BluRay DVDs

[junebugapril]

I'm sorry if this has been asked before. I can't find the answer. I get the movies from commercial DVDs. I connect a 2011 MacBook Pro with an HDMI cable to a 2008 Sony HDTV.

Can you please recommend a Handbrake setting to get excellent quality? I have tried "Normal" and "High Quality" and I can't really tell the difference. How can I tweak the settings to get better results?

[junebugapril]

I realized I asked this a year ago! Sorry. One of the answers was:

You could try lowering the RF to 19 or 18 - even 16 if you really don't care about file size.
Other things to try:
deblock=-1,-1:psy-rd=1.0,0.15
(film tune)
no-dct-decimate=1
(may reduce color banding)
subme=8
or
subme=9

Should I just use "Normal" and put "deblock=-1,-1:psy-rd=1.0,0.15: no-dct-decimate=1: subme=8" in the "Additional Options" box?

[junebugapril]

Should I get BluRay disks for better quality?

[Smithcraft]

Generally, the better your source is, the better your file will be.

SC

[Deleted User 11865]

Should I get BluRay disks for better quality?

If you care about quality, obviously

Even if you downscale to SD and/or user low bitrates, starting with a quality source is the best way to end up with good-looking output.

If you want to go a step further, there are online forums dedicated to Blu-ray which will help you decide whether a particular Blu-ray is worth buying, if a specific edition has better image quality, etc.

Edit: obviously you need a Blu-ray drive if you want to be able to rip and encode Blu-ray discs.

[junebugapril]

Geez, guys, I had no idea a DVD was bad quality. I have a lot to learn! I have a MacBook Pro, I think it can handle BluRay, but it isn't a BluRay drive, so maybe not.

[Deleted User 11865]

No, you need an external Blu-ray drive. Macs never have Blu-ray drives.

[junebugapril]

So is the best way to get a good quality file to download it rather than use a DVD?

[TedJ]

DVDs aren't "bad" quality as such, it's simply of a case that Blu-ray are on average better quality, even if downsampling back to standard definition.

Macs can handle Blu-ray via an external drive (an external BD/DVD combo drive can be found for under $50) and third party software (MakeMKV, VLC, Roxio Toast, among others), so I would consider switching to BD as a future proofing measure but DVD still has plenty of life left in it as a format.

I usually use the x264 slow preset with film tune for my feature film encodes at RF 20-19 for DVD sources and RF 23-22 for Blu-ray.

[junebugapril]

DVDs aren't "bad" quality as such, it's simply of a case that Blu-ray are on average better quality, even if downsampling back to standard definition.

Macs can handle Blu-ray via an external drive (an external BD/DVD combo drive can be found for under $50) and third party software (MakeMKV, VLC, Roxio Toast, among others), so I would consider switching to BD as a future proofing measure but DVD still has plenty of life left in it as a format.

I usually use the x264 slow preset with film tune for my feature film encodes at RF 20-19 for DVD sources and RF 23-22 for Blu-ray.

That makes sense. I'll try that preset and see if it helps. I probably won't get a BluRay drive right now. But if I do use a BD/DVD combo drive, can I still hook that up with an HDMI cable to my HDTV and play disks on it?

[junebugapril]

I am also trying to find out how to save the "Menu" on a workout DVD that has buttons on the "Menu" to play each individual section. If I use Handbrake, I don't think it has Menu settings, so will all the chapters just play as one connected file?

[GregiBoy]

It will depend how the disk is authored.

Some disks have a "Play All" feature which may give you one contiguous file otherwise you will have a file for each section (title)...