BD Rebuilder Beta - Bug Reports Only

[Sharc]

See changes.txt, and a few posts before:
http://forum.doom9.org/showpost.php?p=1783559&postcount=25096

r:Sharpen(0.15)

[Lathe]

See changes.txt, and a few posts before:
http://forum.doom9.org/showpost.php?p=1783559&postcount=25096

r:Sharpen(0.15)

Yeah, I know Bro, but I'm afraid that was to confusing to me. Besides it just said add the 'letter'; it didn't show the exact syntax, or if it did I didn't see it.

So, thanks for not just throwing me the link that I just saw anyway 2 posts ago, but I appreciate you actually including the line of script so I could see how it looks.

I STILL don't know whether I have to add the 'r' to EACH line of code though... So, do I do it like this:

r:Sharpen()
r:deen()
r:Crop()

etc...?

[Sharc]

How about making few quick tests yourself ???
Use one of your short mkv and see what you get in BD-RBs scripts. It takes you few minutes, often faster than posting back and forth.

[jdobbs]

Yeah, I know Bro, but I'm afraid that was to confusing to me. Besides it just said add the 'letter'; it didn't show the exact syntax, or if it did I didn't see it.

So, thanks for not just throwing me the link that I just saw anyway 2 posts ago, but I appreciate you actually including the line of script so I could see how it looks.

I STILL don't know whether I have to add the 'r' to EACH line of code though... So, do I do it like this:

r:Sharpen()
r:deen()
r:Crop()

etc...?You add the prefix to any line to want to clarify -- so you may have one line with an "r:" prefix, another with a "i:r:" prefix, and another with none. The "r:" would be included with any line to which you want it to apply. "r:" just moves where the filter is placed in the AVS file. The fact that they are called prefixes means they go before the filter. But, of course, English isn't everyone's first language -- so I guess I could have made that clearer.

[MrVideo]

BTW, I'm glad you mentioned about AVS script running BEFORE the IVTC! I did not know this because sometimes I want to add filters, but I want to do it AFTER the IVTC is done.
Technically the IVTC procedure is part of the AVS script.

But, running filters after the IVTC is a good idea, mainly because there will be less frames to work with and, in theory, won't take as long. It is also possible that a filter could screw with IVTC frame detection.

[jdobbs]

Technically the IVTC procedure is part of the AVS script.

But, running filters after the IVTC is a good idea, mainly because there will be less frames to work with and, in theory, won't take as long. It is also possible that a filter could screw with IVTC frame detection.Exactly. Most of the time you want filters to work on the progressive output, not the telecined source.

[Lathe]

You add the prefix to any line to want to clarify -- so you may have one line with an "r:" prefix, another with a "i:r:" prefix, and another with none. The "r:" would be included with any line to which you want it to apply. "r:" just moves where the filter is placed in the AVS file. The fact that they are called prefixes means they go before the filter. But, of course, English isn't everyone's first language -- so I guess I could have made that clearer.

Thanks JD...

Okay, I will go back and read it VERY carefully; granted, I might have just quickly scanned through it. Maybe it DOES say there specifically to start a script line with the letter first and then a ':' immediately after it and then leave a space and then place your code... :)

But, despite Sharc's snarkiness, I AM glad that he brought this up because I was totally unaware of it...

[Lathe]

July 8th, 2010
- Added an AVS filter editor to the SETUP dialog. This
will allow you to add AVS filters to files. Note that
bug reports WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED when filters are in
use (as errors are almost always caused by the filter
usage). You can add "E:", "F:", "I:", or "P:" as a
prefix to a line added in the filter editor. The
prefixes represent "Extras", "Feature", "Interlaced",
and "Progressive" respectively. When specified, the
prefix will limit that filter to usage only when the
source to be encoded matches the prefix. For example,
if specifying "E:filter1()" the filter "filter1()"
would only be applied to segments that are determined
to be extras. Setting "e:i:filter2()" limits use of
"filter2()" to segments that are extras -- and are
also interlaced.
November 28th, 2011
- Added a new prefix for filter editing. By adding
the "r:" prefix, BD-RB will add the specified
filter after the resizing stage (rather than the
default of before). Note: If using more than one
prefix, the "r:" must be the last in the series. Also:

"a:" filter applies to the audio AVS
"m:" filter applies only to menus

Notes:

1. You can use either Upper or Lower case in the filter prefixes, it doesn't matter...
2. On a series disc, where there are multiple episodes -- don't use "F:" because it will only apply to the largest episode

Yep, you do indeed state it pretty clearly. My humble apologies for not reading it carefully... :rolleyes:

Actually, and I hope I'm not being too impulsive AGAIN, but it appears in your examples above that there is NOT a space between the prefix letter & colon. It looks like it runs together. So, I'm glad you helped me clarify that.

[jdobbs]

Yep, you do indeed state it pretty clearly. My humble apologies for not reading it carefully... :rolleyes:

Actually, and I hope I'm not being too impulsive AGAIN, but it appears in your examples above that there is NOT a space between the prefix letter & colon. It looks like it runs together. So, I'm glad you helped me clarify that.You can't have a space between the letter and the colon. If you do, BD-RB won't recognize it as a prefix, and you'll get an error when you try to encode.

I also think I left one out. You can use "s:" to apply a filter only to secondary video (such as the picture-in-picture commentaries).

[Lathe]

You can't have a space between the letter and the colon. If you do, BD-RB won't recognize it as a prefix, and you'll get an error when you try to encode.

I also think I left one out. You can use "s:" to apply a filter only to secondary video (such as the picture-in-picture commentaries).

I was referring to the space between the colon and the function r: Sharpen() That was my first impression, but according to your examples above, it appears that there is NO space between, so the correct way would be:

r:Sharpen()

[Sharc]

....But, despite Sharc's snarkiness, I AM glad that he brought this up because I was totally unaware of it...
As a non-native English speaker I am always keen to add new words to my limited vocabulary.
So I asked Google Translator for translating "snarkiness" but it didn't find anything. Or did you mean "sharciness"? So, curious as I am, I probed further and eventually found the meaning of "snarky". Point taken, thanks! (Of course, I could also have posted asking you for help ;)).

[Lathe]

As a non-native English speaker I am always keen to add new words to my limited vocabulary.
So I asked Google Translator for translating "snarkiness" but it didn't find anything. Or did you mean "sharciness"? So, curious as I am, I probed further and eventually found the meaning of "snarky". Point taken, thanks! (Of course, I could also have posted asking you for help ;)).

Well, well now... I do believe that there is hope for you yet Sharc...

:D

... Wait a second... it just dawned on me that you are indeed STILL ripping on me you ^@@#*!! B@stard! :devil:

[Sharc]

Well, well now... I do believe that there is hope for you yet Sharc...

:D

... Wait a second... it just dawned on me that you are indeed STILL ripping on me you ^@@#*!! B@stard! :devil:

Darn..., lost again in Google translations .... but I assume it's something positive.....

[jdobbs]

Yeah. He maybe he meant "bestard"!

"best" - of the highest quality, excellence, or standing

suffix "ard" - a suffix forming nouns that denote persons who regularly engage in an activity, or who are characterized in a certain way, as indicated by the stem; now usually pejorative

So he was saying you are a person who regularly engages in an activity of the highest quality. Oh... how it fills my heart.

[Lathe]

Yeah. He maybe he meant "bestard"!

"best" - of the highest quality, excellence, or standing

suffix "ard" - a suffix forming nouns that denote persons who regularly engage in an activity, or who are characterized in a certain way, as indicated by the stem; now usually pejorative

So he was saying you are a person who regularly engages in an activity of the highest quality. Oh... how it fills my heart.

Oh boy... :rolleyes:

[gonca]

Yeah. He maybe he meant "bestard"!

"best" - of the highest quality, excellence, or standing

suffix "ard" - a suffix forming nouns that denote persons who regularly engage in an activity, or who are characterized in a certain way, as indicated by the stem; now usually pejorative

So he was saying you are a person who regularly engages in an activity of the highest quality. Oh... how it fills my heart.

You're good, real good

[jdobbs]

You're good, real goodI was partially familiar with this one... because of the number of times I've been referred to as a "dullard". :)

[Sharc]

Yeah. He maybe he meant "bestard"!

"best" - of the highest quality, excellence, or standing

suffix "ard" - a suffix forming nouns that denote persons who regularly engage in an activity, or who are characterized in a certain way, as indicated by the stem; now usually pejorative

So he was saying you are a person who regularly engages in an activity of the highest quality. Oh... how it fills my heart.
Ahhh..., Thank you jdobbs for enlightening me.
And thank you Lathe for the flowers :D

[Lathe]

Ahhh..., Thank you jdobbs for enlightening me.
And thank you Lathe for the flowers :D

Geez... http://lathe-of-heaven.com/doh.gif

[Peter_A]

Apologies, if these questions have been asked and answered already...

When importing an MKV file and outputting to BD, does BD Rebuilder always re-encode the video stream, or does it only do so if the input stream is non-compliant in some way? I ask, because I have an MKV file that when I convert to BD using tsMuxer, I have issues playing on a standalone player. If I import the same MKV file into BD Rebuilder and convert to BD, I see that BD Rebuilder re-encodes the video (not due to size, since it's much smaller than the chosen output size). So, I'm curious if BD Rebuilder was able to tell that the video was non-compliant in some way or if it just always re-encodes.

Another question, which may be off-topic, but is there an easy way to tell if the video stream in an MKV file is BD-compliant? I've converted many MKVs to BD, without issue, simply using tsMuxer, but I've had issues with a handful of them and am unsure how to tell ahead of time which will be the problem ones. I've viewed the details in MediaInfo, but I'm not sure what the offending properties are (or if they'd show up there at all). They are all 1920x1080(p) and have profile 4.1.

Thanks in advance, for any help that can be provided.

[jdobbs]

It will almost always reencode because there are too many required factors that are too hard to check. The BD "basic" specification is about 1500 pages long. Yes, some obvious factors are checked (things like compliant sizing, acceptable audio parameters, etc.) and they are corrected via information in the PSEUDO folder. Others (like GOP sizes, bitrate restrictions, b-frame limits, etc) aren't checked and would require reencoding to assure they are met.

The best advice is to always reencode when you are planning playback on a BD player. The problem is that some players are very forgiving, and they will play things that aren't even close to compliant -- so the fact that it will play on a certain player isn't a good standard to use. There is no guarantee it will play on another (or even the same player following a firmware upgrade) unless the BD restrictions are met.

But if you are 100% sure that the source is already compliant -- just import and delete the PSEUDO folder from within the generated BD structure and burn.

[Peter_A]

Thanks, jdobbs, for the response and very helpful info. I figured that the answer would be that it's probably best to re-encode to ensure compatibility. I'd rather not alter the original stream if I didn't have to, and since I've only had issues with a small percentage of MKV's, I was hoping that there would be a simple way to determine if a steam is incompatible in advance, rather than after burning to physical media. It appears that there is not a simple way. Then again, to your point, even the ones that "work" may not be totally compliant and just happen to work in my 2 players. Thanks again.

[MrVideo]

They are all 1920x1080(p) and have profile 4.1.
It is strange to have a MKV file with the video set for profile 4.1.

The profile value is just that a value, a label. In a nutshell, a 4.0 file will be less than a certain size, while 4.1 can be larger, i.e., the size used on Blu-rays.

That said, to test the file's playablility on your Blu-ray player is to do just that, play it on your Blu-ray player. But, via a USB thumbdrive. If your player can play standalone files, like MKV, via USB attached devices, or DVD/Blu-ray ROM, then place the video on a thumbdrive and see if the player will play it. If not, the player will normally tell you why. In the cases that I have run across, the file was wrapped incorrectly such that the audio was not correctly stored so that the player will not be handle it. In that case, I just re-wrap it with MKVmerge. That has fixed it every time.

As a side note, when burning the output, as suggested by Jdobbs, it is not really necessary to delete the pseudo directory. Just do not add it to the ImgBurn program. Even if you do, the Blu-ray player will ignore it. You can always add content to a Blu-ray disc that isn't part of the BDMV programming. That way you can put the disc into a computer and the extra material is considered as BD-ROM content. You could store images, PDFs, etc.

[MrVideo]

Then again, to your point, even the ones that "work" may not be totally compliant and just happen to work in my 2 players. Thanks again.

The players that have been released over the past few years have been designed to play all kinds of multimedia. As such, the "guts" are the same, no matter if the source is via USB or physical media. That is why content played via Blu-ray authored content will normally play even when not Blu-ray spec compliant. But, as noted in my above posting, sometimes a file may have other issues that keep the player from playing it, no matter the source.

[jdobbs]

The players that have been released over the past few years have been designed to play all kinds of multimedia. As such, the "guts" are the same, no matter if the source is via USB or physical media. That is why content played via Blu-ray authored content will normally play even when not Blu-ray spec compliant. But, as noted in my above posting, sometimes a file may have other issues that keep the player from playing it, no matter the source.I can tell you that hasn't been my experience. My Sony player, for example, will play almost anything that you have on USB media -- but that same content won't play if burned to a BD structure. That's because there are lots of required interdependence between the M2TS audio/video and the other BD components (CLPI files, MPLS files, etc.) The capability of the internal chipsets can be huge -- but that won't change the requirement to stick to the standard. For example, lots of MKV files have removed the black borders on widescreen sources. That plays fine as an MKV on an USB stick. But in the BD standard there is no code (used in the CLPI and MPLS) that describes that format.

[Lathe]

Thanks, jdobbs, for the response and very helpful info. I figured that the answer would be that it's probably best to re-encode to ensure compatibility. I'd rather not alter the original stream if I didn't have to, and since I've only had issues with a small percentage of MKV's, I was hoping that there would be a simple way to determine if a steam is incompatible in advance, rather than after burning to physical media. It appears that there is not a simple way. Then again, to your point, even the ones that "work" may not be totally compliant and just happen to work in my 2 players. Thanks again.

I do pretty much what you do most of the time, making files playable on my OPPO Blu-ray player (which can be VERY touchy sometimes...) So, I feel your pain about occasional MKV files that mysteriously just don't play either natively or when you place them in a BDMV folder (using TSMuxer, for example)

If you don't already have MediaInfo, I strongly suggest that you get it. It isn't always exactly right, but it will help you examine the MKV files and if you can become more familiar with the x264 settings (which I did until I became blind and sterile, and I STILL don't know much, as Sharc will tell you...) then you can open the MKV file in MediaInfo, choose 'text' in the view drop-down menu, and scroll down under the VIDEO section until you come to the x264 settings that usually start with cabac=1 ref=4, etc.

I know for my OPPO that if the ref or 'B' frames are too high for the resolution or the level (4.1) it won't play. I can fudge it a LITTLE, like get away with maybe ref=5 and B=7 on occasion, but not any higher or it simply will not play as an MKV. And, if you put that kind of file into a BDMV folder using say TSMuxer, the player still won't play it.

So, hopefully that might give you a bit of a start in being able to read these files ahead of time and maybe learn some of the 'acceptable' parameters for Blu-ray.

BUT... as JD said, you are best off with any 'off' MKV files letting BDRB re-encode them so that you KNOW that they will be compliant. It's no biggie really. When I have an MKV file that is pesky but I don't want to lose any real quality, even if the file is small, simply choose an output size slightly smaller than the MKV file size. If you choose a slightly smaller size, and then choose either 'auto' or whatever quality you want at that point, you won't lose any appreciable quality at all AND then the file will be encoded properly when done. And, as far as the audio, you can keep whatever you want.

Hope that helps...

[Ch3vr0n]

@jdobbs speaking of the blu-ray spec, i may have stumbled upon an incompatibility with bdrb and the spec. I needed to use one of the bdrb rebuilt discs in a third party application. Upon starting the job of what it needed to do, it instantly jumped to complete. The problem was in hou bdrb handles removed audio & subs. I know bdrb reassigns removed streams to the first english? or available PID which technically duplicates the same ID. This somehow made the 3rd party app think there was 4+hours of audio track when the video title was only 2.5hrs long. Thus it instantly jumped to complete. The only way the 3rd party would proceed with the job was to remove the HD audio track (which the other ones were reassigned to) and then it would encode just fine.

The solution was relatively simple, Open BDEdit, go to playlist tab, STN section and remove the duplicate entries under Au and PG. Unless i missunderstood the standard each stream identifier must be unique and in ascending order, duplicate entries violate the specification. Is there anything you could perhaps look at that even though the streams are removed, the PID's are properly assigned an ascending ID or am i mistaking?

[Peter_A]

I do pretty much what you do most of the time, making files playable on my OPPO Blu-ray player (which can be VERY touchy sometimes...) So, I feel your pain about occasional MKV files that mysteriously just don't play either natively or when you place them in a BDMV folder (using TSMuxer, for example)

If you don't already have MediaInfo, I strongly suggest that you get it. It isn't always exactly right, but it will help you examine the MKV files and if you can become more familiar with the x264 settings (which I did until I became blind and sterile, and I STILL don't know much, as Sharc will tell you...) then you can open the MKV file in MediaInfo, choose 'text' in the view drop-down menu, and scroll down under the VIDEO section until you come to the x264 settings that usually start with cabac=1 ref=4, etc.

I know for my OPPO that if the ref or 'B' frames are too high for the resolution or the level (4.1) it won't play. I can fudge it a LITTLE, like get away with maybe ref=5 and B=7 on occasion, but not any higher or it simply will not play as an MKV. And, if you put that kind of file into a BDMV folder using say TSMuxer, the player still won't play it.

So, hopefully that might give you a bit of a start in being able to read these files ahead of time and maybe learn some of the 'acceptable' parameters for Blu-ray.

BUT... as JD said, you are best off with any 'off' MKV files letting BDRB re-encode them so that you KNOW that they will be compliant. It's no biggie really. When I have an MKV file that is pesky but I don't want to lose any real quality, even if the file is small, simply choose an output size slightly smaller than the MKV file size. If you choose a slightly smaller size, and then choose either 'auto' or whatever quality you want at that point, you won't lose any appreciable quality at all AND then the file will be encoded properly when done. And, as far as the audio, you can keep whatever you want.

Hope that helps...

Thanks, Lathe. You hit the nail on the head about what I'm trying to do (and determine in advance). Yes, I have been using MediaInfo, but unfortunately, I'm not knowledgeable enough (yet), to determine if any of the reported video data is out of spec. For instance, these 2 below do not work. Does anything jump out as being out of spec, on these? Thanks in advance for any insight.

MKV #1:
Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L4.1
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 4 frames
Codec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration : 1 h 41 min
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 30.0 Mb/s
Maximum bit rate : 38.0 Mb/s
Width : 1 920 pixels
Height : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 23.976 (24000/1001) FPS
Standard : NTSC
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.603
Stream size : 21.2 GiB (97%)
Title : MOVIE_1
Language : English
Default : Yes
Forced : No
Color range : Limited
Color primaries : BT.709
Transfer characteristics : BT.709
Matrix coefficients : BT.709


MKV #2:
Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L4.1
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 2 frames
Codec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration : 1 h 36 min
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 23.0 Mb/s
Width : 1 920 pixels
Height : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 23.976 (24000/1001) FPS
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.462
Stream size : 15.5 GiB (91%)
Title : MOVIE_2
Default : Yes
Forced : No

[MrVideo]

For example, lots of MKV files have removed the black borders on widescreen sources. That plays fine as an MKV on an USB stick. But in the BD standard there is no code (used in the CLPI and MPLS) that describes that format.
Great example. For the project that I am working on, in order to get menus I used the YouTube 1080p promos. Those files also had the letterbox bars removed. My Sansung player played the videos, but stretched them vertically to fill the screen. So, while they violated the spec, the player played them. I did recode them and add back the bars. On the final disc, they won't be there, because hopefully the single item menu will be working.

While it isn't perfect, the idea of doing the USB thumbdrive test is to see if the file won't play period.

[jdobbs]

For most of my personal use now I simply process a disc using ALTERNATE output and play it back via Serviio. It's a great streaming server, and both of my Sony BD players recognize it immediately and play back flawlessly.

[MrVideo]

I get Blu-ray discs not just because of the movie, or TV series, but because of the special features as well. I love how movies are put together.

When it comes to TV show MKV files, I have a QNAP TS-451A NAS that is used to play the video files using Kodi 17 via HDMI thru my amp. It will also play Blu-ray ISO files, but at this time can not handle BDJava menus. It doesn't handle BD-RB menus either. It handles all of the audio formats as well. I do not use it for ISO anyway. I use the Blu-ray player for that.

[Lathe]

Thanks, Lathe. You hit the nail on the head about what I'm trying to do (and determine in advance). Yes, I have been using MediaInfo, but unfortunately, I'm not knowledgeable enough (yet), to determine if any of the reported video data is out of spec. For instance, these 2 below do not work. Does anything jump out as being out of spec, on these? Thanks in advance for any insight.

MKV #1:
Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L4.1
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 4 frames
Codec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration : 1 h 41 min
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 30.0 Mb/s
Maximum bit rate : 38.0 Mb/s
Width : 1 920 pixels
Height : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 23.976 (24000/1001) FPS
Standard : NTSC
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.603
Stream size : 21.2 GiB (97%)
Title : MOVIE_1
Language : English
Default : Yes
Forced : No
Color range : Limited
Color primaries : BT.709
Transfer characteristics : BT.709
Matrix coefficients : BT.709


MKV #2:
Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L4.1
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 2 frames
Codec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration : 1 h 36 min
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 23.0 Mb/s
Width : 1 920 pixels
Height : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 23.976 (24000/1001) FPS
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.462
Stream size : 15.5 GiB (91%)
Title : MOVIE_2
Default : Yes
Forced : No


Unfortunately, it looks like these files have deliberately hidden the x264 settings. From one of my MKV files I'll put the part of MediaInfo below to show you what you need to look for:

: AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L4.1
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 4 frames
Codec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration : 1 h 27 min
Bit rate : 12.8 Mb/s
Width : 1 920 pixels
Height : 1 040 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 1.85:1
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 23.976 (24000/1001) FPS
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.268
Stream size : 7.65 GiB (87%)
Writing library : x264 core 148 r2705 3f5ed56
Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=4 / deblock=1:-3:-3 / analyse=0x3:0x133 / me=umh / subme=10 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.15:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=32 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=2 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=24 / lookahead_threads=4 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=8 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=2 / b_bias=0 / direct=3 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=240 / keyint_min=24 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=60 / rc=2pass / mbtree=1 / bitrate=12846 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=69 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=3:0.70
Default : Yes
Forced : No
Statistics Tags Issue : no_variable_data 1970-01-01 00:00:00 / no_variable_data 2010-02-22 21:41:29
FromStats_BitRate : 12835737
FromStats_Duration : 01:27:12.519000000
FromStats_FrameCount : 125455
FromStats_StreamSize : 8395405052

The part in bold above is what you need to look at. But, on some encodes, people deliberately change the code to hide the x264 settings. I've tried to find other ways to 'read' these files, but to no avail.

This particular one of mine is a pretty run of the mill MKV that a person may 'run across'. You can see the important parts in red. The stream itself is not set up to force Blu-ray compatibility. The ref frames at 4 should be fine for any playback. But, more importantly, there are 8 'B' frames used which is too high to play in a Blu-ray folder (BDMV) however your player MIGHT play the MKV as is. 8 is a little higher than it should be but my OPPO MIGHT play it okay, or it might stutter or choke it completely. I'll hafta play it and see...

Basically though, as I think we've all pretty much stated here, if you are definitely going to play these files in a Blu-ray format or on a hardware player, unless you know fairly thoroughly what you are doing (not that I am one to speak...:rolleyes: ) it is ALWAYS best to use BDRB to re-encode the file as I suggested the way to do it above. That way, you don't lose quality and the resulting file will ALWAYS play as it is supposed to...

[Lathe]

I get Blu-ray discs not just because of the movie, or TV series, but because of the special features as well. I love how movies are put together.

When it comes to TV show MKV files, I have a QNAP TS-451A NAS that is used to play the video files using Kodi 17 via HDMI thru my amp. It will also play Blu-ray ISO files, but at this time can not handle BDJava menus. It doesn't handle BD-RB menus either. It handles all of the audio formats as well. I do not use it for ISO anyway. I use the Blu-ray player for that.

Yes, I also too love the Xtras! I don't go to all the detailed trouble that you do, but usually I will just basically encode the Movie Only onto a Blu-ray and throw the Xtras w/original menus on another DVD. For me personally, that is the simplest. That way, if I want to play the movie, I play the movie. If I want to see the Xtras, I have them with full original menus on another disc.

Or, if I don't have to compress too much, I'll do an entire disc encode, but normally I like to save the space for the film.

[jdobbs]

You don't have to lose the extras. You can add the entire set together and output to MKV in batch mode. The only thing you drop is the menus.

[MrVideo]

I don't go to all the detailed trouble that you do, but usually I will just basically encode the Movie Only onto a Blu-ray and throw the Xtras w/original menus on another DVD.
Samsung will not play Blu-ray authored formats burned to DVD. Unless it is on Blu-ray media, it will not play it. I find that a little stupid, but that is what they decided.

[Sharc]

Samsung will not play Blu-ray authored formats burned to DVD. Unless it is on Blu-ray media, it will not play it. I find that a little stupid, but that is what they decided.
Very much the same with other (and newer) standalones.
Old SONYs were pretty tolerant. This has definitely changed for the worse, for obvious reasons.

[Sharc]

.... Another question, which may be off-topic, but is there an easy way to tell if the video stream in an MKV file is BD-compliant? .....

http://forum.doom9.org/showpost.php?p=1399419&postcount=1

or draw your conclusions from the info you find here:
https://sites.google.com/site/x264bluray/

Not sure what you mean by "easy way", but check this against the MediaInfo (or similar) report.
Applies for the video part only. Audio etc. must be compliant as well. (And the medium itself .....)
Many reasons for BD-RB to decide to re-encode.

[worknstiff]

@ Lathe; RE: In response to Peter_A,
Unfortunately, it looks like these files have deliberately hidden the x264 settings.
I love mediainfo but then I use exiftool(-k) to get a second opinion on any troublesome files. Its a free open source file info reader that handles just about any type of media file and really gets down in the minutiae of file info. Check it out Peter_A,
(http://owl.phy.queensu.ca/~phil/exiftool/)

One of it's features is •Decodes a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma, lol.

[jdobbs]

Very much the same with other (and newer) standalones.
Old SONYs were pretty tolerant. This has definitely changed for the worse, for obvious reasons.You'll find that as long as you output in movie-only mode they will play even on Samsung (I have a Samsung player also). Full backups not so much. But with BD discs as cheap as they are these days, it's really not much cost savings to go to BD-5/9 anymore.

[Sharc]

You'll find that as long as you output in movie-only mode they will play even on Samsung (I have a Samsung player also). Full backups not so much. But with BD discs as cheap as they are these days, it's really not much cost savings to go to BD-5/9 anymore.
Yes, you are right. It's only those "ancient" BD5/9 with a menu which fail on my Samsung and LG. Easy enough to recompile these on BD25, or stream the .m2ts via NAS (or Serviio) to the TV.

[jdobbs]

It's likely I could make Quick-Play menus work on BD-5/9 simply by changing the version information in some files. But full-backup isn't possible because AVCHD doesn't support BD-J (which is way to common).

[Sharc]

Well, I have some doubts how popular BD5/9 still are since cost of BD25 are the same or even less today.

[MrVideo]

This has definitely changed for the worse, for obvious reasons.
What are the obvious reasons?

[MrVideo]

You'll find that as long as you output in movie-only mode they will play even on Samsung (I have a Samsung player also). Full backups not so much. But with BD discs as cheap as they are these days, it's really not much cost savings to go to BD-5/9 anymore.
IIRC, the DVD was a burn as the result of building an ISO via tsMuxer. The MKV was small enough, so I just used a DVD. It wasn't a movie, but a TV show episode.

I'll have to try it again.

[MrVideo]

Well, I have some doubts how popular BD5/9 still are since cost of BD25 are the same or even less today.
I never made BD5/9 full backups. Bitrate to low for me. It has always been BD25 media for me.

[DoctorM]

It's likely I could make Quick-Play menus work on BD-5/9 simply by changing the version information in some files. But full-backup isn't possible because AVCHD doesn't support BD-J (which is way to common).

Currently BD5/9 Quick-Play menus work if you load the final disc into MultiAVCHD in 'Blu-ray re-author mode' and then just output it again as an AVCHD Disc (regular or strict seems to make no difference).

The only other thing to remember is in BD-Rebuilder, uncheck "Keep DTS Audio". BD5/9 with Quick-Play bypasses whatever check prevents DTS from being put on movie-only DVD sized discs.

I've been doing this with bonus features for awhile for my old Sony standalone with no issues. (I then burn the movie-only to a BD-25 and put it in a double disc case.)

[Sharc]

What are the obvious reasons?
"Obvious" is perhaps not the correct expression.
I have slight doubts that player/chip manufacturers were only driven by cost optimization to reduce the playback capabilities of their players. Making players most picky can mean extra efforts, perhaps more efforts than being more tolerant to accepting certain deviations from the standard.

[Lathe]

Samsung will not play Blu-ray authored formats burned to DVD. Unless it is on Blu-ray media, it will not play it. I find that a little stupid, but that is what they decided.

Geez Bro, that's a shame. At least my (pretty old) OPPO does do that...

[Lathe]

Currently BD5/9 Quick-Play menus work if you load the final disc into MultiAVCHD in 'Blu-ray re-author mode' and then just output it again as an AVCHD Disc (regular or strict seems to make no difference).

The only other thing to remember is in BD-Rebuilder, uncheck "Keep DTS Audio". BD5/9 with Quick-Play bypasses whatever check prevents DTS from being put on movie-only DVD sized discs.

I've been doing this with bonus features for awhile for my old Sony standalone with no issues. (I then burn the movie-only to a BD-25 and put it in a double disc case.)

Yep, that is pretty much what I generally do too when the full disc size surpasses what I feel I want to compress. That is one thing that I REALLY love about BDRB is it is SO dang easy and fast to throw the Xtras onto a DVD (or another Blu-ray if they are extensive and I don't feel like waiting a couple of hours to reduce them) I USED to do that and then I realized that a Blu-ray disc only cost me about 30 cents more than a DVD and then I looked at myself in the mirror and saw how stupid I was... :cool:

[MrVideo]

Geez Bro, that's a shame. At least my (pretty old) OPPO does do that...
Why a shame? The disc wasn't for me. When it wouldn't work for me, I just put the file on a DVD-ROM. That way I knew the person would be able to play it.