Preset for European VHS digitalized

[Hello17]

Description of problem or question:

Hi everyone! I'm new to this forum!! I've been using Handbrake for years, but I've never looked in to the video preset settings and various available options. Recently, I digitized some VHS tapes containing movies, TV series, and childhood memories that I transferred to digital format.
The VHS tapes were recorded in MP4 format, 720x576p resolution, with a refresh rate of 25 frames per second. The bitrate is 8001kbps, with a total bitrate of 8187kbps.
Regarding stereo audio (2 channels), the bitrate is 186kbps, and the sampling frequency is 48.000kHz. For a 2-hour recording, the file occupies about 11 GB. Could you suggest a preset to reduce the size while maintaining the original quality?
The VHS tapes are of European origin, specifically Italian. I've tried some experiments with the MKV h265 format while keeping the same bitrate, and I obtained a file of about 1.6 GB, also for two hours. However, I'm not sure if this results in a loss of quality and if I've optimized the conversion to the fullest.
Additionally, I've shared a screenshot showing a video defect with white and black bars at the top and a kind of motion blur at the bottom. Thank you to everyone who responds :D .

Link image: https://i.postimg.cc/XYfxj6xf/vhs-Screenshot.png

HandBrake version (e.g., 1.0.0):

1.7.3 (2024021000)


Operating system and version (e.g., Ubuntu 16.04 LTS, macOS 10.13 High Sierra, Windows 10 Creators Update):

Windows 10

[rollin_eng]

Could you please post your HB logs, instructions can be found here:

https://handbrake.fr/docs/en/latest/hel ... y-log.html

[mduell]

HQ 576p preset is a good starting point.

No point in x265 for high quality low res encodes.

[Hello17]

Could you please post your HB logs, instructions can be found here:

https://handbrake.fr/docs/en/latest/hel ... y-log.html

This is the log you ask me.
HandBrake 1.7.3 (2024021000)
OS: Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.19045.0
CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-6700K CPU @ 4.00GHz
Ram: 16322 MB,
GPU Information:
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 - 31.0.15.5123
Screen: 1920x1080
Temp Dir: C:\Users\UserPC\AppData\Local\Temp\
Install Dir: E:\Programmi\HandBrake\
Data Dir: C:\Users\UserPC\AppData\Roaming\HandBrake

-------------------------------------------
[18:12:30] Compile-time hardening features are enabled
[18:12:30] nvenc: version 12.2 is available
[18:12:30] nvdec: is available
[18:12:30] CUDA Version: 5.2
[18:12:30] vcn: not available on this system
[18:12:30] qsv: not available on this system

[Hello17]

HQ 576p preset is a good starting point.

No point in x265 for high quality low res encodes.

Which codec do you recommend for the hq576p?

[mduell]

x264, which you'll find as the default in the HQ 576p preset.