Some background first. Longtime Plex user on Linux with older Roku 2’s. Ripped DVD and BluRay using MakeMKV and used the fantastic “tuned” settings found on Rokoding for an older version of Handbrake on Linux. No complaints, everything direct streams from my Plex server to the Roku’s on wired network. Great quality.
Recently upgraded Roku’s to the Premiere+ and just this past weekend upgraded my Linux server to Ubuntu 16.04. Moving the Plex settings was fantastically simple. Now running latest version of Handbrake on Linux (1.02) as well. On to the question/conversation.
I’m curious about experiences with H.265 encoding for the Roku, in particular with respect to Handbrake settings using H.265. I’m currently re-encoding Suicide Squad that I ripped from BluRay via MakeMKV with a couple of different settings on Handbrake using H.265 so that I can compare with the H.264 version that I already have. I found the comprehensive settings thread by JuiceWSA found here: https://forums.plex.tv/discussion/comment/1335697/#Comment_1335697 but those are using H.264. I’m going to apply those settings with H.265. I’ll update with my opinions when I can view the new results but would love to get opinions as well.
Thanks for the help/advice in advance.
Please do let us know what you find out.
I have no idea what bit rates 265 is going to require to maintain quality as close to the original as possible, but everything else, like resolutions, anamorphic settings when required (DVD/SD), etc should be the same.
A few test encodes should put you on the path to 265 enlightenment. Then you can educate us and I’ll do some experimenting myself to update the guide.
I have no use for 265 so I wouldn’t be using it. Someone that is using it everyday will be able to find the areas that need tweeking in the encoding process. That sounds like you.
So I encoded using my previous H.264 settings taken from Rokoding.com as well as taking JuiceWSA’s settings for H.264 both using H.265 instead. To be honest I could not tell a difference between numerous scenes I checked in Suicide Squad between my original Rokoding H.264 encode, the Rokoding H.265 encode or the JuiceWSA H.265 encode. They all looked fantastic and direct streamed to the Roku Premiere + with zero issues.
Now the encode time was massive compared to H.264, about 2.5X on my machine (which I really don’t care about as I have a dedicated Linux server running all the time and so it can just plug away at these long encodes). The file size was about half going from 3.9 GB for the H.264 encode to 1.9 GB for the H.265 encode. I have oodles of redundant storage so this doesn’t really matter too much to me but it could for others.
One issue that I realized once I started encoding using H.265 is that we do sync to tablets to watch movies, especially on longer trips and of course the H.265 encoding isn’t supported on my tablet. So basically, after all this, I’m sticking with H.264 for now but when the time comes I would use either the Rokoding or JuiceWSA settings for a H.265 encode.
What do your bit rates look like?
264
vs
265
Did you use a constant bit rate in the encode?
I deleted the H.265 encodes since I figured I wasn’t going to use them!! But I did take a peek quickly before I wiped out the H.265.
I used CBR in the H.264 but VBR in the H.265. The H.264 is 3622 and as I recall the H.265 was pretty similar, in the 3400’s.
