Best possible settings for Apple TV....

[ix400]

.... no matter how long encoding takes.

Hi all,

what will be the best Handbrake settings to encode movies (from DVDs) for Apple TV? SInce I am a very patient guy, it doesn't matter how long the encoding takes. It also doesn't matter how big the resulting files will be (no problem if the H.264-file has about the same size than the original DVD-movie).

Quality is the most important thing.

Can anyone of you please send me some proper settings for this purpose? I think the standard Apple TV settings in Handbrake are designed to be well balanced (in sense of encoding time and file size). That's why I'm looking for some alternative settings.

I would be really thankful if someone could help me.

Best wishes,

Chris

P.S.: Sorry for my pigeon english...

[nightstrm]

As stated elsewhere, the general consensus is using the AppleTV preset, bumping the CQ% up to 60-62%.

Moving to devices.

[ix400]

Hi,

I'm using the following settings to encode DVDs for my ATV (mainly TV-Shows e.g. Stargate SG-1):

Reference Frames: 6
Mixed References: Yes
B-Frames: 3

Adaptive B-Frames: Optimal
Direct Prediction: Automatic
Weighted B-Frames: No
Pyramidal B-Frames: No

Motion Estimation Method: Uneven-Multi-Hexagon
Subpixel Motion Estimation: 9
Motion Estimation Range: 64

Analysis: All
8 x 8 DCT: Yes

CABAC Entropy Coding: No
Psychovisual Rate Distortion: Slider ist set to the very right

No Fast-P-Skip: Yes
No DCT-Decimate: Yes
Deblocking: -3 -3

Anamorphic: Strict
Constant Quality Encoding (72,55%, RF: 14)

What do you think about these settings? Basically the quality of the resulting files seems to be okay to me, but I am missing a bit more sharpness. The encoded files look a bit too "soft".

Has anyone an idea how I can get sharper looking images? How can I optimize the settings mentioned above?

Thank you very much,

Best wishes,

Chris

[nightstrm]

For starters, the RF value that you've chose is completely wasteful, and likely to lead to buffering/playback issues on the AppleTV.

[ix400]

... so you think I won't see any difference when I use an RF of 15 (or even 16)? The thing is that I am watching the encoded material on 50" Plasma (Pio 5090). And I would like to "conserve" as much quality as possible.

What do you think about the other settings I have posted?

Cheers,

Chris

[mduell]

I think you'll be fine at 18.

[dynaflash]

... so you think I won't see any difference when I use an RF of 15 (or even 16)? The thing is that I am watching the encoded material on 50" Plasma (Pio 5090). And I would like to "conserve" as much quality as possible.

What do you think about the other settings I have posted?

Cheers,

Chris

The settings I use for my two appletv's are as far as I can tell about as good as you are likely to get. Maybe jack up subq if your really bored and have a ton of time and add trellis=2 for possible incremental gains.

[kenh]

dynaflash are these your settings
ref=3:mixed-refs=1:bframes=3:me=hex:subq=7:b-adapt=2:8x8dct=1:trellis=0:weightp=0:vbv-maxrate=5500:vbv-bufsize=5500:b-pyramid=1

thanks
ken

[Deleted User 11865]

dynaflash are these your settings
ref=3:mixed-refs=1:bframes=3:me=hex:subq=7:b-adapt=2:8x8dct=1:trellis=0:weightp=0:vbv-maxrate=5500:vbv-bufsize=5500:b-pyramid=1

thanks
ken

No, his current settings are:

Code: Select all

mixed-refs=1:b-adapt=2:b-pyramid=none:trellis=0:weightp=0:vbv-maxrate=5500:vbv-bufsize=5500

b-pyramid=none is only needed when using the nightly builds (it's off by default in 0.9.4).

dynaflash, mixed-refs=1 is default so it's not needed - FWIW.

[dynaflash]

dynaflash, mixed-refs=1 is default so it's not needed - FWIW.

Yep, its vestigial from way back when.

[Deleted User 11865]

dynaflash, mixed-refs=1 is default so it's not needed - FWIW.

Yep, its vestigial from way back when.

I'm just saying, you removed all vestigial portions of the string except that one

[ix400]

My current settings are as follows:

cabac=0:ref=6:me=umh:b-adapt=2:weightp=0:deblock=-3,-3:analyse=all:no-fast-pskip=1:no-dct-decimate=1:direct=auto:subq=9:merange=64:bframes=6:psy-rd=1.0,0.2:weightb=0

and

Constant quality 15

... but I'm still missing some sharpness in the resulting files.

Is it worth to encode to 720p files (source is DVD)? In a way that the ATV doesn't have to scale during playback?

It can be a pain to have too many possibilities...

Cheers.

Chris

[ix400]

Hi,

I've got another question:

Does it make a difference to set the "display width" to "1280" when I'm encoding for my ATV (since the ATV puts out 720p)?

In the past I was using the "strict" setting.

Best wishes,

Chris

[Deleted User 11865]

For the AppleTV, the storage dimensions must fit within 1280x720 (25 fps or less) or 960x544 (30 fps or less). You can set the display width to whatever you want (in ana custom), but that's a good way to screw up the aspect ratio. Unless you really know what you're doing, stick to the other anamorphic modes.