Sorry if this should be in another category, but I’m struggling to get the quality right with DVDs on Handbrake. I’ve got the settings right for Blu Rays, Plex says that all my Blu Ray rips are 1080, but every DVD I’ve ripped says it is 576 or even 480 instead of 720. I always use MakeMKV and then Handbrake. Could you please share your settings you use for DVD quality (720) in Handbrake?
I’ve searched and used many different settings suggested online but thought I would ask people who are using for Plex also!
DVDs can’t be 720p (if that’s what you mean). The max storage for DVDs is 720x480 and it would behoove you to try to maintain this max envelope, in turn, maintaining as much of the original 480p quality as possible.
The reason you’re getting a 576 quality reading from Plex is because you aren’t using the anamorphic functions of Handbrake - that are quite nice once you figure out how to use them.
So… you’ve got this MakeMKV dump of the base streams from your DVD. Select the ‘High Profile’ preset (to start) then drag one of those MakeMKV dumps into Handbrake. Mirror these settings (I’ve currently got an encode running so this is as far as I’m willing to go right now):
Pay no attention to my cropping, but do perform your own cropping as needed. The ‘Custom’ anamorphic width setting for a DVD should be 854 and this will tell Handbrake that your Display is 16:9 - end result 854x480 - but you can’t get there with DVD material without freaking out Plex. No matter what you plug into Handbrake using DVD material it will encode the proper dimensions for playback and Plex won’t get confused.
Yea, if you look at the static preview it will show you a 720x480 image and, yes, it will look all out of whack, but rest assured when you run a “Preview” from the upper right and Handbrake actually encodes a “Preview” (I always use 240 seconds to get a good look) what you see will be a properly displayed version with the correct aspect ratio.
The Filters Tab should be used when the base vid stream is ‘Interlaced’ and you want to fix that. Decomb should be set (Decomb ticked) and use the default setting. Typically this can be turned on and left on. Material that isn’t interlaced will cause no action from the filter and material that is interlaced with combing artifacts present will trigger the filter and it will work it’s magic - that works great, BTW.
In the ‘Video Tab’ you’ll want to make your own adjustments to fit the quality you’re trying to achieve, but for my use I use:
Variable Framerate and an Average Bitrate to match the original quality or ‘downsize’ to a Bitrate I know to be valid for my eyeballs and display device knowing that original Bitrates direct from DVD are overamped to the point of ridiculousness… but that’s for you to determine. For instance my current encode of Dragnet (1954)[1080p] - after having seen what I’m working with and knowing what I’m going to end up with I have chosen a Bitrate of 2800Kbps and that, for me, is plenty.
If you don’t use the Average Bitrate section and are using Constant Quality play around with that slider and make some Previews, but typically 18 will give you the best you’re going to get and 20 will be about as low as you want to go, but the rollover will indicate as much.
Understood. Plex reports heights in tiers/steps. A 720p file will report at 720; a file that has been cropped to be actually only 600 pixels in height will also report at 720. And as you have seen, a file with actual height of 544 reports as 720. A 480 tall file will report as 480.
@sGarver said:
A 480 tall file will report as 480.
Unless you confuse Plex by not using the anamorpic settings for DVDs, Plex goes into a tailspin and reports it as 576 when it’s actually only 480 (but you knew that - not sure about @JRyan11 , but he may after reading my post above).
You friend is likely up-scaling if they are in fact DVD rips. There’s no advantage to doing that - the end result will be a bigger file that is not really a “true” 720p video. Your TV or player will upscale in a more efficient manner, they are designed to do that.
@JRyan11 said:
Sorry I meant to say that his says 720 in Plex, but on the file it says frame width: 1280 frame height: 544
The video was cropped to get rid of the black bars on the top. More efficient as the black areas really contain no information, but add to the overall bitrate and file size.
Personally, I don’t use the “anamorphic” setting suggested, not because it “freaks out” plex if I don’t , but because at one time there were a few Plex clients that would not display anamorphic videos properly. That may be fixed now. I encode the video at a real 854X480 dimension for 16X9 videos. Granted, upscaling for the width, but not for the height. Alternatively, you could use the original width, and encode at 720X404 (resize the height)
720x404 blows 76 pixels off a 480p resolution which is, IMO, unacceptable when working with 480p where every ‘p’ counts. 720x404 will also freak me out when Plex reports what should be 480p as SD, my OCD kicks in and I go into a tailspin - also unacceptable…
Upscaling 480p original material to 720p just messes it up. A properly encoded 480p stream with the proper anamorphic settings actually looks better, takes up less space and when you see that 480p rating in Plex that will tell you which titles in your library need upgrading - if possible.
I KNOW this to be true, because here in Deliverance Country everything that pours off that local PBS translator aimed down here in this valley for a few humans and a whole lot of farm animals is 1080p. EVERYTHING! I can tell at a glance what is really 480p upon looking at the recording and as soon as I recode that back to 720x480 with the proper anamorphic settings it looks way better than that 1080p whacked out version.
The real 1080p stuff looks fantastic for me and the livestock 'cause that translator is 3 miles from here. I’ll bet the bacon is infused with a WVPB logo, but I’ve really never looked very hard - afraid at what I might find.
@leelynds said:
You friend is likely up-scaling if they are in fact DVD rips. There’s no advantage to doing that - the end result will be a bigger file that is not really a “true” 720p video. Your TV or player will upscale in a more efficient manner, they are designed to do that.
@JRyan11 said:
Sorry I meant to say that his says 720 in Plex, but on the file it says frame width: 1280 frame height: 544
The video was cropped to get rid of the black bars on the top. More efficient as the black areas really contain no information, but add to the overall bitrate and file size.
Personally, I don’t use the “anamorphic” setting suggested, not because it “freaks out” plex if I don’t , but because at one time there were a few Plex clients that would not display anamorphic videos properly. That may be fixed now. I encode the video at a real 854X480 dimension for 16X9 videos. Granted, upscaling for the width, but not for the height. Alternatively, you could use the original width, and encode at 720X404 (resize the height)
Confused yet? It gets easier after the first few…
Would you mind posting what settings you use in Handbrake?
My encode(s) completed so here are the settings I used for SG-1 and just about everything else in 480p - looking so close to the original material on DVD that I can’t see the difference.
File size for standard episode length is about 600MB:
I always use The Advanced Tab - the string shows my 4.1 x264 level (the first parameter), but all other parameters in that string come along automatically when the settings indicated are made. You’ll make your own Audio Tab and Subtitle adjustments. Encoding time for a typical DVD episode is, on my box, about 12 minutes.
Note: Using the Advanced Tab and selecting ‘insane’ values will likely produce ‘insane’ results that won’t play back on anything, but these settings (mostly the defaults) produce Direct Playable material on every device in my Plexiverse - listed in my signature.
@JRyan11 - LOL! - I would if I could. I haven’t used Handbrake for years. I usually use ffmpeg with the command line for video that doesn’t need any cropping, and use MeGUI for the others. I never really liked the “anamorphic” and variable frame-rate thing that Handbrake seemed to default to, and even though it’s claim to fame is it’s supposed to be a “no- brainer”, I always had trouble. I’m sure I was doing something wrong that could have been easily corrected, but I gave up. I found the other program, and even though it probably IS more complicated because there are more steps, I seemed to understand what I was doing .
I’m quite sure the settings @JuiceWSA suggested are more than acceptable in most cases. You can always tweak those settings to your personal preference, which can cause a lot of frustration when it goes wrong, but soon becomes forgotten when you got the perfect rip.
@JuiceWSA said:
720x404 will also freak me out when Plex reports what should be 480p as SD, my OCD kicks in and I go into a tailspin - also unacceptable…
In truth, I usually encode DVD’s to 832X468 - an exact 16X9 resolution. (1.7777777778) That shows up in Plex as 480p Just going with the flow here to keep things simple
My personal OCD kicked in when an 854X480 ended up with an aspect ratio of 1.7791666667, and a 720 X404 ended up with a 1.78217821 ratio. I found those 0.001 differences unacceptable. And I’m sure I can see the difference no matter what anyone says…
To make matters more confusing:
there is a difference in PAL vs. NTSC DVDs.
PAL has a higher vertical resolution, that’s very likely where the 576 comes from.
Width is always larger than height for TV shows and Movies.
Plex reports heights in tiers/steps. A 720p file will report at 720; a file that has been cropped to be actually only 600 pixels in height will also report at 720. And as you have seen, a file with actual height of 544 reports as 720. A 480 tall file will report as 480.
