[MEncoder-users] Bitrate question

[Reimar Döffinger]

On 1 Apr 2011, at 04:00, larrystotler at netscape.net wrote:
> -----Original Message-----
> 
> From: James Hastings-Trew <jimht at shaw.ca>
> 
>> It won't use more bits than it has to. If those episodes contain a lot of dark scenes,
>> or a lot of scenes with more static content, or blank sky, etc. then they will be smaller.
>> The fads and styles of TV production change... herky jerky constantly moving camera
>> action gives way to more deliberate framing and more considered camera placement.
>> A gritty urban look might get changed to a colour drenched "futuristic" look. Bright 
>> studio lighting gives way to available light or a darker mood. All of these esthetic 
>> changes will have an effect on video compression. 
> 
> So you are saying that if I encode a file at like 4096 bitrate, and it doesn't need it, it will actually use a lower overall bitrate?

That, and unless you use two-pass encoding it can also happen if just the last part is much simpler to encode and similar.