Can anyone succinctly explain this, or point me towards where I can read about it? Did something happen with the way the iPod and iPhone accept videos, or am I missing something?

In any case, I've just used the setting and it works on my devices, so that's good, and it looks a lot better than my previous encodes (and now the anal idiot in me wants to go back and re-do the old ones. No, bad boy, you have better things to do with your time). Encoding however seems to be at a much more sluggish rate of around 9fps average - what's normal for Universal preset with a 2.4GHz MBP? I'm used to around 20/30 with my old settings.

Basically I encode for iPod Classic, iPhone and iTunes, with a mind to make sure files are compatible with tv if I ever get one. So now I do 640x480, 2200kbps constant rate which works out fine for file size and quality as far as I'm concerned. This brings me to another point - I also thought Apple's handheld devices could handle max 2500kbps, however I'm sure I read a few posts here with Universal that were about 3,000 (and surely using constant quality could result in spikes in bit rate) - did the software on these devices get improved (either mid-life or when they were introduced in comparison to the 5.5G iPod)?

Thanks all, believe me, I did try to look this info up, but it's a bit too complicated and need human input - if there's a definitive guide to all this (basically I'm well anal and would really like a file that plays on my iPhone/iPod/iTunes, and is as much like a DVD as possible (good picture, multiple audio/subtitle tracks etc.) iTunes probably needs to catch up though...

Best,

James

[refulgentis]

Hey,

I really hate to do this, but I've just searched the forums and knocked about the FAQ and can't see the answer.

As far as I knew (and had been encoding as such) the iPod Classic and iPhone supported max resolutions of 640x480. However, the latest Universal preset (which looks very interesting to me) seems to allow larger ones. Can anyone succinctly explain this, or point me towards where I can read about it? Did something happen with the way the iPod and iPhone accept videos, or am I missing something?

basically 640x480 is 4 by 3, so while you can have "higher" resolutions in maybe width for widescreen content, the number of pixels is still below (640*480), IIRC. Someone probably has a better anwer

In any case, I've just used the setting and it works on my devices, so that's good, and it looks a lot better than my previous encodes (and now the anal idiot in me wants to go back and re-do the old ones. No, bad boy, you have better things to do with your time). Encoding however seems to be at a much more sluggish rate of around 9fps average - what's normal for Universal preset with a 2.4GHz MBP? I'm used to around 20/30 with my old settings.

The presets are geared to "transparency" -- i.e. you put in a video, it looks the same coming out at a reasonable file size. Getting those two of the quality/size/speed triumvirate dictates sacrificing speed. I get 5 fps with a custom preset on my 2.4 Ghz MacBook (which should be the same as a MBP)

Basically I encode for iPod Classic, iPhone and iTunes, with a mind to make sure files are compatible with tv if I ever get one. So now I do 640x480, 2200kbps constant rate which works out fine for file size and quality as far as I'm concerned. This brings me to another point - I also thought Apple's handheld devices could handle max 2500kbps, however I'm sure I read a few posts here with Universal that were about 3,000 (and surely using constant quality could result in spikes in bit rate) - did the software on these devices get improved (either mid-life or when they were introduced in comparison to the 5.5G iPod)?

I believe only the old original video iPods had that limit. Also, constant bit rate is inane/insane nowadays unless you really can't stomach the idea of unpredictable file size with constant quality, which is hard to imagine in these days of $100 terabyte hard drives and constant quality doesn't vary *too* much anyway. Constant bitrate means "hey, I'm throwing the same amount of data at everything, even if its a motionless scene which requires a lot less data"

Thanks all, believe me, I did try to look this info up, but it's a bit too complicated and need human input - if there's a definitive guide to all this (basically I'm well anal and would really like a file that plays on my iPhone/iPod/iTunes, and is as much like a DVD as possible (good picture, multiple audio/subtitle tracks etc.) iTunes probably needs to catch up though...

The presets will already do all this, you just have to come to terms with encoding speed or learn quite a bit more about what tradeoffs will help you. Constant quality = one encoding pass, always good quality, unpredictable file size. VBR = two encoding passes, predictable file size without waste, unpredictable quality. Constant bitrate = one encoding pass, unpredictable quality that wastes data, and predictable file size with waste. Settings will dictate how long an encode takes, not nearly as much what rate control mode you're using.

[knifehandchop]

Cool, thanks a lot man, very informative. I guess I'll need to come to terms with the slightly slower speed (although one pass changes things), and I've just mucked about a bit and realised you can use multiple audios. Multiple subtitle tracks would be great...

So my final question is just to do with the resolution. 640*480 is 307,200 whereas that preset has just produced a file that works on my iPhone of resolution 1,009*544 which is 548,896. It works, so I'm really not superfussed, but I'm just interested to know the tech behind it so I have a better idea of what I'm doing.

[peterjcat]

The 640x480/2500 limits were for the 5.5G iPod, everything since is quite a bit more capable. I don't think we know exactly what the new limits are, but there's an indicative table over here: http://forum.handbrake.fr/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=3859. That's how come the new Universal preset works so well.