Prestige matrix on HD and SD

[bokonon]

Is the prestige matrix only relevant to HD material, or should it be used for SD as well? I've got quite good at encoding from H.264 streams but I've only just started to encode SD material (a bit backwards i know). Well, all i want to know is can I use similar settings (which got me good results for HD sources) for standard PAL DVD sources?

My typical commandline is this:

--pass 2 --bitrate 1458 --stats ".stats" --level 4.1 --ref 6 --mixed-refs --no-fast-pskip --bframes 3 --b-pyramid --b-rdo --bime --weightb --direct auto --filter -3,-3 --subme 7 --trellis 1 --analyse p8x8,b8x8,i4x4,i8x8 --8x8dct --me umh --threads auto --thread-input --cqmfile "prestige.cfg" --progress --no-psnr --no-ssim --output "output" "input"

Is this going to be alright for PAL DVD material as well? Also, should i be using the Jarod x264 builds that MeGUI downloads or should I be using a patched version?

[nm]

Is the prestige matrix only relevant to HD material, or should it be used for SD as well?
It should only be used if the source is grainy and other tricks (or matrices) aren't sufficient to retain the film grain. This applies to both SD and HD.

[bokonon]

what other "tricks or matrices" can i try instead of prestige?

Heres what i can think of:

-imcrease bitrate
-use deadzone values instead of trellis?

Won't prestige matrix improve most encodes with moderate grain in?
How will using a sharpening filter in my avs script affect the prestige matrix?

[nm]

what other "tricks or matrices" can i try instead of prestige?
-Deadzone might be useful, as you said.
-Make sure you use VAQ, and try different strengths.

See: http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=134008

Won't prestige matrix improve most encodes with moderate grain in?
Depends on what you think the improvement is. Prestige will also cause artifacts: http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1041856#post1041856
I'd suggest making your own comparison against some other CQM (like EQM_AVC_HR) and the default quantization.

How will using a sharpening filter in my avs script affect the prestige matrix?
Depends on the filter, but It may enhance grain and noise so that you'll need to increase the encoding bitrate to get the same perceptional quality as without sharpening.

[ToS_Maverick]

a few things i'd suggest:
- deblocking -2,-2
- subme 5 or 6 (you want to use a CQM, why sub7?!)
- be sure to use VAQ at default settings!
- with VAQ you shouldn't need to use a CQM thanks to Dark Shikari's work. CQM's need so much bitrate, i peronally think no CQM + VAQ is far more efficient than CQM + deadzones + ...
- level 3 for SD

[bokonon]

Thanks for your suggestions

a few things i'd suggest:
- deblocking -2,-2
- subme 5 or 6 (you want to use a CQM, why sub7?!)
- be sure to use VAQ at default settings!
- with VAQ you shouldn't need to use a CQM thanks to Dark Shikari's work. CQM's need so much bitrate, i peronally think no CQM + VAQ is far more efficient than CQM + deadzones + ...
- level 3 for SD

How does using a CQM affect subme settings?


EDIT: is SD only really level 3? I read here that it should be 3.1 http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=972503

[shon3i]

EDIT: is SD only really level 3? I read here that it should be 3.1Level 3, 3.1, 3.2 are for SD, dependly on resolution. For standard SD 480p, 576p level 3 is more safer than level 3.1, but like i said depend on resolution.

[bokonon]

Level 3, 3.1, 3.2 are for SD, dependly on resolution. For standard SD 480p, 576p level 3 is more safer than level 3.1, but like i said depend on resolution.

It'd be nice if someone can confirm this...tried searching but couldn't find an answer. How is level 3 "more safer than level 3.1" for 480p and 576p?

[Atak_Snajpera]

PSP also requires 3.0 level instead of 3.1 (720x480 Main Profile)