[MEncoder-users] x264 codec and bitrates

[Franco Pellegrini]

Hi everybody, i have a question regarding bitrates. Currently i'm
doing some re-encoding of some videos. I've read [0] and based on
that, i'm using the "Very high quality" example settings found down
there.

The thing is, it outputs videos with really low bitrates, even though
the originals were much higher. This of course creates videos much
smaller in size.

When I test them (they are Full HD 1920 x 1080 videos) in a 40'' HDTV,
I cannot see any inferior quality at all, there's absolutely no
noticeable difference between the higher bitrate and the lower
bitrate.

Further more, I took 20 screenshots of both videos (original with high
bitrate and new one with lower bitrate) at exact positions, and then i
compare them, and they look exactly alike.

So, my question is, shall i keep the low bitrate versions ? what
differences should i be looking between higher bitrates and lower ?
because, if a file size is half of the original, and there's no
noticeable difference, then sounds better, right ?

As you can imagine, i don't have much idea on these subjects, so
further explanation or places to read further about these topics are
highly appreciated.

Thank you in advance,
Franco

[0] - http://www.mplayerhq.hu/DOCS/HTML/en/menc-feat-x264.html