HandBrake AppleTV Hi Profile Setting
Edit: As of HandBrake 0.9.4 you must add weightp=0 to any encode to be used on the AppleTV as weightp will introduce horrible blockiness and artifacts especially during fades. The option string below has been modified accordingly.
So, for some time now I have been using my own custom HandBrake settings when encoding for the AppleTV. I have two eSata modded AppleTV’s and by and large these HandBrake settings have been stellar. They have also been used by other HandBrake testers and fervent users on stock AppleTv’s with much success. So I figured I would post them here now.
Having said that though, I suggest these settings be used with one of the snapshots posted on the HandBrake forums. HandBrake 0.9.3 is almost a year old and the current HandBrake snapshots produce much smaller files with better quality than the older 0.9.3 public release.
1. To start, pick the Apple > AppleTV preset in HandBrake which is built in.
2. Instead of the built in presets constant quality of RF 20, slide the slider up so you get RF 19.25 ( RF goes lower as your quality gets higher, much like in golf ). One word of warning: constant quality is determined based on the source file. 19.25 is proven for SD DVD. Now if you are doing HD sources like say a 720P or 1080p mkv or whatever, then try more like RF 23 or so as 19.25 on HD sources will give you a pretty high bitrate depending on the source file.
3. Click on the Advanced panel and paste this string into the ” Advanced Options String ” textbox at the bottom (note the crappy code box.. gotta work on it but functions just fine):
ref=3:mixed-refs=1:bframes=3:me=hex:subq=7:b-adapt=2:8x8dct=1:weightb=0:trellis=0:weightp=0
Thats about it.
You should find that you’re encodes are smaller, and the quality higher than the built in HandBrake preset.
I’m interested in encoding HD videos in Handbrake compatible for AppleTV. Does the standard AppleTV preset encode my mkv’s to HD? or do you recommend these settings for HD quality? Wouldn’t it better to have 1280×720 in the output too instead of downscaling?
The Built In AppleTV preset downscales to 540p for any hd content because the AppleTV can not do 720p at 30 frames per second and the preset code does not have logic to predetermine your sources fps. If you know your source is 25 fps or less then use 1280 x *whatever the height scales out to* (720 at max depending on the sources aspect ratio).
@dynaflash
Thanks, Do you recommend mixing 1280×720 with your Hi Profile Setting?
Okey thanks.
Is it still good to use your Hi Profile Setting when using 1280×720 ?
Yes, but as it says, raise the rf value for hd sources to 22 – 23.
Are you using 1280×720 for HD? Or do you stick with the default 544 setting?
Like I said before, depends on the source framerate.
Hello,
I’ve been reading several posts and blogs about the use of handbrake 0.9.3 to rip DVD (not Blue Ray) to use into an AppleTv 3.0 And i’m a little bit lost.
I read your suggestion and use it (just increased a little bit the RF slider to 18,5%, it worked fine in some movies, but in others I notice some “jumps” in the image.
Some people say to use your specs but to choose average bitrate and push to 4500 kbps (an original dvd is around 8000) and click on two pass encode, but I just don’t know which is best
I’m not concerned about the size of the file or the time to encode, I just want to have the same quality as my original dvd (which is upscaled to 1080i).
I also tried the Aimersoft Total Media, but it looks weaker then the Handbrake.
And also my own advanced settings using apple tv preset
ref=6:mixedrefs=1:bframes=4:me=umh:subq=8:badapt=2:8x8dct=1:weightb=0:trellis=0:weightp=0:merange=32:no-fast-pskip=1But I think it could be overkill.Can you give some tips for the “ultimate High quality in sound and image” for Apple TV? Please
Thanks a lot
First off HandBrake 0.9.3 is very old and out of date. You really should be on at least 0.9.4 as many of these settings assume the much newer x264 encoding library that comes in 0.9.4.
Anyway … 4500 kbps abr is ridiculously high. Also Constant Quality encoding is far preferable to setting an arbitrary bitrate. I strongly recommend using 0.9.4 and sticking with an rf of 19 or higher.
Sorry, i meant 0.9.4. So should I stick to the apple tv preset (the new one or the legacy? – some forums say that the legacy one achieve better results) add your comand on the advance tab. and set the rf to 19 ( as I understood, no need to set it to 18?) Any need to perform 2 pass?
Use the “new one” Meaning Apple > AppleTV. I would not go to an rf of 18 but feel free if you want. With extensive testing I have never been able to see a visual quality difference between 18 and 19 when played on my atv via a 50″ panasonic tv but get a noticeable jump in file size/ bitrate. Try it and decide for yourself.
Constant Quality does not allow 2 pass. Whatever forum tells you that the old legacy 2500 abr is better … well I can not speak for them but it doesn’t. I wrote and tested the legacy one and the new constant quality preset. Constant Quality is much better than average bitrate. Average bitrate is really only useful if you have a device that has very strict bitrate constraints like say a 5 G iPod. The old legacy average bitrate preset was written right after the atv first came out and we did a public release right away. We used average bitrate to assure the movies would play back fine. Later as much more testing and comparing was done we were able to switch to Constant Quality … which is far superior in my opinon (as well as just about every other handbrake developer and x264 developer).
However, that said like most things its a free world. Do what you wish
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Thanks a lot! I will do that for sure!
Hi it worked great. Thanks a lot. The files are smaller but I can’t detect any difference on my 55” LED. Thanks again
Probably this isn’t the right thread to place this question…
Another issue concerning the HandBrake software that I have is the following:
My purpose in buying the apple tv was to have a digital library of all of my dvd’s (+1200) so that my wife stops nagging me about the space in the living room :S
I have some TV series in dvd, (as you know, one season has several dvd’s, each one with multiple episodes), so:
Is there any way to rip those dvd’s to one big file (such as one file per dvd, or even better one file per season), and each episode would be a chapter or something similar?
As you already noticed it I’m not that strong in what comes to computers… I’ve found some ways to do this, but involves several softwares, and programing that I know that are way over my capabilities… Can you give me some advice about this issue?
Sorry for the constant questions
Thanks a lot
HandBrake is the wrong tool for this. You could preprocess them with a tool like Dvd2OneX but it would be kinda kludgy etc. and way beyond the scope of this article in any case. Sorry
Appreciate your help, I’ll check on that. What do you mean “kinda kludgy” (my english is almost as bad as my knowledge of computers
) Can you tell me an article/forum/thread about this subject worth to look at?
Once again thanks a lot!!!!