AppleTV Advanced Settings (Post PsyRDO)

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jbjoret
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Joined: Sat Feb 16, 2008 12:08 pm

Re: AppleTV Advanced Settings (Post PsyRDO)

Post by jbjoret »

I have made this experience with Perian a few years ago. The reason why it does not work properly with HD is simply because in order to decode it, quitime makes use of the NVidia chip hardware decoding capabilities which the Perian decoder can't do and will probably never do. So for HD decoding, the best solution is to make sure that you set weightp=0. I wish I had know this in time, It would have saved me a lot of time. Next time there is a x264 update, I will make sure to test the first encoded Movie on my ATV. I am using the following settings for HD:

cabac=0:ref=2:me=umh:b-adapt=2:weightb=0:weightp=0:vbv-maxrate=10000:vbv-bufsize=3000:analyse=all
Deleted User 11865

Re: AppleTV Advanced Settings (Post PsyRDO)

Post by Deleted User 11865 »

jbjoret wrote:So for HD decoding, the best solution is to make sure that you set weightp=0.
Actually, if you intend to use a standard AppleTV (i.e. no Perian), you have to use weightp=0 for all encodes, even SD. According to dynaflash's testing, weighted p-frame prediction is simply broken on the ATV, as in the video will be unwatchable (excessive blockiness) regardless of resolution.
jbjoret
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Re: AppleTV Advanced Settings (Post PsyRDO)

Post by jbjoret »

Rodeo wrote:
jbjoret wrote:So for HD decoding, the best solution is to make sure that you set weightp=0.
Actually, if you intend to use a standard AppleTV (i.e. no Perian), you have to use weightp=0 for all encodes, even SD. According to dynaflash's testing, weighted p-frame prediction is simply broken on the ATV, as in the video will be unwatchable (excessive blockiness) regardless of resolution.
I know, but "berylium" is using Perian 1.3 for SD. And perian seem to be able to deal with weighted p-frame prediction. I was explaining why Perian does not work and will not work with HD content on the ATV.
Deleted User 11865

Re: AppleTV Advanced Settings (Post PsyRDO)

Post by Deleted User 11865 »

Hmm I think I get what you meant now.
Berylium
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Re: AppleTV Advanced Settings (Post PsyRDO)

Post by Berylium »

Indeed, as has been pointed out, weightp does not work on the stock AppleTV regardless of the material (be it SD or HD). There isn't just excessive blockiness but the picture can be completely washed out color-wise for periods of time, it's a complete disaster.

My test was to see if Perian's decoder: A) could be used in place of the ATV's QuickTime decoder, and B) would perform better than the ATV's QuickTime decoder. Test A was a success. Test B was a failure for the reasons jbjoret listed above.

Ideally, since Perian's decoder has enough performance to handle SD material and is a technically more robust decoder one would use Perian's H264 decoder for SD material and the QuickTime decoder for HD material. Unfortunately, unlike a normal Mac install of Perian, the only way to get the AppleTV to use Perian's decoder is to delete the AppleTV QuickTime H264 decoder. In other words, Perian decoding of h264 material on the AppleTV is all or nothing, both SD and HD or neither. Since Perian's decoder is unable to handle HD content… it's not worth using (for h264 decoding).

-berylium
brakestands
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Re: AppleTV Advanced Settings (Post PsyRDO)

Post by brakestands »

vidjock wrote: Here's my settings.

Code: Select all

ref=3:mixed-refs=1:bframes=3:me=umh:subq=7:b-adapt=2:8x8dct=1:weightb=0:weightp=0:trellis=1:psy-rd=1.0,0.3
Vidjock, I hadn't been following the latest ins/outs with the code, but will be re-engaging today and trying your settings using the svn2907 (just waiting for the final 0.9.4 and too lazy to compile the very latest svn :-). Question though on this. With your settings above, are you using the oft-recommended 62% quality level? This had seemed like the right levels under 0.9.3 in my testing, but not sure if it holds true these days. And of course, I meant 62% for regular DVD sources. As for BluRay sources, what quality level are folks using there for highest quality without stuttering, etc.? Again, time to rip and filesize are not a concern, only quality of playback.

These are exciting days indeed, as we count down to 0.9.4 release. I am totally rebuilding my workflow using the excellent workflow design documented by macjedi, can't wait to finish rounding it out.

Thanks for your help. Cheers!
jbjoret
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Re: AppleTV Advanced Settings (Post PsyRDO)

Post by jbjoret »

I am using 62% for DVDs and 61% for BluRays, on some older BluRays I use 59% otherwise the average bitrate is > 5120kbps and it won't sync with the AppleTV.
Chris_BBR
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Re: AppleTV Advanced Settings (Post PsyRDO)

Post by Chris_BBR »

dynaflash wrote:Note that if you are using either of the last two snapshots, 2742 or the latest 2829, the options I am using for atv are:

Code: Select all

ref=3:mixed-refs=1:bframes=3:me=hex:subq=7:b-adapt=2:8x8dct=1:weightb=0:trellis=0
which is slightly different than the old options due to a change in the x264 defaults introduced in HB 2742 snapshot.
I primarily use HB to get EyeTV recordings onto my Apple TV, so I was curious to give these settings a go. My sample file was a typical half-hour digital SD broadcast (BBC 1 over Freeview here in the UK), 25fps, source 720x576, anamorphic output to 1024x576, with HandBrakeCLI-svn2907-64 (OS X 10.5.8 on a 2 GHz Mac Mini Core2Duo) running with '-e x264 -E faac -B 160 -R 48 -6 stereo -f mp4 --decomb -q 20'. The output file was 721 MB, which QT Player reports as 3509 kbits/s. Playback is on the very earliest 40GB ATV, running OS 3.0.1, synced not streamed, viewed over HDMI on a 26" Sony Bravia.

The output file syncs and plays, but unfortunately panning shots are too hard for the ATV to cope with, and result in jerky playback of the video (sound is fine). However, output from the same EyeTV file works perfectly using the x264 options from the svn2907 'AppleTV' preset, with all other parameters unchanged (output file 786 MB, 3822 kbits/s).

Output from the ATV preset looks just fine to me on the TV, and the slightly larger file size doesn't bother me, so I'm happy to revert to the stock settings. However, I much appreciate the work that Dynaflash and the rest of the team do on HandBrake, so I'm pleased to contribute my findings (however esoteric!) if they can be of use to others.

Cheers, Chris
vidjock
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Joined: Tue Sep 30, 2008 9:50 pm

Re: AppleTV Advanced Settings (Post PsyRDO)

Post by vidjock »

brakestands wrote:
vidjock wrote: Here's my settings.

Code: Select all

ref=3:mixed-refs=1:bframes=3:me=umh:subq=7:b-adapt=2:8x8dct=1:weightb=0:weightp=0:trellis=1:psy-rd=1.0,0.3
Vidjock, I hadn't been following the latest ins/outs with the code, but will be re-engaging today and trying your settings using the svn2907 (just waiting for the final 0.9.4 and too lazy to compile the very latest svn :-). Question though on this. With your settings above, are you using the oft-recommended 62% quality level? This had seemed like the right levels under 0.9.3 in my testing, but not sure if it holds true these days. And of course, I meant 62% for regular DVD sources. As for BluRay sources, what quality level are folks using there for highest quality without stuttering, etc.? Again, time to rip and filesize are not a concern, only quality of playback.

These are exciting days indeed, as we count down to 0.9.4 release. I am totally rebuilding my workflow using the excellent workflow design documented by macjedi, can't wait to finish rounding it out.

Thanks for your help. Cheers!

brakestands,

I use several different quality settings depending on the source. The quality setting has changed to a value from a percentage. WIth that said, I have found that with all the changes in x264 that 20 = 62%, but as always let your eyes be the judge. For me 20 has been the best overall at keeping quality up and bit rates reasonable. It really all depends on the source and how much I like the movie. :) The kids movies I will do at 23 and the same for movies that are poorly mastered. With poorly mastered movies the bit rate and file size is just to high at 20 for little to no quality gain. I have never encoded a HD source.
gisanders
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Re: AppleTV Advanced Settings (Post PsyRDO)

Post by gisanders »

Hello, and please excuse my first post as a newbie.

I am new to the handbrake/appleTV convo, but this is killing me. This thread is directly related to my issue I believe, but because the majority of it is way above my head, and i have very little knowledge of advanced setting since i'm a new HB user was wondering if someone could throw me a bone.

I have ripped 100+ dvds using HB 0.9.4 with the default AppleTV preset. They all play back perfectly on my Mac, but then...on my AppleTV (which i just purchased after ripping them all) are pixelated and very blocky during transitions (like others have described in this thread)

I see that this seems to be related to QT7 and/or the "weightp" option?

So, my two questions are simple...

(1) Do I need to re-rip all of these dvds with alternate settings or is there any other way to get them to play on my AppleTV (without hacking it) as they do on my mac?

(2) If i'm screwed, what exactly do I change in my HB settings to resolve this so I can start over?

Thanks you so much for your help in advance.
TedJ
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Re: AppleTV Advanced Settings (Post PsyRDO)

Post by TedJ »

You would have been better starting a new thread with your issue rather than bumping this one, but here goes...

The bad news is all of your DVD's will need to be re-encoded. :(

As to what needs changing, you can either download the current nightly build with updated presets, or ensure that the options string on the Advanced tab reads as follows:-

Code: Select all

cabac=0:ref=2:me=umh:b-adapt=2:weightb=0:weightp=0:vbv-maxrate=9500:vbv-bufsize=9500
dynaflash
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Re: AppleTV Advanced Settings (Post PsyRDO)

Post by dynaflash »

gisanders wrote:I have ripped 100+ dvds using HB 0.9.4 with the default AppleTV preset. They all play back perfectly on my Mac, but then...on my AppleTV (which i just purchased after ripping them all) are pixelated and very blocky during transitions (like others have described in this thread)

I see that this seems to be related to QT7 and/or the "weightp" option?
Sounds exactly like weightp, however you state you used the built in atv preset in 0.9.4 ... which includes weightp=0 so if in fact you did what you say you did, it should not be the weightp issue. An activity log from one of these encodes would tell us right away.

I might also mention that issues with the default preset have nothing to do with this thread and do not belong here. This thread is for advanced custom settings, in which case you would have to manually add "weightp=0" to your options string as described here: http://forum.handbrake.fr/viewtopic.php ... 06&start=0
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