Struggling with my x265 settings

[Hostile_18]

Just got up and running now. I am actually getting +80% speed increase from my 9800x3d. Very happy with that.

| 1 | AMD 9800X3D | 1:22 (82s) | Intel i7 Plus 270K | 0:44 (44s) | 1.86× | 86.4%
| 2 | AMD 9800X3D | 1:31 (91s) | Intel i7 Plus 270K | 0:52 (52s) | 1.75× | 75.0%
| 3 | AMD 9800X3D | 1:27 (87s) | Intel i7 Plus 270K | 0:49 (49s) | 1.78× | 77.6%
| 4 | AMD 9800X3D | 1:07 (67s) | Intel i7 Plus 270K | 0:37 (37s) | 1.81× | 81.1%

[RanmaCanada]

Just got up and running now. I am actually getting +80% speed increase from my 9800x3d. Very happy with that.

| 1 | AMD 9800X3D | 1:22 (82s) | Intel i7 Plus 12700K | 0:44 (44s) | 1.86× | 86.4%
| 2 | AMD 9800X3D | 1:31 (91s) | Intel i7 Plus 12700K | 0:52 (52s) | 1.75× | 75.0%
| 3 | AMD 9800X3D | 1:27 (87s) | Intel i7 Plus 12700K | 0:49 (49s) | 1.78× | 77.6%
| 4 | AMD 9800X3D | 1:07 (67s) | Intel i7 Plus 12700K | 0:37 (37s) | 1.81× | 81.1%

To be expected as it has considerably more cores. The Gracemont efficiency cores were basically Skylake cores so with the improvements on Skymount (32% IPC lift over Gracemont) they are now basically Alder Lake cores. The 9800x3d has a multi-core passmark score of 39978 while the 270k Plus has a passmark multi-core score of 68076. A whopping 41% difference. The single thread performance is also superior with the 270k plus at 5011 and the 9800x3d at 4425. And surprise it also uses double the power as the 9800x3d.

[Z2697]

12700k is a different thing and existing since long before 270k, confused?

[Hostile_18]

12700k is a different thing and existing since long before 270k, confused?

Oh crap that's me relying on good old faithful chat gpt for the table lol. I'll correct. It is the new 270k Plus results.

[RanmaCanada]

Oh crap that's me relying on good old faithful chat gpt for the table lol. I'll correct. It is the new 270k Plus results.

Just more proof as to why no one should be using AI..

Stop it, please.

[Hostile_18]

Almost ready to roll out my encodes with my new settings. Using a base of CRF17 as I don't want small encodes i.e Barbie been 5gb, Captain Marvel 3.5gb at CRF 18 etc. I do want to put a cap on it though to make the saving worthwhile on grain heavy films. Can't really decide between (incl audio) 12640, 13640, 14640,15640, 16640kbps.

I'll be encoding 1080p bluray TV and film. The highest values on the lowest gb shows with grain can "only" reduce by about one third if that makes a difference. Storage isn't a concern (100tb) but I do want to make it worthwhile, while preserving a "very good" level of quality (to be fair all bitrates are scoring at least 93 vmaf).

Any recommendations what bit rate cap I should go with? (Currently using double given bit rate as the buffer). Would a CRF of 17 + 12640kbps be bad with it hitting the limit more? Or would it not matter given the bit rate is still relatively high? In testing I saw no issues with any of the bit rates to my eyes.

[Hostile_18]

Ok so I am ready to roll now. I have an automated flow that pretty much handles everything. I am using CRF18 (no cap), with a fallback to CRF19 if a encode ends up being bigger than source. This may be obvious to most but just in case anyone doesn't know when I was experimenting with a cap, at the same bit rate, it doesn't allocate to scenes as well as it does unrestricted. It led to visual artifacts, although it was quite a small compromise given the quality to file size ratio. Also AQ2 though its scores higher with VMAF testing, isn't as good as AQ1 IMO. I had some clean content (smooth walls) in Beau is Afraid and AQ2 literally halved the bit rate, I guess because it thought it didn't need any more, but on visual inspection it too introduced artifacts.

So this is my 1080p Remux encode;

libx265 -pix_fmt yuv420p10le -crf 18 -preset slow -x265-params aq-mode=1:no-open-gop=1:high-tier=1:level-idc=4.1:bframes=6:subme=4:rc-lookahead=120:pbratio=1.25:ctu=32:merange=57:deblock=-3,-3:no-sao=1

Can anyone advise what a comparable 2160p encode would look like? I know enough to change CTU to 64, but not too much more. What profile level, what CRF is the 2160p equivalent? Do I need to do anything different for files that have both Dolby Vision and HDR10+ etc? :)

PS thank you so much, everyone that's helped, I've learned so much over the last few months.

[GeoffreyA]

With reference to the cap, rather set the IDC level, as you did; 4.1 puts quite a high cap of 50 Mbps. You'll notice that even with relatively low average bitrates, peak bitrate can shoot up into the tens of megabits for a frame or two.

[Hostile_18]

With reference to the cap, rather set the IDC level, as you did; 4.1 puts quite a high cap of 50 Mbps. You'll notice that even with relatively low average bitrates, peak bitrate can shoot up into the tens of megabits for a frame or two.

Good to know, thanks.

Does this look good for my 2160p string? (to match a similar quality to my 1080p one) :)

libx265 -pix_fmt yuv420p10le -crf 18 -preset slow -x265-params aq-mode=1:no-open-gop=1:high-tier=1:level-idc=5.1:bframes=6:subme=4:rc-lookahead=120:pbratio=1.25:ctu=64:merange=57:deblock=-3,-3:no-sao=1:hdr10=1:hdr10-opt=1:repeat-headers=1:aud=1:colorprim=bt2020:colormatrix=bt2020nc:transfer=smpte2084

[GeoffreyA]

To be honest, I don't have experience encoding BT.2020 content, so will let other forum members give the definitive answer. You might be able to raise the CRF further since the resolution is 2160p.

[Blue_MiSfit]

ctu 64 is the default on veryfast and anything slower so you can just omit that setting entirely :)

Such strong negative deblock values are not in line with what I've seen elsewhere and I typically keep the defaults.

As always, set CRF to your preference.

[Hostile_18]

My encoding is going very well thank you all. I have processed 500 films! Sticking with 1080p at the moment, but we shall see in the future.

Now I have moved on to my TV shows I am just wondering how to handle the odd 1080i content? Do I need to add or modify anything to my string or can I process the same as I have been doing? Also is there an easy way to identify 1080i content? I think it's just a few odd British TV shows.

libx265 -pix_fmt yuv420p10le -crf 18 -preset slow -x265-params aq-mode=1:no-open-gop=1:high-tier=1:level-idc=4.1:bframes=6:subme=4:rc-lookahead=120:pbratio=1.25:ctu=32:merange=57:deblock=-3,-3:no-sao=1

[GeoffreyA]

500 films! Impressive.

Since May, I've made it through only 13, having finalised my settings (until next time), and ended up using different codecs depending on the film:

Blade Runner: x265
Blade Runner 2049: x265
Cube: SVT-AV1-HDR
Dune: x264
Dune Part Two: x264
Interstellar: x264
Last Night in Soho: SVT-AV1-HDR
Lost Highway: x265
Mr. Nobody: SVT-AV1-HDR
Mulholland Drive: x264
The Cell: SVT-AV1-HDR
The Matrix: x264
The Substance: x264

SVT-AV1-HDR's tune=0 worked very well, and I considered it almost as "safe" as x264.

[Columbo]

500 films! Impressive. For sure! I once started a project to clean up and reencode every episode of Rocky and Bullwinkle. I ran out of energy to complete the job. :(

[Z2697]

My encoding is going very well thank you all. I have processed 500 films! Sticking with 1080p at the moment, but we shall see in the future.

Now I have moved on to my TV shows I am just wondering how to handle the odd 1080i content? Do I need to add or modify anything to my string or can I process the same as I have been doing? Also is there an easy way to identify 1080i content? I think it's just a few odd British TV shows.

libx265 -pix_fmt yuv420p10le -crf 18 -preset slow -x265-params aq-mode=1:no-open-gop=1:high-tier=1:level-idc=4.1:bframes=6:subme=4:rc-lookahead=120:pbratio=1.25:ctu=32:merange=57:deblock=-3,-3:no-sao=1

Interlacing + x265 is no-no.
Just deinterlace it or... use x264 MBAFF instead.

[GeoffreyA]

For sure! I once started a project to clean up and reencode every episode of Rocky and Bullwinkle. I ran out of energy to complete the job. :(

I'd need a few lifetimes to complete 500. I want to tackle Star Trek: Voyager. Someday...

[Hostile_18]

I'd need a few lifetimes to complete 500. I want to tackle Star Trek: Voyager. Someday...

Thank you all. Well it's all automated with Fileflows. It took a while to setup and a lot of testing but once that is done, everything it processed automatically 24/7. Only have to manually intervene very occasionally.

As for Voyager, I'll send you a PM.

@Z2697 I am not sure how to deinterlace something, but I'll look into it. :)

[excellentswordfight]

My encoding is going very well thank you all. I have processed 500 films! Sticking with 1080p at the moment, but we shall see in the future.

Now I have moved on to my TV shows I am just wondering how to handle the odd 1080i content? Do I need to add or modify anything to my string or can I process the same as I have been doing? Also is there an easy way to identify 1080i content? I think it's just a few odd British TV shows.

libx265 -pix_fmt yuv420p10le -crf 18 -preset slow -x265-params aq-mode=1:no-open-gop=1:high-tier=1:level-idc=4.1:bframes=6:subme=4:rc-lookahead=120:pbratio=1.25:ctu=32:merange=57:deblock=-3,-3:no-sao=1


500 films! Impressive.

Since May, I've made it through only 13, having finalised my settings (until next time), and ended up using different codecs depending on the film:

Blade Runner: x265
Blade Runner 2049: x265
Cube: SVT-AV1-HDR
Dune: x264
Dune Part Two: x264
Interstellar: x264
Last Night in Soho: SVT-AV1-HDR
Lost Highway: x265
Mr. Nobody: SVT-AV1-HDR
Mulholland Drive: x264
The Cell: SVT-AV1-HDR
The Matrix: x264
The Substance: x264

SVT-AV1-HDR's tune=0 worked very well, and I considered it almost as "safe" as x264.
Ive done about 400 titles (300 hd, 100 uhd) since 2022 for my plex server. I do x264 preset slower+custom settings crf16-19 for blurays and x265 preset slow+custom settings crf15-19 for uhd-bluray (I do a complexity pass to judge crf value as i try to stay under 15Mbps for hd and 30Mbps for uhd). AC3 384K for <5.1, AC3 640K for 5.1, EAC3 768K for >5.1 (and/or atmos) with english (non-sdh) srt subtitles, But im pretty much done now, I now have pretty much my dream movie libray on my plex, in a efficent and streamable format.

@Z2697 I am not sure how to deinterlace something, but I'll look into it. :)
If you dont wanna go into a very deep rabit hole, easiest is to just do it with bwdif in ffmpeg, especially if you already use ffmpeg in your workflow.

[Hostile_18]

Thanks!

So I've introduced a Interlaced content check into my work flow. It will test and confirm if it detects 10% of interlaced frames are present. Does this sound right? I can change the percentage of frames to whatever I like.

Once its detected it will deinterlace before encoding takes place. There are four deinterlace methods to select from and I have no idea what to select "Send Frame", "Send Field", "Send Frame No Spatial" and finally "Send Field no Spatial".

Is this process quite destructive to image quality? :)

[Z2697]

Is this process quite destructive to image quality? :)

It depends on the method... you can potentially throw out one half (of already halved) information.
But really, when it's interlaced, the damage is already done.

"Safe" option is send field.

[GeoffreyA]

As for Voyager, I'll send you a PM.


Many thanks.

Ive done about 400 titles (300 hd, 100 uhd) since 2022 for my plex server. I do x264 preset slower+custom settings crf16-19 for blurays and x265 preset slow+custom settings crf15-19 for uhd-bluray (I do a complexity pass to judge crf value as i try to stay under 15Mbps for hd and 30Mbps for uhd). AC3 384K for <5.1, AC3 640K for 5.1, EAC3 768K for >5.1 (and/or atmos) with english (non-sdh) srt subtitles, But im pretty much done now, I now have pretty much my dream movie libray on my plex, in a efficent and streamable format.

Solid work at 400 films. For audio, I use QAAC TVBR109.

[x264N00b]

Now I have moved on to my TV shows I am just wondering how to handle the odd 1080i content? Do I need to add or modify anything to my string or can I process the same as I have been doing? Also is there an easy way to identify 1080i content? I think it's just a few odd British TV shows.

Workflow depents on:
a.) video is nativ interlaced
b.) video is progressive but encoded as interlaced
c.) video is telecine
d.) video is field shifted
e.) weird mix of anything

I dunno how british TV shows are usually broadcasted. Good guide to analyse whether a video is interlaced or not can be found here:
https://forum.selur.net/thread-2183-post-14122.html#pid14122
First advice is to never trust what mediainfo says.

[Z2697]

Workflow depents on:
a.) video is nativ interlaced
b.) video is progressive but encoded as interlaced
c.) video is telecine
d.) video is field shifted
e.) weird mix of anything

I dunno how british TV shows are usually broadcasted. Good guide to analyse whether a video is interlaced or not can be found here:
https://forum.selur.net/thread-2183-post-14122.html#pid14122
First advice is to never trust what mediainfo says.

Interlacing is really an abomination!

[microchip8]

Interlacing is really an abomination!

In these days, yes. And whoever uses it for content is an idiot. But back in the days, it was a necessity. It's pity is has survived until today!

[Z2697]

In these days, yes. And whoever uses it for content is an idiot. But back in the days, it was a necessity. It's pity is has survived until today!

My hot take will be that maybe the interlaced scan is a necessity for CRT (or more like a compromise), but the true-interlaced content is a HACK upon this! :devil:

[x264N00b]

Needed for devices that max. support AVC level 4.1. 1080p50/60 ist not supported then, you can go interlaced or reduce the resolution to 720p or throw away half of the framerate.

[Z2697]

Needed for devices that max. support AVC level 4.1. 1080p50/60 ist not supported then, you can go interlaced or reduce the resolution to 720p or throw away half of the framerate.

The same/better can be achieved by just have 1920x540p...
I would even rather have 1280x720p than 1920x1080i.

Just a rant by someone who's not older than the MPEG-4.

[GeoffreyA]

I think it's the greatest curse in legacy video.