Bit rate and resolution

[spqrbc753]

Noob here and trying to get my 'ultimate' settings for archiving my DVD's and playing them back on my media server(for now ps3)....

I have taken the advice of Gregiboy....:

I have a question though on bitrate, its not clear to me why such a low bitrate is acceptable? File size really doesnt matter to me, so I am willing to store large files for a true high quality rendering of my DVD....

1- What is the best bitrate to use, to achieve TRUE max quality?
2- What is best resolution to use? The definition provided in the best practices confuses me a bit....I am in USA so NTSC standard is what almost all of my DVD's are....

Gregiboy's details on #2:


I personally feel that H264 is far better than Xvid at the same bitrate. I always advise newbies to start at around 1100 video bitrate and run some tests also with a higher bitrate and see if you can pick the difference.

Unfortunately, some of my older players will not play H264 so I stil use XVid (@ 1100) for them and I find the results more than acceptable.

I ocassionally sneak the bitrate up to 1500 when a title contains fast action scenes.

I'll expound my theory on the resolution that you should aim for:-

DVD's are usually composed at 720 x XXX (PAL) or 704 x XXX (NTSC). The XXX figure depends on what aspect ratio they were composed at.

I ALWAYS choose the closest resolution to the width of the DVD available because I feel that if you choose higer (or lower) you are asking Fab to interpolate either the missing pixels or combine the compressed ones and I feel that the upscaler in either the players or the TV does a better job. I generally leave the TV do it.

To maintain the 5.1 sound, just choose either generic.avi.xvid.audiocopy or generic.avi.h264.audiocopy profile and make sure that you select the Dolby Digital soundtrack.

I appreciate the help

[GregiBoy]

Let's tackle the resolution first....

When you open the ripped dvd folder with DVD to Mobile and edit the video settings, you can see what original resolution the DVD was authored at. Choose a resolution that is closest to that in width and with a height allowing for your preferences of cropping, etc. There is absolutely no gain by going for a higher resolution. As you are in NTSC land, the width should be around 704 but I have seen different sizes.

Now, on to the bitrate which is an entirely another kettle of fish and a very subjective topic and I will try to be very general.

Firstly, the lower bitrates are achievable because the XVid & H264 encoding is more efficient than the original MPEG encoding of the original DVD's.

That said, the bitrate that you require for different titles can vary. A title with fast action scenes will require a higher bitrate than a low action one.

The actual bitrate that you use and will be happy with depends on a lot of variables, such as size of your target display device, distance that you are seated from it, and the actual device that you use to play the encoded files. It also depends on how good your eyesight is and your own expectations.

I have based my own opinions on the following equipment:-

Samsung 52" LA52A850 High Definition TV
Seated 5 metres (~16 feet) from the screen
Files played on a variety of hard disk and network media players connected by HDMI to TV and by optical cable to my surround sound system.

The best way to establish what you are happy with is to set yourself up a test and encode a title at different bitrates and play them comparing to the original until you find a bitrate that is acceptable to you.

I generally compare them to the original VOB's that I have ripped played on the same player.

Hope this helps

Sorry, but there is no magical "One size fits all"