So I just started using Plex I am currently ripping some dvds using MakeMKV and saving them to a western digital my cloud and playing them through my PlayStation 4 on a 55 inch tv my problem is they are 480p and it fills up the screen but it’s a little blurry anything I can do to make it better I’ve tried to use handbrake to convert hem them to .264 and changed the frame rate and everything but still nothing any ideas please I have a lot of dvds and don’t want to spend the money on changing them all to blu rays
480p seems a little blurry on a 55" Display?
No, say it ain’t so… lol
How do the raw DVD rips out of MakeMKV look?
Pretty good?
Handbrake guide in my signature.
Give it more bit rate or a higher CQ setting. I mean to a point. There are some roll-over tips and if you exceed those recommendations you’re going into the Placebo area wherein you just make the file bigger without doing anything to make it look better.
View previews until you get something you can live with - then go for it.
Don’t change frame rates. That indicates you don’t know what you’re doing.
B)
BTW - Handbrake will work directly with DVDs negating the need to MakeMKV a DVD before you Handbrake it. BluRays will need to go through MakeMKV first.
I saw your guide and went to use the version of handbrake you recommended but I couldn’t find the advanced setting you say to use I did everything else and the raw dvds from MakeMKV looked blurry and the only reason I liked using that was because I could split up the episodes for the tv shows I was ripping
If you read the whole thread I started using the newest version - and it’s ok.
You can split the episodes up in Handbrake as well. You just pick 'em from the source drop down menu. They might still be a challenge naming them and that may be a little easier once they’re ripped with MakeMKV, but if you Handbrake first and name later you save a step and the quality ‘may’ be a bit better in the end, but that’s probably up for debate.
I used Handbrake for years with DVDs - you pick the episodes/extras by extrapolating them via run times. After a while you can pretty much figure it out, but you may need to watch a bit of TV Episodes to make sure your naming is correct, but MakeMKV doesn’t make that any easier in most cases.
As @JuiceWSA intimates, you can’t add what isn’t there. You can upscale, transcode, edge enhance, yada yada all you want, but when it comes down to it, 345K pixels (480p) won’t look as good as 1M (720p) or 2M (1080p) pixels.
MakeMKV provides a direct, unaltered copy of the video from the DVD (MPEG2 video & usually AC3 audio). Handbrake (and similar tools) can help make the rip more compatible so it direct plays on your clients, compress the video to reduce bandwidth requirements, etc. However, except for situations such as reducing combing in interlaced video, transcoding does not make the video “better.”
I’m working my way through a stash of 200+ DVDs using MakeMKV & Handbrake. Do they look as good as Blu-ray? Of course not. I still enjoy the movies. I also occasionally peruse the $5 bargain bin at WalMart/Target/Best Buy/etc so I can upgrade my favorites to Blu-ray quality.
@JuiceWSA FYI, Handbrake v1.1 released last Sunday. Custom Anamorphic is back. IIRC, you were bemoaning its demise in previous posts. 
@FordGuy61 said:
@JuiceWSA FYI, Handbrake v1.1 released last Sunday. Custom Anamorphic is back. IIRC, you were bemoaning its demise in previous posts.
Ooooo… good to know, but Automatic was working quite well in 1.0.7 - at least in the limited service I gave it. Upgrading now 'cause nothing beats Custom.
There’s nothing particularly ‘wrong’ with a strong DVD Handbrake job - once you get your head wrapped around the fact that 480/576 isn’t as ‘sharp’ as HD. I’ve seen some pretty crappy BluRays… some wherein my DVD rips actually looked better.
Also, a LOT of people are getting less than spectacular results as they try to get DVD material to fit their wide screens by murdering the aspect ratio. When you start stretching 480p to fit all those nooks and crannies you need something in - what you come away with is disappointing, to say the least.
Watch the material and stop watching the black bars - it’ll change your life, Man.
B)
I’m ok with the black bars I’m not really worried about the picture taking up the hole screen I’d rather the picture be nicer not bigger how do I fix this because when I use MakeMKV and I play back the show it fills up the screen could it be a setting on my tv or my PS4
MediaInfo:
Export a MediaInfo report for each where you see this issue.
The MakeMKV will contain the raw, packaged (and likely correct) display instructions, the Handbrake job may be wrong - depending how you’re setting it.
Example Export - Use the Export, save as a txt file, open txt file, hold CTL, hit A, hold CTL, hit C.
Paste to message (CTL V) - highlight - select ‘Spoiler’ from the message options under the ‘backwards P’ above:
! General
! Complete name : F:\Movies\Noir - Classics\Bogart\The Big Sleep (1946)\The Big Sleep (1946) [Pre-Release].mp4
! Format : MPEG-4
! Format profile : Base Media
! Codec ID : isom (isom/iso2/avc1/mp41)
! File size : 2.04 GiB
! Duration : 1 h 56 min
! Overall bit rate mode : Variable
! Overall bit rate : 2 509 kb/s
! Encoded date : UTC 2016-04-13 04:50:10
! Tagged date : UTC 2016-04-13 04:50:10
! Writing application : Lavf57.31.100
!
! Video
! ID : 1
! Format : AVC
! Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
! Format profile : High@L4
! Format settings : CABAC / 5 Ref Frames
! Format settings, CABAC : Yes
! Format settings, RefFrames : 5 frames
! Codec ID : avc1
! Codec ID/Info : Advanced Video Coding
! Duration : 1 h 56 min
! Bit rate : 2 324 kb/s
! Width : 720 pixels
! Height : 480 pixels
! Display aspect ratio : 4:3
! Frame rate mode : Variable
! Frame rate : 23.976 (23976/1000) FPS
! Minimum frame rate : 8.333 FPS
! Maximum frame rate : 59.960 FPS
! Color space : YUV
! Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
! Bit depth : 8 bits
! Scan type : Progressive
! Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.280
! Stream size : 1.89 GiB (93%)
! Writing library : x264 core 142 r2479 dd79a61
! Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=5 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=umh / 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=6 / lookahead_threads=1 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=5 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=2 / b_bias=0 / direct=3 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=240 / keyint_min=24 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=60 / rc=crf / mbtree=1 / crf=17.5 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=69 / qpstep=4 / vbv_maxrate=25000 / vbv_bufsize=31250 / crf_max=0.0 / nal_hrd=none / filler=0 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00
! Encoded date : UTC 2016-04-13 04:50:10
! Tagged date : UTC 2016-04-13 04:50:10
! Color range : Limited
! Color primaries : BT.601 NTSC
! Transfer characteristics : BT.709
! Matrix coefficients : BT.601
! Menus : 3
!
! Audio
! ID : 2
! Format : AAC
! Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec
! Format profile : LC
! Codec ID : mp4a-40-2
! Duration : 1 h 56 min
! Bit rate mode : Variable
! Bit rate : 178 kb/s
! Maximum bit rate : 256 kb/s
! Channel(s) : 2 channels
! Channel positions : Front: L R
! Sampling rate : 48.0 kHz
! Frame rate : 46.875 FPS (1024 SPF)
! Compression mode : Lossy
! Stream size : 148 MiB (7%)
! Language : English
! Default : Yes
