Handbrake Help

[JuiceWSA]

@Kens3i Wrote:

@Kens3i

Hi,

I hope you don’t mind me messaging you directly, I’m pretty sure a lot of other people may have too. I am after some help with handbrake settings and your posts keep coming up and you obviously know what you are talking about. I’ve seen your guides using a previous version of handbrake. I currently have HB 1.3.2. Is there a guide you’ve done for that version?

What ever I am trying I can’t seem to get the end result to an acceptable resolution.

Thanks in advance

(any chance to help someone else while helping someone - is a good thing - private messages of these sorts are better conducted publicly - IMO)

What are you trying?
What’s your goal?

What do your files look like? - MediaInfo - none of that xml crap…lol

Like this one - still warm:

General
Unique ID                                : 287065614961641390907721921464010776733 (0xD7F6D38E06021CA11C3D65A4E223A09D)
Complete name                            : G:\TV - Sci-Fi\Penny Dreadful City of Angels\Season 01\Penny Dreadful City of Angels - S01E07 - Maria and the Beast.mkv
Format                                   : Matroska
Format version                           : Version 4
File size                                : 505 MiB
Duration                                 : 52 min 48 s
Overall bit rate                         : 1 337 kb/s
Encoded date                             : UTC 2020-06-07 06:30:19
Writing application                      : Lavf58.42.100
Writing library                          : Lavf58.42.100
ErrorDetectionType                       : Per level 1

Video
ID                                       : 1
Format                                   : AVC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                           : High@L3
Format settings                          : CABAC / 4 Ref Frames
Format settings, CABAC                   : Yes
Format settings, Reference frames        : 4 frames
Codec ID                                 : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration                                 : 52 min 48 s
Bit rate                                 : 950 kb/s
Width                                    : 720 pixels
Height                                   : 480 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 16:9
Frame rate mode                          : Constant
Frame rate                               : 23.976 (24000/1001) FPS
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0
Bit depth                                : 8 bits
Scan type                                : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.115
Stream size                              : 350 MiB (69%)
Writing library                          : x264 core 157 r2935 545de2f
Encoding settings                        : cabac=1 / ref=3 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=hex / subme=7 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=12 / lookahead_threads=2 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=1 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=240 / keyint_min=24 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=40 / rc=2pass / mbtree=1 / bitrate=950 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=69 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00
Language                                 : English
Default                                  : Yes
Forced                                   : No
Color range                              : Limited
Color primaries                          : BT.709
Transfer characteristics                 : BT.709
Matrix coefficients                      : Identity
matrix_coefficients_Original             : BT.709

Audio
ID                                       : 2
Format                                   : AC-3
Format/Info                              : Audio Coding 3
Commercial name                          : Dolby Digital
Codec ID                                 : A_AC3
Duration                                 : 52 min 48 s
Bit rate mode                            : Constant
Bit rate                                 : 384 kb/s
Channel(s)                               : 6 channels
Channel layout                           : L R C LFE Ls Rs
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate                               : 31.250 FPS (1536 SPF)
Bit depth                                : 16 bits
Compression mode                         : Lossy
Delay relative to video                  : 13 ms
Stream size                              : 145 MiB (29%)
Title                                    : Surround
Writing library                          : Lavc58.77.101 ac3_fixed
Language                                 : English
Service kind                             : Complete Main
Default                                  : Yes
Forced                                   : No

Text
ID                                       : 3
Format                                   : UTF-8
Codec ID                                 : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info                            : UTF-8 Plain Text
Duration                                 : 51 min 36 s
Language                                 : English
Default                                  : Yes
Forced                                   : No

Well, we hope it looks something like that.

Yes, The latest HB is what I have and it’s not changed so that we’d notice.
(at least I haven’t noticed)

Here’s the next 480p Victim - same as the last:
(Underway)

[Kens3i]

Yes, totally agree and happy to have this public. I was kind of expecting you to point me to a thread I had missed anyway.

OK so from the top them. I got as far as ripping 140 films only to find out they were mostly crap and I’ve got to start again (rookie error for not checking I know)

Aim: to rip and encode in to a plex library all my DVDs to start with, Blur-rays to come later.
Content: Starting with older DVDs. I randomly picked Blade 1999 DVD to play with and get the settings right before doing the rest. I expect all my DVDs to be PAL as I’m in the UK.
Storage: Synology NAS connected to a 1gbp switch.
Playback: Currently will only be on a Sony 42" tv, which is also connected to the switch ( I am assuming there should no buffering). TV is a Full HD 1920x1080 16:9

MediaInfo on the ripped mkv.

General
Unique ID : 160493809778931065395787723021184021405 (0x78BDFBC108814D44F0BA272AABFE339D)
Complete name : D:\DVD Rips\Blade.mkv
Format : Matroska
Format version : Version 2
File size : 4.62 GiB
Duration : 1 h 55 min
Overall bit rate mode : Variable
Overall bit rate : 5 733 kb/s
Movie name : Blade V2
Encoded date : UTC 2020-05-15 14:10:39
Writing application : MakeMKV v1.15.0 win(x64-release)
Writing library : libmakemkv v1.15.0 (1.3.5/1.4.7) win(x64-release)

Video
ID : 1
ID in the original source medium : 224 (0xE0)
Format : MPEG Video
Format version : Version 2
Format profile : Main@Main
Format settings : BVOP
Format settings, BVOP : Yes
Format settings, Matrix : Default
Format settings, GOP : M=3, N=13
Format settings, picture structure : Frame
Codec ID : V_MPEG2
Codec ID/Info : MPEG 1 or 2 Video
Duration : 1 h 55 min
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 4 894 kb/s
Maximum bit rate : 8 000 kb/s
Width : 720 pixels
Height : 576 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 25.000 FPS
Standard : PAL
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Interlaced
Scan order : Top Field First
Compression mode : Lossy
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.472
Time code of first frame : 00:59:59:00
Time code source : Group of pictures header
GOP, Open/Closed : Open
Stream size : 3.94 GiB (85%)
Language : English
Default : No
Forced : No
Color primaries : BT.601 PAL
Transfer characteristics : BT.470 System B/G
Matrix coefficients : BT.470 System B/G
Original source medium : DVD-Video

Audio #1
ID : 2
ID in the original source medium : 189 (0xBD)128 (0x80)
Format : AC-3
Format/Info : Audio Coding 3
Commercial name : Dolby Digital
Codec ID : A_AC3
Duration : 1 h 55 min
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 448 kb/s
Channel(s) : 6 channels
Channel layout : L R C LFE Ls Rs
Sampling rate : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate : 31.250 FPS (1536 SPF)
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 369 MiB (8%)
Title : Surround 5.1
Language : English
Service kind : Complete Main
Default : Yes
Forced : No
Original source medium : DVD-Video

Audio #2
ID : 3
ID in the original source medium : 189 (0xBD)129 (0x81)
Format : AC-3
Format/Info : Audio Coding 3
Commercial name : Dolby Digital
Codec ID : A_AC3
Duration : 1 h 55 min
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 192 kb/s
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel layout : L R
Sampling rate : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate : 31.250 FPS (1536 SPF)
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 158 MiB (3%)
Title : Stereo
Language : English
Service kind : Complete Main
Default : No
Forced : No
Original source medium : DVD-Video

Audio #3
ID : 4
ID in the original source medium : 189 (0xBD)130 (0x82)
Format : AC-3
Format/Info : Audio Coding 3
Commercial name : Dolby Digital
Codec ID : A_AC3
Duration : 1 h 55 min
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 192 kb/s
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel layout : L R
Sampling rate : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate : 31.250 FPS (1536 SPF)
Compression mode : Lossy
Delay relative to video : 1 s 20 ms
Stream size : 158 MiB (3%)
Title : Stereo
Language : English
Service kind : Complete Main
Default : No
Forced : No
Original source medium : DVD-Video

Menu
00:00:00.000 : en:Chapter 01
00:02:02.200 : en:Chapter 02
00:02:57.840 : en:Chapter 03
00:06:32.080 : en:Chapter 04
00:09:24.720 : en:Chapter 05
00:10:32.840 : en:Chapter 06
00:13:12.480 : en:Chapter 07
00:16:15.520 : en:Chapter 08
00:18:44.760 : en:Chapter 09
00:21:53.000 : en:Chapter 10
00:22:45.520 : en:Chapter 11
00:26:19.760 : en:Chapter 12
00:29:47.240 : en:Chapter 13
00:31:40.600 : en:Chapter 14
00:33:35.000 : en:Chapter 15
00:37:42.520 : en:Chapter 16
00:40:03.960 : en:Chapter 17
00:42:41.520 : en:Chapter 18
00:45:37.280 : en:Chapter 19
00:48:06.520 : en:Chapter 20
00:51:52.720 : en:Chapter 21
00:54:49.000 : en:Chapter 22
00:55:45.160 : en:Chapter 23
00:59:00.680 : en:Chapter 24
01:02:40.120 : en:Chapter 25
01:06:09.160 : en:Chapter 26
01:09:45.480 : en:Chapter 27
01:11:46.120 : en:Chapter 28
01:15:59.880 : en:Chapter 29
01:19:14.360 : en:Chapter 30
01:21:32.160 : en:Chapter 31
01:24:20.120 : en:Chapter 32
01:27:46.560 : en:Chapter 33
01:30:41.800 : en:Chapter 34
01:33:01.160 : en:Chapter 35
01:36:25.520 : en:Chapter 36
01:49:20.320 : en:Chapter 37
01:50:29.480 : en:Chapter 38

I’m clearly new to this so there are a few things confusing me.

Dimensions:

Current attempt

Under size it states the source is 720x576. But then then width is coming up as 716 and height as 430. If left like that the picture quality on the tv is pretty poor. If I change the width and height as I have done in that screen shot the picture looks better on the tv but the Output says Display Size is 1364x576. Looks ok on the tv but your previous posts mentioned 1024 being the magic number??? I will freely admit I may have completely miss understood what was said though.

The source DVD in this case Blade, is already a 16:9 ratio and when played as a DVD does have black letterbox top and bottom. Maybe I’m trying to mess with something I don’t need to?

Filters:

Current settings

I think I’m ok here looking at previous posts. Should I change anything?

Video

Current attempt

I have seen that you have used Avg Bitrate with a 2 pass Encoding & turbo first pass. I was sticking with CQ because I wasn’t clear what kbps to use and how that would vary between films, e.g. Blade, Star Trek etc vs Nottinghill

Audio:

When ripped with makemkv there is usually 2-3 audio tracks in english. I have so far ticked all the English ones. In this case there are 3 tracks. 5.1, 2.0 and another 2.0. All AC3. Do I need all three tracks? I was happy to keep the sound as it was to had selected the AC3 passthru. Is there a better way? Still not sure I need two lots of 2.0 audio tracks, maybe I do.

Subtitles:

The only subtitles I want are where there is a foreign language (not English in my case) that would normally come up on a DVD e.g. subtitles for an alien speaking in a Sci-fi film or in the case of Blade, vampires speaking their language.

Chapters:

Not used. As someone on a post somewhere pointed out, fastforward/rewind is usually fast enough that I wasn’t fussed about having them.

If you need it I can post the mediainfo on the mp4 file once it finishes.

Will any of the answers above change when it comes to ripping ond DVD TV shows that are in 4:3 ratio like Babylon 5 and West Wing

thanks in advance and I hope this helps others along the way

[Kens3i]

Thanks for the help Juice, though I can’t seem to see your reply with the settings you suggested now (deleted??), though I did see it a few days ago and put it to good use.

Perhaps you could post it again in this thread for anyone else that might make use of them, unless its just me that can’t see it for some reason.

Anyway… as a follow on from that helpful advise you gave me.

First let me say that was much better. Thank you!!!

I did end up changing the Avg bite to 2200 and the encoder preset to slower. To my eyes I felt I could see the benefit in doing that, though I suspect that is a subjective thing. Files sizes came out about half the original mkv file so that is just fine with me. Also the 2 hour time per file is a fine trade for me as I’m happy to leave them going over night.

A couple of follow up questions if I can.

Avg Bitrate: As I said I personally felt it was a bit better when I went a bit higher, I understand that will be debateable and subjective. Do you have suggested bitrates for Blurays?

Blurays: Aside from the higher bitrate are there any other change to the settings above for blurays? E.g. using the H.265 codec?

Here’s the section I’m really not clear on… Dimensions:

This is the settings I used for the Dimensions tab. you said I think that I should keep the sourse as 720*576. Custom/4 and Automatic cropping. So it looked like this

This gave a display output of 1364 and the film looks a little stretched horizontally when viewed on my tv. changing it to custom cropping and the values of 0 changes the display width to 1024 like this

I think the version with the display width set at 1024 looks better (after custom 0 cropping)

On the back of the DVD case it says. Letterbox: Ratio 16:9. What I don’t understand is how the dimensions and Anamorphic stuff works. If my tv is a 16:9 ratio tv and the DVD is 16:9 why do I still get the letterboxing/ black borders? How can I get handbrake to cut the black borders away? Do I even want to do that or will it make the film look out of proportion on the tv. Or am I missunderstanding it entirely and the film is shot in a completely different ratio and the DVD case is telling me it will look like a letterbox when played on 16:9 tv.

To add to my confusion Blade II says 1.85:1 on the case and has virtually no letter boxing ( this doesn’t seem to change whether or not I use custom cropping on 0) and Blade III says 2.35:1 (again this one looks better with customer cropping of 0 to get a 1024 display width like Blade 1), but all three films have a Anamorphic Widescreen 16:9 symbol on the case next to the ratios

<---- so confused.

Is it possible to remove the black letterbox effect in films? Is it worth it? Do they even look right when played on a typical 16:9 tv or any other current tv?

[JuiceWSA]

@Kens3i

This gave a display output of 1364 and the film looks a little stretched horizontally when viewed on my tv.

Handbrake made a grave error and cropped wrong. You can tell because the top is 70 and the bottom is 76. Handbrake found some dark scenes and tried to be helpful - failing miserably.

You simply switch to Custom Cropping remove the errant cropping - viewing the preview screen as you ‘uncrop’ so you get all the black, but leave all, or most of the picture.

You do want to adjust slightly, if necessary - to bring 1024 back into the picture - exactly like you did.

Look at the Preview Screen - Crop moves as you change it - so fix the crop - it ain’t rocket science.

Your display width on 2.35:1 will be much wider than 1024, but the height will always be 576. Letterboxed means exactly what it says. You’ll see bars along the top and bottom - exactly as intended.

1.85:1 is basically 16:9 - it fits your display.
2.35:1 is Super-Duper Widescreen - and it’ll have bars top and bottom - exactly as intended.
Super-Stuper-Duper Widescreen is like The Hateful 8 - and will be mostly bars so make it some good ones…lol

Bit rates are what you determine are best for you.
By creating previews, viewing them, making adjustments, and settling on a rate you can live with.

I don’t need any more than 3250 so I use 3750 for 1080p - no more than 1850 for 720p, but usually much less. Find YOUR rate.

265 - well have fun.
I am.

I’m making some 1080p Ultrafasts at 1250 that are looking fine - for TV Shows - about 500M an Hour.

I’m making some 720p Ultrafasts at 850 that are also looking fine - for TV Shows - about 300M an Hour.

Why Ultrafast?
The instructions said to set that ‘as slow as you can bear’.
I’m old. I want to be doing something else other than waiting on a 265 encode when I die. Ultrafast is what I can bear…lol

The encodes look fine - for what they are. Bog Standard TV Detective Stuff.

Star Trek Picards, on the other hand - got 1650Kbps.
If I ever see any BluRays - I’d probably give 'em 1850. Maybe. 1650 265 Mediums look pretty dam good, but not looking forward to 3 hour encodes per episode.

You try some and set it to what YOU can bear.

[Kens3i]

Ok well I’m glad that wasn’t just me with the letterboxs.

Any idea where your original post on the settings to use went? Seems a shame if it was deleted as it worked so well for me.

[JuiceWSA]

I deleted it - it was too ‘windy’.

If you got some tips out of it - good.
The MakeMKV Embedded Title Destruction Tip was the most useful - hope you got that one.

[Kens3i]

OK well as I had so much trouble finding up to date settings that worked for me, for anyone else that might be looking and find this this is the settings that I’m now using. JuiceWSA if I accidentally managed to change anything away from what you said please point it out.

I found I pretty much always had to do a customer crop to achieve the Display width of 1024.

To my eyes for a DVD Avg Bitrate of 2200 was better than the originally suggested 1050( I think!). I also felt the encoder preset of “slower” was worth it. As JuiceWSA has mentioned above that is what works for me and I changed it to what I could bear.

I don’t put in subtitles or chapter markers.

For me with an i5-2500k overclocked to 4.3 Mhz 12GB DDR3 ram these settings gave files sizes of about 1.8GB-2.7GB depending on the film so far and took between about 1:01 hrs to 1:55hrs, all very acceptable to me in terms of space and time vs quality.

As I said JuiceWSA if I messed anything up please shout out. Other wise I hope this helps anyone else looking for settings to use on DVD with HB 1.3.2

[JuiceWSA]

@Kens3i

I found I pretty much always had to do a customer crop to achieve the Display width of 1024.

The Display Width won’t always be 1024.
The Height will always be 576.
The Display Width - with all the bars cropped off - MAY BE 1024. It MAY BE something else - like “The Hateful 8”:

I don’t know what the width is gonna be in PAL (or NTSC for that matter). We don’t have to know - HANDBRAKE KNOWS - that’s all that matters.

Note - there are no black bars showing.
Note - the height (for me) is 480 (for you it’ll be 576).
Note: That means that NO MATTER WHAT - the image bit that gets displayed is gonna be 576 pixel tall.
Note - HANDBRAKE DOES THE MATH (I suck at math - how 'bout you?..lol) - you keep the Height at 576 - Handbrake will do whatever it has to - to maintain the aspect ratio - it’ll be as wide as it has to be.

The Trick:
You pull up THE PREVIEW SCREEN - you crop off all the bars (if there are any).
You make the height 576 (like every other DVD 576p encode you’ll ever do IN YOUR LIFE. Handbrake does the rest. It’s as wide as it has to be - I don’t care how wide it is. Neither do you.

If you FORCE 1024 on The Hateful 8 - your height is gonna be about 240.
that means that 240 pixels (a wild guess) is all the vertical resolution you have in the image bit that moves around on your screen and is what you’re watching.
You think you’re gonna like that encode?
(I know I won’t)

IF you have to suffer through The Hateful 8 at 576 - you might want to sacrifice 20 or 50 pixels off each side - so it doesn’t look like as much like a strip of masking tape across the middle of your TV Screen. Tarantulatino has stuff going on out there on the edges, but… you decide. When you start wacking off width - the ‘Cowboy’ disappears in that image above… does that matter? It did to Tarantulatino. You decide if it matters to you.

As for your bit rates and encoder settings - I can’t see, nor does it matter to me what those are - those you find yourself.

It does matter to me if you screw up a Custom Anamorphic.
… and it matters to you too.

Let’s say we’re doing a bunch of TV Show Episodes - Like Picard, for instance. The height is gonna be 480 (for me) and will always be 480. The width I notice to be 1152 (for instance). I get the first 3 that popped in to 1152, but the third says 1156.

Panic!

No, don’t panic, just open up THE PREVIEW SCREEN and either return those pixels HB took off by mistake, or, if the source is a little screwy - take a few pixels off the sides and bottom until you get your 1152 back. It doesn’t really matter that much - except to my OCD. You have any of that? There’s an OCD Anonymous Group meeting down at the Bingo Hall later - I’m going, but it never helps any… and the cake is always stale…lol

Funny (not ha ha) Story:
I am working through BluRays of The Sopranos.
EVERY DAM ONE OF THEM, so far, has required 2 extra pixels of crop on ONLY THE LEFT SIDE - and 4 off the bottom - to bring them into the fold.

Does it matter? To me it does. If they’re all going to be perfect and all be the same.

For 1024 widths - if you’re off by only a few pixels - fix those. If you’re off by a LOT - check that HB didn’t make any errors, by looking at THE PREVIEW SCREEN, and if it didn’t, don’t start trying to make it 1024. Let it be whatever it’s gonna be. There are a LOT of Different Aspect Ratios. Let HB do the math on those - keep the height at 576 and you simply can’t go wrong.

Oh, one more thing (for now)…
Turn OFF Interlace Detection. You’ll eventually see the de-interlacer switching on and off to only de-interlace select scenes with artifacts - and yes, it will annoy the hell out of you. Turn off the detection. De-Interlace it ALL. You’ll be glad you did.

BTW:
I hope you’re not de-interlacing material that doesn’t need it…
You wouldn’t do that…
Would you?

[SE56]

Gateway to heaven… 72, no 27…

[Kens3i]

@JuiceWSA

BTW:
I hope you’re not de-interlacing material that doesn’t need it…
You wouldn’t do that…
Would you?

Umm… so my probably stupid question of today is… how would I know if it did or not?

[JuiceWSA]

MakeMKV first
Look at the file in MediaInfo to see if it’s interlaced and also what it’s made of, all it’s secrets stripped bare for the world (you) to see…lol

https://mediaarea.net/en/MediaInfo/Download

If it’s interlaced/interleaved fields de-interlace with Yadif as you are, but turn off the detection. You don’t want that turning on and off during the encode - just de-interlace the whole thing - by not turning on any detection.

Turn off Yadif if the material is Progressive.
Do leave Lapsharp as you have it always - for DVD material.
You don’t need it for HD.

[FordGuy61]

In Handbrake, with Interlace Detection = Default it will not try to deinterlace progressive frames.

However, it does check each frame, which takes time and slows down the transcode.

So, as @JuiceWSA recommends, check via MediaInfo and turn Interlace Detection and Deinterlace off if it is not needed.

Edit: Handbrake also logs the number of deinterlaced frames. After conversion, search the log file for “interlace.” interlac (to find interlaced and interlacing). You may need to set the log level to Extended.

[15:34:04] decomb: deinterlaced 32105 | blended 8865 | unfiltered 4802 | total 45772

---

Handbrake documentation:

…Also enabled is the Interlacing Detection filter, which ensures only interlaced frames are deinterlaced, leaving progressive frames untouched. This analysis can sometimes be a limiting factor for performance. If you are certain your Source contains no interlaced frames, you can disable these filters for a small increase in performance.

[Kens3i]

Ok I thought as much but there is so much I don’t know about this stuff I may as well ask the obvious questions.

A couple more then

Does the bit rate or other qualities of the mkv ripped using makemkv have any bearing on the HB encode result?

Would you suggest any different settings for 4:3 TV series like Babylon 5 or West Wing

If I find that I’m still not getting quite as clear I think I should , is there any other adjustments I might try?

[JuiceWSA]

The original bit rate doesn’t matter, just if it’s interlaced.

You can plan what you want to do with audio and subs when you can see them all.

You’re doing all I know to do for quality. You shouldn’t see much difference. Low rez can only be low rez.

[bradbart948]

@FordGuy61

In Handbrake, with Interlace Detection = Default it will not try to deinterlace progressive frames.

In my case Interlace Detection often causes interlaced frames not to be deinterlaced either. I’ve gotten to the point where I just disable it to prevent combing.

[JuiceWSA]

@bradbart948

In my case Interlace Detection often causes interlaced frames not to be deinterlaced either. I’ve gotten to the point where I just disable it to prevent combing.

I can see the de-interlacer turning on and off - If I can see it - Ray Charles can see it. I’ve never had it leave frames with artifacts - but I wouldn’t be surprised if it does.

Use NO detection.
If the material is interlaced - de-interlace it all.
If the material is DVD Grade - turn on some Lapsharp/Light or Medium.
De-interlacing softens the image a bit - Lapsharp gives it right back (and then some).

DVD rez and bit rates mean that Lapsharp is quick. Turn it on - especially when de-interlacing.

HD rez and bit rate means that Lapsharp is NOT quick. IF HD material is interlaced you have to de-interlace it - determine, by creating and viewing some 240 second previews how long it’s gonna take and also if the time it takes is worth it. You’ll need your eyeballs for that decision.

[bradbart948]

I appreciate the Lapsharp tip @JuiceWSA! I will have to give it a try.

Of course most of what I have to deinterlace is DVD video, which is where I have had the issue with Interlace Detection preventing deinterlacing. Below are two examples of part of the same frame with Interlace Detection set to Default vs Off. Makes absolutely no sense to me why it would work this way, but I have learned my lesson and stay away from it now.

Interlace Detection = Default

Interlace Detection = Off

[JuiceWSA]

@bradbart948

I appreciate the Lapsharp tip! I will have to give it a try.

I use Light.

The thing is - you’ll not be able to tell exactly what it did. You’ll just see that’s it’s better. If you can see what it did - turn it down a notch.

Yup, no mistaking that above as missed artifacts.
Do what you must to stop that nonsense.

Detection OFF is better anyway.
Me and Ray Charles agree.

[Kens3i]

Ok so I have another question.

I am having a problem with a few films. I’ve redone several films and they come out just fine, so the settings have been a big help thanks.

An example of my problem films. Good Will Hunting. What ever I try when the film is played on the TV via plex on my PS4 with the file being read from the NAS, all of which is connected via cat6 cable via a 1gbit switch. I’ve tried a few different settings and that seems to make no difference.

I’ve now tried watching the original DVD and the ripped makemkv file. The MKV file and the encoded MP4 file look very similar. The DVD looks better. According to what I’ve googled the MKV shouldn’t be any different in quality to the DVD. Just now I played both the MKV and MP4 file on the PC.. and they looked better than the TV playback.

So is there something in my plex settings I should be looking out to change?

here is the media info on the MKV and then the MP4 file in case anyone spots a reason for my playback troubles. I don’t understand why some films would play just fine and others not

[JuiceWSA]

Why are you creating MPEG-2 Video?
You’re supposed to be creating AVC Video from the MPEG-2 source… de-interlacing as required - LapSharping DVDs for ‘Better Than Source’ encodes…
'cause very few things can Direct Play MPEG-2 Video and if it’s interlaced MPEG-2 - even fewer.

MPEG-2 Video is the reason you’re encoding in the first place.
MPEG-2 Video is how TV gets from the air to your TV and it’s how DVDs are encoded (mostly) and we encode to get rid of it - so things will Direct Play.

Convert MPEG-2 into AVC 264.
That’s why we do this.

… and right click on the file - get MediaInfo - Ctl/A, Ctl/C, open message - hit ‘Pre-formatted Text’ - Ctl/V…

I can hardly read your ‘Picture’.

General
ID                                       : 1 (0x1)
Complete name                            : G:\Other Videos\Daryl Hall & John Oates Live in Dublin (2015)\Daryl Hall & John Oates Live in Dublin (2015).ts
Format                                   : MPEG-TS
File size                                : 3.10 GiB
Duration                                 : 57 min 36 s
Overall bit rate mode                    : Variable
Overall bit rate                         : 7 696 kb/s
Law rating                               : TV-G

Video
ID                                       : 49 (0x31)
Menu ID                                  : 3 (0x3)
Format                                   : MPEG Video
Format version                           : Version 2
Format profile                           : Main@High
Format settings                          : CustomMatrix / BVOP
Format settings, BVOP                    : Yes
Format settings, Matrix                  : Custom
Format settings, GOP                     : Variable
Codec ID                                 : 2
Duration                                 : 57 min 36 s
Bit rate mode                            : Variable
Bit rate                                 : 6 928 kb/s
Maximum bit rate                         : 24.0 Mb/s
Width                                    : 1 920 pixels
Height                                   : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 16:9
Active Format Description                : Full frame 16:9 image
Frame rate                               : 29.970 (30000/1001) FPS
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0
Bit depth                                : 8 bits
Compression mode                         : Lossy
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.111
Time code of first frame                 : 00:00:00;00
Time code source                         : Group of pictures header
GOP, Open/Closed                         : Open
Stream size                              : 2.79 GiB (90%)

Audio #1
ID                                       : 52 (0x34)
Menu ID                                  : 3 (0x3)
Format                                   : AC-3
Format/Info                              : Audio Coding 3
Commercial name                          : Dolby Digital
Codec ID                                 : 129
Duration                                 : 57 min 36 s
Bit rate mode                            : Constant
Bit rate                                 : 192 kb/s
Channel(s)                               : 2 channels
Channel layout                           : L R
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate                               : 31.250 FPS (1536 SPF)
Bit depth                                : 16 bits
Compression mode                         : Lossy
Delay relative to video                  : 8 ms
Stream size                              : 79.1 MiB (2%)
Language                                 : English
Service kind                             : Complete Main

Audio #2
ID                                       : 53 (0x35)
Menu ID                                  : 3 (0x3)
Format                                   : AC-3
Format/Info                              : Audio Coding 3
Commercial name                          : Dolby Digital
Codec ID                                 : 129
Duration                                 : 57 min 36 s
Bit rate mode                            : Constant
Bit rate                                 : 192 kb/s
Channel(s)                               : 2 channels
Channel layout                           : L R
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate                               : 31.250 FPS (1536 SPF)
Bit depth                                : 16 bits
Compression mode                         : Lossy
Delay relative to video                  : 8 ms
Stream size                              : 79.1 MiB (2%)
Language                                 : English
Service kind                             : Complete Main

Text #1
ID                                       : 49 (0x31)-CC1
Menu ID                                  : 3 (0x3)
Format                                   : EIA-608
Muxing mode                              : A/53 / DTVCC Transport
Muxing mode, more info                   : Muxed in Video #1
Duration                                 : 57 min 36 s
Bit rate mode                            : Constant
Stream size                              : 0.00 Byte (0%)
CaptionServiceName                       : CC1

Text #2
ID                                       : 49 (0x31)-1
Menu ID                                  : 3 (0x3)
Format                                   : EIA-708
Muxing mode                              : A/53 / DTVCC Transport
Muxing mode, more info                   : Muxed in Video #1
Duration                                 : 57 min 36 s
Bit rate mode                            : Constant
Stream size                              : 0.00 Byte (0%)

When we’re done - ^That^ wants to be something else - like AVC 264… something that can Direct Play on everything we play it on.

I have that in Other Videos so I can find out what can’t play it - and it’s dam near everything.