Tools and other software HandBrake for MKV recoding (1 Viewer)

[Stéphane Lenclud]

I used MakeMKV to rip a Blu Ray and then proceed to use HandBrake to perform the video recoding to save disk space.
Here I'm sharing some results depending of the CQ selected. The source was a video lasting some 2 hours and 7 minutes.

• Original MKV: 32.8 GB
• CQ 20: 9.61 GB
• CQ 22: 7.35 GB
• CQ 23: 6.63 GB
• CQ 23 cropped: 6.56 GB
• CQ 24 cropped: 6.03 GB
• CQ 28: 5.08 GB

I've decided to stick to CQ 23 without cropping as it seems to be the best trade off between quality and file size.
H.264 recommends using a CQ between 20 and 23. For that one movie however CQ23 saves you 3GB over CQ20 and I could not really tell the difference quality-wise.
The sample marked 'cropped' above are the ones where the video black strips where removed during recoding. I find that provided only a marginal file size improvement and thus decided against using this feature and instead stick to the original video frame size.

Find attached the exported HandBrake profile I'm planning to keep on using for Blu-ray backup.
I was using HandBrake v0.10.2.7286 64 bit.

 

[Stéphane Lenclud]

Actually recognizing a very noticeable lose of quality in color gradients when using CQ23, I'm now using CQ20 instead.

 

[azzuro]

or try the h265 codec.
you can reduce the size by 2. but not all PC can decode it, without stress.

 

[Stéphane Lenclud]

Really?

 

[azzuro]

yes, my friend send me an h265 personal video for try on my system, the decoding stresstest

Format                           : Matroska
Format_Version                   : Version 4 / Version 2
FileSize/String                  : 3.65 GiB
OverallBitRate/String            : 2 801 Kbps
Encoded_Date                     : UTC 2015-07-20 11:38:53
Encoded_Application/String       : mkvmerge v7.9.0 ('Birds') 64bit
Encoded_Library/String           : libebml v1.3.1 + libmatroska v1.4.2

Video
ID/String                        : 3
Format                           : HEVC
Format/Info                      : High Efficiency Video Coding
Format_Profile                   : Main@L4@Main
CodecID                          : V_MPEGH/ISO/HEVC
Duration/String                  : 3h 6mn
BitRate/String                   : 2 021 Kbps
Width/String                     : 1 920 pixels
Height/String                    : 800 pixels
DisplayAspectRatio/String        : 2.40:1
FrameRate_Mode/String            : Constant
FrameRate/String                 : 23.976 (24000/1001) fps
ColorSpace                       : YUV
ChromaSubsampling                : 4:2:0
BitDepth/String                  : 8 bits
Bits-(Pixel*Frame)               : 0.055
StreamSize/String                : 2.63 GiB (72%)
Encoded_Library/String           : x265 1.7:[Windows][GCC 4.9.2][64 bit]
Encoded_Library_Settings         : wpp / ctu=64 / min-cu-size=8 / max-tu-size=32 / tu-intra-depth=1 / tu-inter-depth=1 / me=1 / subme=2 / merange=57 / no-rect / no-amp / max-merge=2 / temporal-mvp / no-early-skip / rdpenalty=0 / no-tskip / no-tskip-fast / strong-intra-smoothing / no-lossless / no-cu-lossless / no-constrained-intra / no-fast-intra / open-gop / no-temporal-layers / interlace=0 / keyint=250 / min-keyint=23 / scenecut=40 / rc-lookahead=20 / lookahead-slices=0 / bframes=4 / bframe-bias=0 / b-adapt=2 / ref=3 / weightp / no-weightb / aq-mode=1 / aq-strength=1.00 / cbqpoffs=0 / crqpoffs=0 / rd=3 / psy-rd=0.30 / rdoq-level=0 / psy-rdoq=0.00 / signhide / deblock / sao / no-sao-non-deblock / b-pyramid / cutree / rc=crf / crf=22.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / ipratio=1.40 / pbratio=1.30
Default/String                   : Yes
Forced/String                    : No

so FullHD - 3.64 GO ....

 

[Lehmden]

Really?

No, not really. I've tried h265 with handbrake more than once... If you want to have identical quality compared to h264 you need (nearly) the same bitrate and for this the same file size with both, h264 and h265... But transcoding to h265 lasts about 20 times!!! as long as transcoding to h264 (on my i5 4590) . Playback of h265 mkv only is working nicely with Lentoid filter, not with LAVF.

I have posted some sample screenshots a while ago, where you even could see on the screenshots the quality difference between h264 and h265 if this has a significant smaller file size...
If you really want to use h265, handbrake is not the way to go atm... But I believe h265 will be getting better and better by time, where h264 is near to the end of development possibilities...

Nevertheless I've offered h265 as an option in MKV-Buddy to be prepared for the future. But I don't believe (based on my own experiences) that h265 can be used as "everyday" codec today...

 

[azzuro]

i know, what we do lol
@Sebastiii : can you add an codec selection for h265/HEVC ? i don't remember if already available inside setting.

 

[azzuro]

can be used as "everyday" codec today...

you say true .
i wait the next GPU ( oriented HTPC) for decoding h265/HEVC, the only available (for lambda custommer ) is intel HD IGP, with the support of H265.

 

[Lehmden]

Hi.

i don't remember if already available inside setting.

I only can speak for MP2, but there you can select Lentoid (or something different, if you like it to become worse) as H265 codec already since a while...

 

[azzuro]

I only can speak for MP2, but there you can select Lentoid (or something different, if you like it to become worse) as H265 codec already since a while...

Yes, for MP2 i know is already available since few months.