x264 encoding in 10bit 4:2:2 for Blu-ray

[TheDock]

Hello everybody,

I am now fighting since weeks to understand if there exist a solution to create a video blu-ray (i.e., playing automatically on every BD-player) containing real 10bit 4:2:2 YUV video (lossy or lossless) at 720x576 25i and 24bit 48kHz audio.

Here is a summary of the capture and encoding process:

1. Capturing uncompressed video (v210: yuv422p10le pixel format) with embedded uncompressed audio (PCM: 48kHz stereo pcm_s24le) and saving it in a QuickTime *.mov container (can also be *.avi with the BlackMagic Decklink card). This is done with the software provided directly by the capture KONA LHe Plus card manufacturer AJA.
2. Extracting the audio with ffmpeg and saving it as *.wav in pcm_s24le format.
3. Extracting and compressing the video with x264 (10bit clear version compiled by Komisar)
4. Merging the compressed video (*.264) and the uncompressed audio (*.wav) into a Matroska (*.mkv) container with mkvmerge.
5. Muxing the created Matroska container in step 4 to create a video BD *.iso file with tsMuxeR.
6. Burning the *.iso file created in step 5 to a BD-RE with Nero2015 and playing it on a Sony BDP-S360 blu-ray player.

I have observed the following:
-The PCM audio is always played fine on the blu-ray player at 24bit 48kHz stereo is fine: no issues observed
-The Matroska container (audio+video) is always fine (I use VLC to play it): no issues observed

Now, coming to the issue with the video:

• Encoding with x264-8bit in 4:2:0: fine with crf between 16-18
• Encoding with x264-10bit in 4:2:0: fine with crf between 16-18
• Encoding with x264-10bit in 4:2:0: localized colorfull artefacts with crf below 7
• Encoding with x264-10bit in 4:2:2: absolutely impossible to get a picture (I can just observe very big black and white structures in boxes: same observation when not playing on my BDP-S360 but on my PC by using Cyberlink software player)

I have tested more or less all the setting combinations (vbr / vbv / buffer sizes and rate / cbr) given on the page
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=154533 I have no more ideas how to continue.

Now my questions are:

1. Is it possible to make video blu-ray discs using 4:2:2 encodings (it seems to be accepted in the Profile High422)?
2. Is it possible to make video blu-ray discs with lossless compression (it seems to be accepted in the Profile High444)?
3. Which are the settings that could help me to reach this?
4. Which settings should I use to get the compatibility with all the BD-players but preserving the highest possible source quality (please, do not argue with "it is not needed": this is not the question)?

Finally, here is the command line I use for the video compression:

"..\x264\x264.2525.10bit.x86_64_clear.exe" --demuxer lavf --output-csp i422 --tune film --preset medium --bluray-compat --crf 16 --nal-hrd vbr --vbv-maxrate 30000 --vbv-bufsize 30000 --vbv-init 0.2 --keyint 25 --open-gop --aud --cabac --b-pyramid strict --bframes 3 --ref 6 --slices 4 --weightp 0 --partitions p8x8,b8x8,i8x8,i4x4 --aq-mode 1 --aq-strength 1.0 --deblock -1:2 --b-adapt 2 --videoformat pal --colorprim "bt470bg" --transfer "bt470bg" --colormatrix "bt470bg" --input-res 720x576 --input-depth 10 --sar 12:11 --tff --force-cfr --fps 25/1 --output "..\2_Files_Intermediate\output.264" "..\2_Files_Intermediate\input.avi"

Here is the output log:

###############################
# Processing video [*.264]... #
###############################


lavf [info]: 720x576p 0:1 @ 25/1 fps (cfr)
resize [warning]: converting from yuv422p10le to yuv422p16le
x264 [info]: using SAR=12/11
x264 [info]: using cpu capabilities: MMX2 SSE2Fast SSSE3 SSE4.2
x264 [info]: profile High 4:2:2, level 3.1, 4:2:2 10-bit
x264 [info]: frame I:36    Avg QP:27.24  size: 87812
x264 [info]: frame P:195   Avg QP:30.38  size: 52626
x264 [info]: frame B:525   Avg QP:32.45  size: 27552
x264 [info]: consecutive B-frames:  3.3%  6.1% 18.7% 72.0%
x264 [info]: mb I  I16..4:  3.4% 71.6% 25.0%
x264 [info]: mb P  I16..4:  3.3% 29.5%  7.1%  P16..4: 20.5% 26.7% 12.8%  0.0%  0.0%    skip: 0.0%
x264 [info]: mb B  I16..4:  0.8%  4.1%  0.6%  B16..8: 37.3% 18.3%  4.8%  direct:31.7%  skip: 2.4%  L0:24.8% L1:28.7% BI:46.5%
x264 [info]: field mbs: intra: 56.9% inter:51.1% skip:13.0%
x264 [info]: 8x8 transform intra:73.7% inter:66.8%
x264 [info]: coded y,uvDC,uvAC intra: 89.1% 100.0% 99.2% inter: 64.3% 97.5% 60.6%
x264 [info]: i16 v,h,dc,p:  3% 85%  4%  8%
x264 [info]: i8 v,h,dc,ddl,ddr,vr,hd,vl,hu: 10% 29% 18%  4%  6%  5% 10%  5% 14%
x264 [info]: i4 v,h,dc,ddl,ddr,vr,hd,vl,hu: 10% 40% 10%  4%  7%  5% 10%  4% 11%
x264 [info]: i8c dc,h,v,p: 41% 39%  7% 14%
x264 [info]: ref P L0: 62.1% 23.6%  7.0%  3.7%  1.4%  1.0%  0.7%  0.4%  0.0%  0.0%
x264 [info]: ref B L0: 79.5% 19.6%  0.5%  0.3%
x264 [info]: ref B L1: 78.1% 20.5%  0.9%  0.5%
x264 [info]: kb/s:7377.82

encoded 756 frames, 39.77 fps, 7377.82 kb/s

Thanks in advance for your suggestions and help.

Best regards

TheDock