What's your video format preference?

General questions or discussion about HandBrake, Video and/or audio transcoding, trends etc.
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ldexterldesign
Posts: 4
Joined: Thu Sep 29, 2016 2:09 pm

What's your video format preference?

Post by ldexterldesign »

Hey all,

Hope you're well

Thanks for software

I started using https://www.plex.tv/ recently, so have started to consume video (e.g. film/TV) in the browser (i.e. https://www.opera.com/ ) instead of https://www.videolan.org/vlc/ - it's given me a new appreciation of video formats. I dipped my toes into video formats around 5 years ago, while developing websites, so my knowledge is a bit rusty - looking to update my breadth of knowledge.

I recently discovered https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VP9 which reads promisingly[0], but like some on this forum I'm less than content with the Handbrake encode times and wondering if it's worth it (I understand this is a limitation with the third party encoder, not Handbrake). In any case, I currently have more patience and CPU available than disk space, so the format is still appealing to me (plus I love supporting open standards).

While bringing myself up to speed on this topic it seems like a good excuse to create a new resource, beyond the objective resources[1]

If you'd like to contribute please post your preferred (default) Handbrake setup, with optional (subjective) pros/cons

--

# Format: MKV

Pros:

1. Free
2. Open standard
3. Full browser support (via VP8/9 and WebM) - MP4 doesn't have universal browser support ( https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/doc ... AC_or_MP3) )

Cons:

1. Unsupported by Twitter ( https://support.twitter.com/articles/20 ... import-web )

# Video codec: VP8/9

Pros:

1. Free
2. Full browser support ( https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/doc ... patibility )
3. Open standard

Cons:

1. Unsupported by Twitter ( https://support.twitter.com/articles/20 ... import-web )
2. Slower (Handbrake) encode, compared to MP4 and H26(4/5)

# Audio codec: Opus

Pros:

1. Free
2. Full browser support ( https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/doc ... patibility )
3. Open standard
4. "Higher quality than any other standard audio format at any given bitrate" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opus_(audio_format)

Cons:

1. None

NB The rest of Handbrake settings are default

--

Hope this is clear/useful and to hear back

Kind thanks

[0]
2013-03-21 viewtopic.php?f=6&t=26867
2013-05-26 viewtopic.php?f=26&t=27343
2016-08-30 viewtopic.php?f=6&t=35036

[1]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compariso ... er_formats
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compariso ... deo_codecs
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compariso ... ng_formats
Last edited by ldexterldesign on Thu Sep 29, 2016 7:18 pm, edited 3 times in total.
mduell
Veteran User
Posts: 8187
Joined: Sat Apr 21, 2007 8:54 pm

Re: What your video format preferences?

Post by mduell »

MP4/H264/AAC

I don't want freetard [Censored] that doesn't work natively everywhere.
rollin_eng
Veteran User
Posts: 4840
Joined: Wed May 04, 2011 11:06 pm

Re: What your video format preferences?

Post by rollin_eng »

Compatability wise, h264 and aac seem to be the best options.

I use Apple products so mp4 is my only choice.
ldexterldesign
Posts: 4
Joined: Thu Sep 29, 2016 2:09 pm

Re: What your video format preferences?

Post by ldexterldesign »

rollin_eng wrote:Compatability wise, h264 and aac seem to be the best options.

I use Apple products so mp4 is my only choice.
Hey,

Thanks for reply

Curious, which Apple products specifically (I use a MacBook Pro and have no issues with MKV, apart from it doesn't play in Preview)?

Hope to hear back

Cheers
rollin_eng
Veteran User
Posts: 4840
Joined: Wed May 04, 2011 11:06 pm

Re: What's your video format preference?

Post by rollin_eng »

iPhone and iPads.
mduell
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Posts: 8187
Joined: Sat Apr 21, 2007 8:54 pm

Re: What your video format preferences?

Post by mduell »

ldexterldesign wrote:Curious, which Apple products specifically (I use a MacBook Pro and have no issues with MKV
Lack of hw accelerated playback, so it's a big drain on battery, on my 2012ish MBP running 10.11.6.
username2
Posts: 14
Joined: Tue Aug 20, 2013 1:47 am

Re: What's your video format preference?

Post by username2 »

mkv

h265
I generally use "Constant quality RF:20" unless the result file is too large for my preference; then I go again with a 512k bitrate setting.

aac
160k bitrate

Why? It fits my needs, that's why. :)

I use "soft" subtitles.

The rest of Handbrake settings are default
ldexterldesign
Posts: 4
Joined: Thu Sep 29, 2016 2:09 pm

Re: What's your video format preference?

Post by ldexterldesign »

BUMP
FYI

2015-01-27 Webm support viewtopic.php?f=26&t=31716&p=165637&hilit=opus#p146667
2017-06-06 Codec VP9 and MP4 container viewtopic.php?f=11&t=36491&p=171726&hilit=webm#p171726

Hope this is useful

Regards
Thain Esh Kelch
Posts: 11
Joined: Wed Jul 20, 2011 8:46 pm

Re: What your video format preferences?

Post by Thain Esh Kelch »

ldexterldesign wrote: Thu Sep 29, 2016 7:41 pm
rollin_eng wrote:Compatability wise, h264 and aac seem to be the best options.

I use Apple products so mp4 is my only choice.
Curious, which Apple products specifically (I use a MacBook Pro and have no issues with MKV, apart from it doesn't play in Preview)?
No Apple software support MKV, which means no OS level support, no hardware support, and no MKV playback on Macs, AppleTV or iOS, unless you have 3. party software.
Smithcraft
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Posts: 2697
Joined: Thu Jan 22, 2009 8:04 pm

Re: What's your video format preference?

Post by Smithcraft »

I use Plex and VLC on my Mac.

MKV - Because why be limited by silly board room decisions?

264 for the video, until 265 is considered good to go.

Primary audio is left in the original highest quality format, while commentary is redone in AAC.

SC
Bjomesphat
Posts: 45
Joined: Thu Sep 03, 2015 12:00 am

Re: What's your video format preference?

Post by Bjomesphat »

Kodi and Plex, depending on the TV I'm using.

MKV

H264 for most movies
H265 for really grainy or shaky movies (to help reduce filesizes), and always for blu ray TV shows.

Passthrough audio or FLAC
Dysthymia
Posts: 24
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 12:21 pm

Re: What's your video format preference?

Post by Dysthymia »

I use Plex as well, and my preference has been shifting from x264 to x265 just for the increased quality to filesize ratio it can offer, to keep the size of my collection down. Even though it has to be transcoded to play in Plex.
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