FormatWarCentral.com takes the most popular platforms that have download content and features the current releases by platform for each month. They have releases listed for the Xbox 360 Marketplace, PlayStation video store, Apple TV, and VUDU.
Tags: Apple TV, HD, PlayStation 3, VUDU, Xbox 360Why would you need this:
You might be unhappy with the the video quality of the DVD rips you’re getting from Handbrake. Don’t fret. Almost all the devices you are ripping files for can handle higher bitrates.
How to:
Lets take for example, the Apple TV. When you currently rip a DVD using the built in preset for Apple TV, you’ll notice that the standard average bitrate (kbps) is set to 2,000. What does this mean? It means the compression rating is set to allow only 2,000 kbps of data throughput per second. If you up that rate, there is more data, less compression, hence more quality in the image. The Apple TV can actually handle around 5,000 kpbs, but begins to lock up with any more. In most of my DVD rips for the Apple TV, I usually change the setting to around 4,500 kbps. This is more than twice the quality of the default setting, and provides an image that looks almost indistinguishable from the original DVD.
DVD’s are typically encoded at around 8,000 kbps bitrate. Despite the fact that my Apple TV setting is not quite half that, the quality appears to be just as good. This is due to the type of compression used in the Apple TV. Compression algorithms have become extremely efficient compared to the days of DVD. DVD’s are encoded with MPEG2 compression, and the Apple TV files are encoded with .h264, which is an extremely efficient high quality compression algorithm. As a result you can compress more data into a smaller bitrate.
The second setting we can look at changing would be the 2-pass encoding section. You will want to check mark this setting. Since a VBR (variable bit rate) encoder will vary the bitrate depending on the complexity of the images, it tends to make mistakes from time to time. Handbrake can do two passes to correct for the compression mistakes. The encoder will make a first pass at encoding the video, then start from the top and do it again. When finished, the encoder analyzes the results before finalizing. By using 2 passes and analysis, the encoder is less likely to make a mistake in choosing the appropriate bit rates.
Due to the fact that you are now essentially encoding the disk twice, it will obviously take twice as long, and due to the higher bit rate, more space is required on your hard drive. But you can be assured that high motion scenes in your DVD’s don’t lose any quality due to abrupt motion artifacts.
Take one afternoon, and experiment with the bitrate and your end device. You might find that your PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, or other device can also handle a lot more data than the default settings lead you to believe.
Tags: Apple TV, Handbrake, Mac, OS X, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360