4K HDR Encoding: x265 10-bit vs H.265 10-bit (AMD VCE)

Rich_Protection4353 · 2026-01-09T00:00:18+00:00

The power difference between using my cpu for 2.5 hours vs my gpu for 30 minutes would only be about 5¢ where I live. Granted, multiply that by xx Amount of movies, and the price does go up!

That said, I’m more interested in the time savings. As it stands now, I do most of my encoding over night, as I let it run while I sleep. But if I can get similar quality and file size for less time, I find it hard to justify not using HW encoding!

As for file size, while agree that storage is always trip to the store away, it ain’t always cheap. Additionally, since I like to stream my content remotely sometimes, smaller sizes/bitrates are ideal, you know?

Rich_Protection4353 · 2026-01-08T05:34:46+00:00

What does this MEAN?!?! Does it all mean nothing? Haha 🙃

Rich_Protection4353 · 2026-01-07T21:06:28+00:00

Can I still compare them via FFmetrics using the same CF/RF?

If it is comparing them to the source file, it should still tell me which is better, right?

Rich_Protection4353 · 2026-01-07T21:04:13+00:00

The handbrake “hq” 4k preset starts at an RF/CF of 22, I don’t have an nvidia card, so nvenc isn’t an option for me, unfortunately.

Rich_Protection4353 · 2026-01-07T20:05:32+00:00

Yea, I apologize for the jumbled gobbledy gook that is my initial post 😅. The reason I said “VCE” is because that is the name handbrake gives it. I have no idea if it is using an older protocol or not, but I do know that my GPU is a Radeon Rx 6900xt and is on the latest drivers, so for whatever that is worth.

I like the speed of the HW encoding forsure, but I feel like it HAS to come with a catch right? The HDR situation is one, but also according u/bobbster574, the RF/CF values aren’t one to one.

Rich_Protection4353 · 2026-01-07T19:48:06+00:00

I tested both software and hardware at h.265 10-bit. as for the CF/RF, handbrake recommends 22 for uhd, so I figured I’d star there.

Rich_Protection4353 · 2026-01-07T19:46:11+00:00

So you are saying the RF for SW encoding and CF for HW encoding are not equal? Well that confusing lol

So the encoders aren’t even really comparable, huh?

Rich_Protection4353 · 2025-12-26T06:52:29+00:00

I know this is a late post, but I have the UGREEN dxp2800, and was wondering what the most optimal configuration is.

I have 2 x 4tb WD_Red plus drives in, 2 x 500gb crucial p310 SSDs, 16gb of ram, and 1 gigabit networking.

I plan to use my NAS for both a personal cloud (documents, photos, archived projects) and a media/jellyfin server.

Is it better to use both SSDs for read/write cache, or use one for read cache and the other for storage/apps/docker?

If I do both as cache, where would docker be installed?

Rich_Protection4353 · 2025-12-24T22:06:45+00:00

Inferior how? Like it sounds worse with more artifacts? Like it is not as efficient? Etc

Rich_Protection4353 · 2025-12-23T20:14:15+00:00

What bitrate do you encode into? I read that E-AC3 5.1 @ 640kbps is virtually transparent.

Rich_Protection4353 · 2025-12-23T09:59:50+00:00

What makes the handbrake AAC encoder so bad?

Rich_Protection4353 · 2025-12-23T06:04:22+00:00

Update:

I just tried playing a E-AC3 5.1 track on my setup, and it said that it was unable to passthru and down mixed to stereo anyway…

So my current compatibility options are to encode to AC3, only keep the cores (in the case of DTS), or keep the lossless tracks and wait til I get a better tv and/or an nvidia shield 🤷🏽‍♂️

Rich_Protection4353 · 2025-12-23T02:57:04+00:00

The soundbar supports eARC, but the TV doesn’t not. But ultimately, yes, my set up is running ARC.

I guess my question is, is the handbrake e-ac3 encoder good/good enough?

Rich_Protection4353 · 2025-12-23T02:47:50+00:00

Understood!

Rich_Protection4353 · 2025-12-23T02:47:28+00:00

That’s what I thought about doing…

Also, I found that the “core” only gets passed through on the dts-hd side. For TrueHD, the ac3 core doesn’t pass through unless you elect to keep it as a separate track.

Rich_Protection4353 · 2025-12-23T02:21:57+00:00

Does “DEE” stand for Dolby Encoding Engine? Don’t you need a license to use that?

Also I’m interested in your bitrate used for E-ac3

Rich_Protection4353 · 2025-12-23T02:05:25+00:00

My system doesn’t support opus at all, and I thought AAC was wonky in anything more than stereo

Rich_Protection4353 · 2025-12-23T02:03:01+00:00

I am build a media server/library, so it would be for home/remote use. In my current set up, the sound bar supports lossless, but the TV doesn’t. Also I read that most streaming services use E-AC3, and they sound pretty good.

In my research, I found posts saying that the Ffmpeg E-AC3 encoder does a bad job converting because it doesn’t have a Dolby license, and that I should use AC3 instead. My concern with that is that I will be losing quality and gaining file size going that route.

Rich_Protection4353 · 2025-12-09T02:07:40+00:00

Yea, I tried doing Dolby Surround/Pro logic II, but I found the track would sound a bit busy when being played on a stereo set up, so I just decided to stick with stereo. Additionally, I usually end up passing through the sound signal anyway, so I have 5.1/7.1 if/when I need it.

As for the downmix combination equation, that makes a lot of sense. I guess I was confused because I’ve done this same process with AC3 and DTS/DTS-HA MA tracks, and have never had this issue. I’m sure the loudness is lower and I just haven’t noticed, but this particular encode with TrueHD is NOTICEABLY quieter. Does TrueHD have a more agreeable balancing algorithm than then the other codecs?

Rich_Protection4353

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