I’m currently replacing all my DVDs with Blu-Ray and 4k versions. I’m struggling with landing on a single encoding process that gives me the right ratio between quality and file size.
I’m currently using HandBrake for Mac to convert MKV files to .H265 Same As Source MP4 files. The average file size is about 4 to 5 gigabytes. Some of my older Blu-rays were done as .m4v files and are only 1.5 to 2 gigs. I did a “side-by-side” test with an .m4v and a .H265 MP4 of the same movie and honestly… I can’t really see a difference. So my questions are:
What do I look for in a movie from an artifact standpoint? Just how the dark/black video scenes look? Are there other things to look for when deciding how much to crunch a video?
Is there a better tool that will produce .H265 video but perhaps more efficiently?
Is there anything else I should consider in this endeavor? I have about 300 movies to do if I choose to do all of them.
Are you doing this in software or hardware? Hardware is faster but often times gives you a much larger file and not the best quality
Depending on your source it’s impossible for anyone to tell you “do this”
Your results can vary from one video to the next
I’ve been using Handbrake for years, and even now I still output a video way larger than I expect.
I have found that the quality presets are often set at the lower end of the range for what you actually need (what I need)
Under the video tab, Constant quality, don’t be afraid to bump the number on the slider up a few notches from the default just to test it. If you’re happy with how it looks, that’s all that matters
If you don’t need formats like TruHD or DTS convert it to AAC. For some videos this can reduce the size of your output file significantly
Unfortunately this is a trial and error operation that relies on how picky your eyeballs are. Some people can’t tell the difference between an SD copy and 720p.
To start, anything you do add to a library inside Plex and try it on your TV so you get a good representation of how it’ll look. Problems may not be so apparent on a 20 inch computer monitor
I know there’s a program called Tdarr people use but I think that just takes an existing h.264 and converts it to h.265. I don’t know much about it and I’m not sure if that’s what you’re looking for
I think I’m probably good with the larger files based on your input. I do use the constant quality and totally agree there. I didn’t know about the audio tracks. I don’t currently even have surround sound… so this might be an area that I can investigate.
I’ll keep on keeping on with my current preset and see how it goes. I can always re-rip the Blu-Rays in the future if new tech makes visually better files… or if I purchase Plex to simply play the MKV files.
If you have CPU and GPU power to spare, you can experiment with Topaz Video AI. If you send older movies through it (all movies with even a hint of grain), you will get a video which is much better compressable.
(because the compressor doesn’t have to waste bits to faithfully reproduce each tiny grain speck anymore).
Thus the file sizes will reduce, with perceived picture quality increased in many cases.
The best results however, will be achieved if you start with raw Bluray rips. Not with files which were already lossily re-compressed.
