[MEncoder-users] x264 codec and bitrates

[Franco Pellegrini]

On Sat, Dec 10, 2011 at 4:13 PM, Franco Pellegrini <frapell at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Thank you Reimar, ok, i will be using the "slow" preset and see what happens...
>
> Regards !
> Franco

Ok, i reencoded the video using the "slow" preset and the "high"
profile... I'm still having the difference in bitrates.

For the original, mediainfo gives me the following information:

Bit rate                                 : 11.3 Mbps
Width                                    : 1 920 pixels
Height                                   : 816 pixels

And for the one after the re-encoding:

Bit rate                                 : 2 553 Kbps
Width                                    : 1 920 pixels
Height                                   : 816 pixels


After reading a bit in [0], seems that 2.5 Mbit/sec is even lower than
"Standard-definition television quality", although, as i mentioned in
my previous emails, I'm unable to tell the difference between original
and the re-encoded one, and both seem pretty high quality to my eye at
least...

So, can someone give me a brief explanation on what the "bit rate"
means, in terms of quality ? what do i loose with lower bitrates ? and
what is gained with higher ?

Thank you in advance.
Franco

[0] - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bit_rate#Video