BBC iPlayer HQ streaming - x264 equivalent?

[2Bdecided]

There's a relatively new "HQ" streaming option on the BBC iPlayer.

It's 800kbps 640x360 H264.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/bbcinternet/2008/08/bbc_iplayer_goes_h264.html

Like most of the iPlayer, it's only available within the UK, but watching it the image quality is really nice - few artefacts, very sharp picture (as embedded - obviously it's a bit soft full screen, but still great for web video).


Where would I start to achieve similar quality and stay flash/streaming compatible? I've tried AVIdemux and meGUI, but at comparable bitrates my results look softer and have more artefacts, specifically something like 4x4 pixel blocks.

Is it just my source content (obviously not as professional as the BBC's!), x264 vs Mainconcept, or poor choice of settings (I'm starting from the quicktime 2-pass preset in meGUI) that's making my efforts look so much worse?

Obviously I can increase the bitrate to solve the problem, but I want to maintain some reasonable chance of streaming on "most" broadband connections in the UK, and playing on "most" recent-ish machines.

Any help gratefully received!

Cheers,
David.

[Dark Shikari]

Quicktime 2pass preset is going to be pretty awful :p

Flash fully supports all of H.264 High Profile, so you don't need to restrict yourself like that. Try Unrestricted HQ or something like that.

[2Bdecided]

Thank you - that's much better!

Cheers,
David.