Constant Quality - 20, looks poor

[DustinT]

Constant Quality - 20, looks poor

Basically, I'm using the ATV 2 preset and ripping from a dvd. All in all, I'm not too impressed with the video quality. So, I'm ripping some samples at higher qualities and I was wondering what setting you all prefer for displaying on a 1080 p monitor using an ATV 2.

Thanks!

 

[OptyCT]

I've messed with the quality settings in Handbrake (I'm guessing that you're using HandBrake) and haven't noticed too much of a difference. I've ripped DVD's anywhere from a CQ of 22 to 18 and they, for the most part, look the same to me. The biggest quality problem you'll face is a result of the source (i.e. the DVD). Some DVD movies have a higher picture quality than others. You know, garbage in, garbage out. Using the AppleTV 2 preset, some of your DVD's will rip at 480 resolution, while others will default to resolutions well below 480. In my experience, 480 is perfectly watchable on my 50" 1080p plasma, while lower resolutions are hit and miss. They're still watchable, but you'll notice some picture imperfections.

Recently, I began ripping my blu-ray collection. I use the AppleTV 2 preset with a CQ of 18. I rip to 720p (or the cropped equivalent). As expected, I have seen a huge quality improvement over my DVD rips.

 

[dynaflash]

Having tested a fair number of settings I find that for sd dvd an rf of about 19 is generally transparent visually to the source dvd for the most part.

 

[EmpyreanUK]

I've also been rolling with RF set to 19. I haven't been able to tell the difference between side-by-side tests of the Handbrake file and the original DVD on my laptop screen, and I've been extremely pleased with the results on my ATV2 playing on a 32" LCD screen.

 

[kiranmk2]

You have to remember that viewing a DVD will often look a bit dodgy on a high-res monitor. Firstly because it has to upscale and secondly because you sit much closer to a computer screen than you would a TV. I often think I've got a bad encode, but when comparing to the source, looks exactly the same.

 

[AdrianK]

Yes, 20 is shocking. I input my Cars bluray dump and got a ton of compression artefacts and banding. The resultant bitrate was 1170kbps . Dropped the RF to 17 and it looked pretty much perfect with a bitrate of 3000kbps.

 

[MattG]

I used this as my guide. I've been extremely happy with the results.
http://forums.avistaz.com/index.php?showtopic=19388

Skip to the part that says Encoding with Handbrake. Note that this is shown in a Windows environment, but the same settings still apply...just looks a bit different.

 

[DustinT]

Thanks for the tips. You are all right, DVDs don't look that great when you blow them up to 47", 1080p screens. After reviewing these suggestions I'm dropping from 20 to 18 on my dvd rips and that seems to reduce the artifacts to a point where they are nearly invisible.

Thanks to everyone who posted.