x264 BD compliant "perfect" settings

[DoomBot]

So did we decide on a different script or settings to be used for encoding?

[Chewtobacca]

Andrea, the settings that I worked out for you were aimed at 1080p encodings.  The settings that we discussed also help to ensure compatibility generally.  What you posted was an example that I sent you.  (I still recommend closing GOPs.)

While it is true that there is no need to specify things that are default settings, I keep the commands that I have used in past encodings stored in a text-file so I can quickly tweak existing ones to make new ones; therefore, I specify certain things so that I can see what I am tweaking at a glance and thereby avoid oversights.  It is also doesn't hurt (when giving an example) to spell out things so that others can see that they are what they will have to take into consideration in future.

This site is good.  It has examples of how to handle various content.

Problems with software players are not really the concern of someone who is encoding a BD.  There might be all sorts of reasons why people might have such problems.  Ultimately, BDs are meant to be played in BD players, so people should make sure they stay in spec when encoding discs that they plan to release, but that should be the only consideration when it comes to playback.

[spoRv]

As you can see in the link you posted (that I also discovered some time ago) there is the open gop command, so I would try this to see if the compatibility with standalone players will improve - I strongly hope so.

And I agree 100% about long command list; if some are implied, they help to remember which commands are used, and are harmless for the final encoding... this is one of the few times I do not follow the "less is more" philosophy, something like an exception to the rule!

[Chewtobacca]

As you can see in the link you posted (that I also discovered some time ago) there is the open gop command, so I would try this to see if the compatibility with standalone players will improve

It won't. Trust me that it's the other way round.

[Valeyard]

Well I'd be interested to know what is causing the seeking problem for some people, because the problem doesn't seem to be MPC - it handles any file I give it.

The recommended settings here: http://www.x264bluray.com/ all list open-gop and there's no mention of incompatibility at the hardware player level (just with Adobe Encore CS5).

By the way I just checked and MP4Box does support open-gop because it's defined in ISO/IEC 14496-12:2012 which is the standard that defines MPEG-4 Part 14 (formally defined by ISO/IEC 14496-14:2010 which didn't support open GOPs). Of course that doesn't translate to compatibility with programs written before 2012, so it's entirely possible that in a .MP4 container file there will be issues playing back the file, particularly on stand-alone players. But it's also true that all standalone blu-ray players (and the majority of TVs etc) should at the very least support .M2TS, and most support .MKV. Although there will be constrictions to what can be played back, open-gop shouldn't cause an issue that say other encoding settings might cause, maxing out on the reference frames for instance.

[Chewtobacca]

One measure that is taken to make discs play on fussier, older players (especially Panasonic ones) is to close GOPs, regardless of what is written at x264bluray.com. Open GOPs are no problem for the vast majority of players, but closing them sometimes help to ensure that a disc plays; it ought not to be like that, but it is. As there is no real quality loss, closing GOPs is a good idea, but we are all free to do as we please.

[spoRv]

Indeed, even if there were some compatibility problems with.closed gop and standalone players, many of them played the discs flawlessly... so, the problem should lie somewhere else!

[Valeyard]

One measure that is taken to make discs play on fussier, older players (especially Panasonic ones) is to close GOPs, regardless of what is written at x264bluray.com. Open GOPs are no problem for the vast majority of players, but closing them sometimes help to ensure that a disc plays; it ought not to be like that, but it is. As there is no real quality loss, closing GOPs is a good idea, but we are all free to do as we please.

Why would it be a problem for any players? Open-GOP is the default setting on the Mainconcept encoder isn't it? It's a setting available on Sirius Pixels AVC encoder (widely considered to be the best AVC encoder in the world for Blurays), and open-gop is even legal for DVD-compliant MPEG2 video as well. Note that the Sirius Pixels AVC encoder only encodes to bluray legal settings.

[Chewtobacca]

Being legal (in spec) and being playable on a given player (compatibility) are not the same thing (though the former helps with the latter). I never claimed that open GOPs were out of spec for BD. There are players that will play all sorts of out-of-spec content that they ought not to play, and there are players that will not play in-spec content that they should play.

Why is this the case? I haven't the faintest idea. Is it the case? Yes.

Andrea's asked me what I do, and I've given him my answer. He's asked for other opinions, and you've given him yours. That's all there is there is to it, and I have no intention of wasting my time by arguing with you about it.

[Valeyard]

I'm not trying to argue, I'm simply pointing out that industry encoders use the option too - not just x264. Of course they only care about BD compatibility, they don't care about software compatibility or container format compatibility. If there was player incomparability with open-gop itself then it would affect hundreds of bluray titles if not thousands!

You have to bear in mind that the commercial encoders - especially the really good ones like Sirius Pixels - are vigorously tested for player compatibility so that customers can have peace of mind when they use it. X264 is open-source, and it took many years to achieve correct BD compatibility, but when it did it outperformed the entry-level encoders like Mainconcept (the encoder that it most commonly gets compared with). However, Mainconcept had full BD compatibility from the start.

And of course there can be player issues, one example is the known combination of Dolby TrueHD and seamless branching - however not being able to seek is a far bigger problem than that and would be one that would be catastrophic if it was prevalent.

If there's a player incomparability noticed when a Bluray is authored from a x264 stream with open-gop it's my suggestion that something else is the culprit. There could be a problem with the m2ts file or some other file used in the BD structure. It could be an issue to do with the authoring software. It could be an issue with tsMuxeR. As far as authoring software goes the free and open source programs are very limited and most are no longer updated, so it wouldn't surprise me if they are causing an issue. Even the "entry-level" DoStudio Indie 4.0 costs £1950.