Advice on preset to use

Discuss encoding for devices and presets.
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gibbyni
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Joined: Sun Feb 03, 2019 10:37 am

Advice on preset to use

Post by gibbyni »

I'm about to convert my blu-ray collection and have been wondering about what preset to use. I would usually just use the HQ1080p30 Surround and mp4 format for the ones i have converted in the last few months but is there a better preset?

I use Plex and stream to a lot of different devices (PS4, Xbox, Sony & Samsung TV's and iMac.) I'm not to worried about file size, I would rather just make sure the conversions are as future proof as possible. Any recommendations?
rollin_eng
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Re: Advice on preset to use

Post by rollin_eng »

Just stick with what works as long as you are happy with it.
Woodstock
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Re: Advice on preset to use

Post by Woodstock »

You can't be "future proof" if you're using MP4 format, simply because it cannot contain all codecs used for audio or even subtitles. Even if you move on to better hardware, Plex will be limited by the source. Even MKV is limited with some of the latest gimmicks - although MKV can "grow" as a container, while MP4 is pretty much fixed in electronic stone.

The most "future proof" is maintaining a non-compressed, all-tracks MKV file of the original (to avoid having to re-rip the disk), and either letting Plex deal with "dumbing it down" for devices that cannot handle it, or use handbrake to encode it to whatever your current "best playback" is, to lighten the processor load on Plex until your playback environment gets better.
mduell
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Re: Advice on preset to use

Post by mduell »

Woodstock wrote: Sun Feb 03, 2019 4:15 pmYou can't be "future proof" if you're using MP4 format, simply because it cannot contain all codecs used for audio or even subtitles. Even if you move on to better hardware, Plex will be limited by the source. Even MKV is limited with some of the latest gimmicks - although MKV can "grow" as a container, while MP4 is pretty much fixed in electronic stone.
You can't really be future proof if you're using MKV, since it's not really much of a standard, it's just whatever one specific library decides to implement and maybe document or not.
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BradleyS
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Re: Advice on preset to use

Post by BradleyS »

If all of your devices are happy to play what you make using the HQ 1080p30 Surround preset, it's a great choice. Excellent quality, smaller than the original, stereo and surround sound included. What's not to like?
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