No longer possible to download H.264

logusum

Hi everyone,

A few days ago, I chimed in on a thread where someone else had a very similar problem to mine. But since that post didn't get any attention, I'm starting a new one.

Basically, for a while now, Crunchyroll downloads have only been available in H.265, not H.264, which significantly reduces the final file's bitrate. I don't think it's a site issue because I've checked other platforms and software, and they allow downloads in the preferred format without a hitch.

So, I'm asking for this to be looked into. If possible, please add an option to choose between H.264 and H.265 when downloading. To help you troubleshoot, I've attached MediaInfo exports of the same video downloaded at different times, with identical settings. You'll see that the quality and format options are no longer the same:

File #1 (downloaded on March the 1st, 2025):

Generale
Complete name                            : I:\StreamFab\Crunchyroll\Dragon Ball DAIMAa\S01\Dragon Ball DAIMA_S01E01_LA COSPIRAZIONE.mp4
Format                                   : MPEG-4
Format profile                           : Base Media
Codec ID                                 : isom (isom/iso2/avc1/mp41)
File size                                : 1,79 GiB
Duration                                 : 32min 5s
Overall bit rate                         : 8.005 kb/s
Frame rate                               : 23,976 fps
Collection                               : Dragon Ball DAIMA
Season                                   : 1
Track name                               : LA COSPIRAZIONE
Description                              : In un castello in un mondo misterioso due Majin sospetti, Gomah e Degesu, guardano uno schermo, mostrante Goku e i suoi amici che combattono contro Majin Bu. I due Majin si dirigono sulla Terra per mettere in atto la loro cospirazione.
Recorded date                            : Autunno-2024, Inverno-2025
Writing application                      : Lavf60.3.100
Cover                                    : Yes
Part_ID                                  : 1

Video
ID                                       : 1
Format                                   : AVC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                           : High@L4
Format settings                          : CABAC / 4 Ref Frames
Format settings, CABAC                   : Si
Format settings, Reference frames        : 4 frame
Codec ID                                 : avc1
Codec ID/Info                            : Advanced Video Coding
Duration                                 : 32min 5s
Bit rate                                 : 8.000 kb/s
Maximum bit rate                         : 7.871 kb/s
Width                                    : 1.920 pixel
Height                                   : 1.080 pixel
Display aspect ratio                     : 16:9
Frame rate mode                          : Variabile
Frame rate                               : 23,976 (23976/1000) fps
Minimum frame rate                       : 23,974 fps
Maximum frame rate                       : 23,981 fps
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0
Bit depth                                : 8 bit
Scan type                                : Progressivo
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.161
Stream size                              : 1,76 GiB (98%)
Writing library                          : x264 core 164
Encoding settings                        : cabac=1 / ref=4 / deblock=1:1:1 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=hex / subme=8 / psy=1 / psy_rd=0.40:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=2 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=12 / lookahead_threads=2 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=96 / keyint_min=48 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=48 / rc=2pass / mbtree=1 / bitrate=8000 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=69 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / vbv_maxrate=12000 / vbv_bufsize=18000 / nal_hrd=none / filler=0 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:0.60
Language                                 : Inglese
Color range                              : Limited
Color primaries                          : BT.709
Transfer characteristics                 : BT.709
Matrix coefficients                      : BT.709
Casella configurazione codec             : avcC

Audio
ID                                       : 3
Format                                   : AAC LC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Audio Codec Low Complexity
Codec ID                                 : mp4a-40-2
Duration                                 : 32min 5s
Bit rate mode                            : Costante
Bit rate                                 : 128 kb/s
Channel(s)                               : 2 canali
Channel layout                           : L R
Sampling rate                            : 44,1 KHz
Frame rate                               : 43,066 fps (1024 SPF)
Compression mode                         : Con perdita
Stream size                              : 29,4 MiB (2%)
Title                                    : 日本語
Language                                 : Giapponese
Default                                  : Si
Alternate group                          : 1

File #2 (downloaded on July the 13th, 2025):

Generale
Complete name                            : I:\StreamFab\Crunchyroll\Dragon Ball DAIMA\S01\Dragon Ball DAIMA_S01E01_LA COSPIRAZIONE.mp4
Format                                   : MPEG-4
Format profile                           : Base Media
Codec ID                                 : isom (isom/iso2/avc1/mp41)
File size                                : 1,37 GiB
Duration                                 : 32min 5s
Overall bit rate                         : 6.129 kb/s
Frame rate                               : 23,976 fps
Collection                               : Dragon Ball DAIMA
Season                                   : 1
Track name                               : LA COSPIRAZIONE
Description                              : In un castello in un mondo misterioso due Majin sospetti, Gomah e Degesu, guardano uno schermo, mostrante Goku e i suoi amici che combattono contro Majin Bu. I due Majin si dirigono sulla Terra per mettere in atto la loro cospirazione.
Recorded date                            : Autunno-2024, Inverno-2025
Writing application                      : Lavf61.7.100
Cover                                    : Yes
Part_ID                                  : 1

Video
ID                                       : 1
Format                                   : AVC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                           : High@L5
Format settings                          : CABAC / 6 Ref Frames
Format settings, CABAC                   : Si
Format settings, Reference frames        : 6 frame
Codec ID                                 : avc1
Codec ID/Info                            : Advanced Video Coding
Duration                                 : 32min 5s
Bit rate                                 : 5.931 kb/s
Width                                    : 1.920 pixel
Height                                   : 1.080 pixel
Display aspect ratio                     : 16:9
Frame rate mode                          : Variabile
Frame rate                               : 23,976 (24000/1001) fps
Minimum frame rate                       : 23,974 fps
Maximum frame rate                       : 23,981 fps
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0
Bit depth                                : 8 bit
Scan type                                : Progressivo
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.119
Stream size                              : 1,33 GiB (97%)
Writing library                          : x264 core 164
Encoding settings                        : cabac=1 / ref=6 / deblock=1:1:1 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=hex / subme=7 / psy=1 / psy_rd=0.40:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=12 / lookahead_threads=2 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=96 / keyint_min=24 / scenecut=5 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=96 / rc=crf / mbtree=1 / crf=15.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=69 / qpstep=4 / vbv_maxrate=8000 / vbv_bufsize=32000 / crf_max=0.0 / nal_hrd=none / filler=0 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:0.60
Language                                 : Inglese
Color range                              : Limited
Color primaries                          : BT.709
Transfer characteristics                 : BT.709
Matrix coefficients                      : BT.709
Casella configurazione codec             : avcC

Audio
ID                                       : 3
Format                                   : AAC LC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Audio Codec Low Complexity
Codec ID                                 : mp4a-40-2
Duration                                 : 32min 5s
Bit rate mode                            : Costante
Bit rate                                 : 192 kb/s
Channel(s)                               : 2 canali
Channel layout                           : L R
Sampling rate                            : 44,1 KHz
Frame rate                               : 43,066 fps (1024 SPF)
Compression mode                         : Con perdita
Stream size                              : 44,1 MiB (3%)
Title                                    : 日本語
Language                                 : Giapponese
Default                                  : Si
Alternate group                          : 1

In case it helps, this is how the download window appears as of today, with no option to choose between codecs:

[ATTACH=JSON]{"data-align":"none","data-size":"custom","data-tempid":"temp_37440_1752402398325_704","height":"469","title":"fsdfsf.jpg","width":"642"}[/ATTACH]

I'm tagging @Wilson.Wang as suggested in the previous thread for further consideration of the issue. Thanks!

0xFeedBeef

your literally says:

[quote]

ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L5
Format settings : CABAC / 6 Ref Frames
Format settings, CABAC : Si
Format settings, Reference frames : 6 frame
[/quote]

which is h.264 :rolleyes:

they clearly re-encoded it with more features (hence L5) and two extra reference frames...

logusum

Ok, then the question becomes: why the competitors are able to download in High@L4 as before, with 8.000 kb/s as the frame rate? Is there a toggle I'm missing, or that could be implemented? Thanks!

0xFeedBeef

Ok, then the question becomes: why the competitors are able to download in High@L4 as before, with 8.000 kb/s as the frame rate? Is there a toggle I'm missing, or that could be implemented? Thanks!
logusum

Don't know what abstract competitors can do what abstract things, but with the latest SF, I was downloading some stuff yesterday, newer stuff was coming through as level 4 at 8Mbps, newer stuff as L5 ~5.5Mbps

logusum

Ok, let me give you another example to properly compare the outputs. This very episode came out today on CR:

Downloaded with StreamFab:

Generale
Complete name                            : I:\StreamFab\Crunchyroll\Toilet-bound Hanako-kun\S02\Toilet-bound Hanako-kun_S02E14_The Near Shore and the Far Shore.mp4
Format                                   : MPEG-4
Format profile                           : Base Media
Codec ID                                 : isom (isom/iso2/avc1/mp41)
File size                                : 801 MiB
Duration                                 : 23min 46s
Overall bit rate                         : 4.710 kb/s
Frame rate                               : 23,976 fps
Collection                               : Toilet-bound Hanako-kun
Season                                   : 2
Track name                               : The Near Shore and the Far Shore
Description                              : “Visit the ancient retainer that exorcises evil.” Nico’s mother, Ibuki, has delivered a new prophecy.
Recorded date                            : winter-2025, summer-2025
Writing application                      : Lavf61.7.100
Cover                                    : Yes
Part_ID                                  : 14

Video
ID                                       : 1
Format                                   : AVC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                           : High@L5
Format settings                          : CABAC / 6 Ref Frames
Format settings, CABAC                   : Si
Format settings, Reference frames        : 6 frame
Codec ID                                 : avc1
Codec ID/Info                            : Advanced Video Coding
Duration                                 : 23min 45s
Bit rate                                 : 4.512 kb/s
Width                                    : 1.920 pixel
Height                                   : 1.080 pixel
Display aspect ratio                     : 16:9
Frame rate mode                          : Variabile
Frame rate                               : 23,976 (24000/1001) fps
Minimum frame rate                       : 23,974 fps
Maximum frame rate                       : 23,981 fps
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0
Bit depth                                : 8 bit
Scan type                                : Progressivo
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.091
Stream size                              : 767 MiB (96%)
Writing library                          : x264 core 164
Encoding settings                        : cabac=1 / ref=6 / deblock=1:1:1 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=hex / subme=7 / psy=1 / psy_rd=0.40:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=12 / lookahead_threads=2 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=96 / keyint_min=24 / scenecut=5 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=96 / rc=crf / mbtree=1 / crf=15.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=69 / qpstep=4 / vbv_maxrate=8000 / vbv_bufsize=32000 / crf_max=0.0 / nal_hrd=none / filler=0 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:0.60
Language                                 : Inglese
Color range                              : Limited
Color primaries                          : BT.709
Transfer characteristics                 : BT.709
Matrix coefficients                      : BT.709
Casella configurazione codec             : avcC

Audio
ID                                       : 3
Format                                   : AAC LC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Audio Codec Low Complexity
Codec ID                                 : mp4a-40-2
Duration                                 : 23min 46s
Bit rate mode                            : Costante
Bit rate                                 : 192 kb/s
Channel(s)                               : 2 canali
Channel layout                           : L R
Sampling rate                            : 48,0 KHz
Frame rate                               : 46,875 fps (1024 SPF)
Compression mode                         : Con perdita
Stream size                              : 32,6 MiB (4%)
Title                                    : 日本語
Language                                 : Giapponese
Default                                  : Si
Alternate group                          : 1

Downloaded (and posted) elsewhere, but with the exact same source:

Generale
Complete name                            : I:\StreamFab\Crunchyroll\Toilet.bound.Hanako.kun.S02E14.The.Near.Shore.and.the.Far.Shore.1080p.CR.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-OTHER.mkv
Format                                   : Matroska
Format version                           : Version 4
File size                                : 1,36 GiB
Duration                                 : 23min 46s
Overall bit rate                         : 8.189 kb/s
Frame rate                               : 23,976 fps
Writing application                      : mkvmerge v92.0 ('Everglow') 64-bit
Writing library                          : libebml v1.4.5 + libmatroska v1.7.1

Video
ID                                       : 1
Format                                   : AVC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                           : High@L4
Format settings                          : CABAC / 4 Ref Frames
Format settings, CABAC                   : Si
Format settings, Reference frames        : 4 frame
Codec ID                                 : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration                                 : 23min 45s
Bit rate                                 : 8.000 kb/s
Width                                    : 1.920 pixel
Height                                   : 1.080 pixel
Display aspect ratio                     : 16:9
Frame rate mode                          : Costante
Frame rate                               : 23,976 (24000/1001) fps
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0
Bit depth                                : 8 bit
Scan type                                : Progressivo
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.161
Stream size                              : 1,32 GiB (97%)
Writing library                          : x264 core 164
Encoding settings                        : cabac=1 / ref=4 / deblock=1:1:1 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=hex / subme=8 / psy=1 / psy_rd=0.40:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=2 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=12 / lookahead_threads=2 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=96 / keyint_min=48 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=48 / rc=2pass / mbtree=1 / bitrate=8000 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=69 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / vbv_maxrate=12000 / vbv_bufsize=18000 / nal_hrd=none / filler=0 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:0.60
Default                                  : Si
Forced                                   : No
Color range                              : Limited
Color primaries                          : BT.709
Transfer characteristics                 : BT.709
Matrix coefficients                      : BT.709

Audio
ID                                       : 2
Format                                   : AAC LC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Audio Codec Low Complexity
Codec ID                                 : A_AAC-2
Duration                                 : 23min 46s
Bit rate                                 : 192 kb/s
Channel(s)                               : 2 canali
Channel layout                           : L R
Sampling rate                            : 48,0 KHz
Frame rate                               : 46,875 fps (1024 SPF)
Compression mode                         : Con perdita
Stream size                              : 32,6 MiB (2%)
Language                                 : Giapponese
Default                                  : Si
Forced                                   : No

How is this possible?

0xFeedBeef

different region?

I just played it in firefox, and got this as the best option in the manifest:
[code]

[/code]

logusum

I've tried downloading a different language option (since, as far as I remember, CR treats every language as a separate video, or at least that's how it worked some time ago) as well as downloading from a different region using my VPN... No luck whatsoever... Still stuck with High@L5...

0xFeedBeef

don't forget that the higher level of encoding means there are generally far higher picture decode buffer requirements, so you end up saving actual bandwidth because you don't need to re-fill and re-send I frames as often (hence the 6 refs vs 4, for example), so even with the smaller bandwidth reqs, you get better encodes

logusum

Yeah, I see what you mean — the thing is, I have many series already downloaded midway and I’d prefer not to switch quality all of a sudden nor redownload the whole thing.
That’s why I hope someone will have a look at this and implement a toggle for video quality — same as what’s been done with Netflix or Prime.

0xFeedBeef

Yeah, I see what you mean — the thing is, I have many series already downloaded midway and I’d prefer not to switch quality all of a sudden nor redownload the whole thing.
That’s why I hope someone will have a look at this and implement a toggle for video quality — same as what’s been done with Netflix or Prime.
logusum

People need to stop thinking higher bitrate is higher quality, if you want to really compare the quality, at the very least you have to compare QPs for each frame… but look at the actual params of the newly coded video- they set crf=15 which is ridiculous, and they still don’t hit the 8Mbps with L5, cf. previous 2pass encode, most likely the previous encodes just wasted bandwidth unnecessarily and wasted CPU encoding time too (although Sony should just invest in Intel’s Arc and use decent hardware encoding (yes, chances are Sony are reading this forum))

0xFeedBeef

This might help clear a few things up:-

[code]
https://superuser.com/questions/1448982/will-i-get-any-visual-benefit-if-i-use-crf-values-below-17-18-in-x264-ffmpeg
[/code]

0xFeedBeef

FYI, just did a little experiment: downloaded an episode with SF and the same episode with the iOS app on highest quality setting, the sizes are identical and under 1GB (bitrate ~4Mbps), so SF is definitely not short-changing us on quality.

Sebastian001

It's a very simple calculation... 1080p

A bitrate of H.264 8000 is comparable to H.265 3500-4000. So, roughly half... So anything above 4000 in H.265 is actually good quality. Regardless of whether it's variable or constant.

Just to let you know, in Germany, some streaming providers offer H.264 with a mere 2000, which is really bad and looks bad too...

So be happy and download in H.265; you'll save storage space :-)

Of course, they should be able to select what they want in the selection window.

Germania

The op wrote about H265 .. but no info contain HEVC, only AVC with different profiles - see also post #2

Jaynator495

For clarification, crunchy has started serving VBR to non-tv endpoints, and CBR is still available on TV endpoints. Most of the other sources probably comes from my tool which still downloads CBR by default

0xFeedBeef

Yeah, I see what you mean — the thing is, I have many series already downloaded midway and I’d prefer not to switch quality all of a sudden nor redownload the whole thing.
That’s why I hope someone will have a look at this and implement a toggle for video quality — same as what’s been done with Netflix or Prime.
logusum

If you have the same episode at both bitrates, I can tell you what experiment you can run to determine whether the lower-bitrate file is worse without the need for the source stream as reference (referenceless comparison of quality). Helps if you have a good hardware encoder though