Good bits/(pixel*frame) Value for h264

[twolfe18]

i read somewhere that a good bits/(pixel*frame) value for xvid was between .21 and .29, does this apply to h264?

i would think that it should be a lower value because h264 is a more compressive format than xvid.

also, i think the higer the resolution/bitrate becomes, the lower bits/(pixel*frame) you can get away with, is this true?

post what you guys use for bitrate and resolution for given sources (action movie, or simple video).

[check]

bpp is not a useful measure of quality, because it does not take into account the complexity of the source. Wait for sharktooth to post his long rantexplanation about it if you want more info.

[DarkZell666]

Oh pretty please, why do the same questions get asked over and over again ? I believe it's sticky time for this one.

A quick and dirty answer would be: between 0.05 (for anime, considered to be simple sources) and 0.15 (for movies, which are normal to complex sources).

also, i think the higer the resolution/bitrate becomes, the lower bits/(pixel*frame) you can get away with, is this true?
Absolutely. Sagittaire pointed to some 0.04bpf high-def encodings that were simply rock-ass quality (they were 2.5mbps 1080p trailers IIRC).

[chongy5]

A quick and dirty answer would be: between 0.5 (for anime, considered to be simple sources) and 0.15 (for movies, which are normal to complex sources).

Don't you mean for it to be the other way round - between 0.5 for the normal to complex sources and 0.15 for simple sources?

[DarkZell666]

Ooops I meant 0.05 ! (original post edited :p)

[twolfe18]

so your saying you should really use .15 as an upper range? i dont mean to doubt you, but that sounds pretty low.

to just do a little sample, i went on apple's site, and i checked their values for professionallly encoded trailers, and they ranged from like .13 to .28. the 1080p trailers were much lower than the 720p ones.

is that because it is just a trailer and they can afford to have higher filesizes?

[DarkZell666]

Apple's implementation of H.264 is far from being as efficient as x264. But the values I mentioned are pretty normal I would say.

Other than the values by themselves (h.264 is so much more efficient, I'll remind you), all depends on what sort of quality you're prepared to watch for a given type of source.

I'll also add I usually encode at sub-SD resolutions. Nothing bigger than 640*Y.