What to convert my videos to, x265?

Helen Barber · 11 Feb 2021 at 06:14

I own some bluray TV shows. I would like to convert them to a smaller format, but hopefully rerain 95% of the quality

Is handbrake and x265 the best to use?

Thanks

Helen Barber · 11 Feb 2021 at 06:48

I have a 16 core and CPU

I'm looking to convert a few bluray box sets

My goal, best possible quality at say 40%-50% of orginal size, if possible?.. Can I keep HD audio streams untouched? - True HD etc

Sorry, I haven't done this since the good old divx xvid days.

Thanks so so much

Orcvader · 11 Feb 2021 at 11:55

Yes, Handbrake will be fine to use.

Nutella33 · 11 Feb 2021 at 19:13

Handbrake and tweak the quality slider and the encoder preset speed in the video tab to your liking. Something like Constant Quality 20 and notch 4 or 5 from the left would be a good starting point. Just test it on a short clip and go from there imho

jpaul · 12 Feb 2021 at 10:05

I'd consider AV1 codec now, netflix & utube using it., sony announced this week it'll soon be on their tvs too
with licensing on hevc are the free encoders as good as those for AV1,

jpaul said:
"it may also lack the AV1 video decoder which is the next gen video tech the internet will shift to over the next decade so internal apps wont be able to play AV1."
Discussions on h266, last week, but, av1 is something netflix is already using

Helen Barber · 12 Feb 2021 at 16:27

AV1 is better than x264 ?

darael · 12 Feb 2021 at 19:01

I personally achieve satisfactory results with my custom settings in HandBrake and encoding to x265. As I encode some slightly older DVDs (some are ~1970s), I use a light noise filter.

What gives me the most trouble is de-interlacing as the default decomb filter can produce what looks like pixelation on sharp lines. I can get round this by choosing EEDI2, however my encode times increase quite dramatically - from memory, about ~25 minutes per 30 minutes, to ~1.5 hours per 30 minutes.

I am actually in the position where I'm trying to decide whether or not re-encoding my collection is worth it or not, or should I wait until I upgrade and hopefully a newer, faster and improved version of HandBrake is also released by then.

Orcvader · 12 Feb 2021 at 20:32

Helen Barber said:
AV1 is better than x264 ?

AV1 is better than both x264 and x265, but not many software supports it yet. Last time I checked Handbrake can only decode AV1 and not yet encode it.

darael · 12 Feb 2021 at 22:34

Orcvader said:
AV1 is better than both x264 and x265, but not many software supports it yet. Last time I checked Handbrake can only decode AV1 and not yet encode it.

I'd definitely like to try AV1, especially if HandBrake supports it - however I believe they are waiting for AV1 to be further optimised so the encode times can hopefully be drastically reduced.

In the meantime can you recommend an AV1 encoder with a GUI, possibly just as easy to us as HandBrake's?

Orcvader · 12 Feb 2021 at 23:06

darael said:
In the meantime can you recommend an AV1 encoder with a GUI, possibly just as easy to us as HandBrake's?

There was a couple mentioned here: https://www.reddit.com/r/AV1/commen...2?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

I'm personally going to stick with HEVC for now though as I hardly have anything that can hardware decode AV1, only device that can do it is my desktop with the 3070 GPU.