Handbrake settings for SD and HD?

Thats not a question with an easy answer, as it depends on your source file and what quality you are looking for now and in the future.

checkout the forums at http://forum.handbrake.fr/

At a real basic level, your going to have a job getting a file look good on both SD and HD TV's due to there aspect ratio.

Smileyboy said:

My source is straight off the DVD. I just picked the tv preset. I guess in a few weeks when I get my HDtv i'll see how the look. For now they look great.

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The AppleTV preset is a very good place to start.

NightStorm said:

The AppleTV preset is a very good place to start.

Click to expand...

I also wonder if the Apple TV preset can retain the 720p when converting from the DVD although I didn't see any degrade in my TV. Or is it possible to upscale it?

digitalmac said:

I also wonder if the Apple TV preset can retain the 720p when converting from the DVD although I didn't see any degrade in my TV. Or is it possible to upscale it?

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DVDs aren't 720p though; they are 480p. Upscaling at the encode wouldn't make much sense as all you would do is increase the filesize for no more (likely less) benefit than you already get from your TV's built-in upscaler.