comparison DOCS/xml/en/mencoder.xml @ 15809:c4974449b18c

New codec covered by the encoding guide: XviD

15808:f03a8d54e5f9

</para></listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</sect2>
</sect1>

<sect1 id="menc-feat-telecine">
<title>How to deal with telecine and interlacing within NTSC DVDs</title>

<sect2 id="menc-feat-telecine-intro">
<title>Introduction</title>

15809:c4974449b18c

</para></listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</sect2>
</sect1>

<sect1 id="menc-feat-xvid">
<title>Encoding with the <systemitem class="library">XviD</systemitem>
codec</title>
<para>
 <systemitem class="library">XviD</systemitem> is a free library for
 encoding MPEG-4 ASP video streams.
 Before starting to encode, you need to <link linkend="xvid">
 set up <application>MEncoder</application> to support it</link>.
</para>
<para>
 This guide mainly aims at featuring the same kind of information
 as x264's encoding guide.
 Therefore, please begin by reading
 <link linkend="menc-feat-x264-intro">the first part</link> of that
 guide.
</para>


<sect2 id="menc-feat-xvid-intro">
<title>What options should I use to get the best results?</title>

<para>
 Please begin by reviewing the
 <systemitem class="library">XviD</systemitem> section of
 <application>MPlayer</application>'s man page.
 This section is intended to be a supplement to the man page.
</para>
<para>
 The XviD default settings are already a good tradeoff between
 speed and quality, therefore you can safely stick to them if
 the following section puzzles you.
</para>
</sect2>

<sect2 id="menc-feat-xvid-encoding-options">
<title>Encoding options of <systemitem class="library">XviD</systemitem></title>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para>
 <emphasis role="bold">vhq</emphasis>
  This setting affects the macroblock decision algorithm, where the
  higher the setting, the wiser the decision.
  The default setting may be safely used for every encode, while
  higher settings always help PSNR but are significantly slower.
  Please note that a better PSNR does not necessarily mean
  that the picture will look better, but tells you that it is
  closer to the original.
  Turning it off will noticeably speed up encoding; if speed is
  critical for you, the tradeoff may be worth it.
</para></listitem>

<listitem><para>
 <emphasis role="bold">bvhq</emphasis>
  This does the same job as vhq, but does it on B-frames.
  It has a negligible impact on speed, and slightly improves quality
  (around +0.1dB PSNR).
</para></listitem>

<listitem><para>
 <emphasis role="bold">max_bframes</emphasis>
  A higher number of consecutive allowed B-frames usually improves
  compressibility, although it may also lead to more blocking artifacts.
  The default setting is a good tradeoff between compressibility and
  quality, but you may increase it up to 3 if you are bitrate-starved.
  You may also decrease it to 1 or 0 if you are aiming at perfect
  quality, though in that case you should make sure your
  target bitrate is high enough to ensure that the encoder does not
  have to increase quantizers to reach it.
</para></listitem>

<listitem><para>
 <emphasis role="bold">bf_threshold</emphasis>
  This controls the B-frame sensitivity of the encoder, where a higher
  value leads to more B-frames being used (and vice versa).
  This setting is to be used together with <option>max_bframes</option>;
  if you are bitrate-starved, you should increase both
  <option>max_bframes</option> and <option>bf_threshold</option>,
  while you may increase <option>max_bframes</option> and reduce
  <option>bf_threshold</option> so that the encoder may use more
  B-frames in places that only <emphasis role="bold">really</emphasis>
  need them.
  A low number of <option>max_bframes</option> and a high value of
  <option>bf_threshold</option> is probably not a wise choice as it
  will force the encoder to put B-frames in places that would not
  benefit from them, therefore reducing visual quality.
  However, if you need to be compatible with standalone players that
  only support old DivX profiles (which only supports up to 1
  consecutive B-frame), this would be your only way to
  increase compressibility through using B-frames.
</para></listitem>

<listitem><para>
 <emphasis role="bold">trellis</emphasis>
  Optimizes the quantization process to get an optimal tradeoff
  between PSNR and bitrate, which allows significant bit saving.
  These bits will in return be spent elsewhere on the video,
  raising overall visual quality.
  You should always leave it on as its impact on quality is huge.
  Even if you are looking for speed, do not disable it until you
  have turned down <option>vhq</option> and all other more
  CPU-hungry options to the minimum.
</para></listitem>

<listitem><para>
 <emphasis role="bold">cartoon</emphasis>
  Designed to better encode cartoon content, and has no impact on
  speed as it just tunes the mode decision heuristics for this type
  of content.
</para></listitem>

<listitem><para>
 <emphasis role="bold">me_quality</emphasis>
  This setting is to control the precision of the motion estimation.
  The higher <option>me_quality</option>, the more
  precise the estimation of the original motion will be, and the
  better the resulting clip will capture the original motion.
 </para>
 <para>
  The default setting is best in all cases;
  thus it is not recommended to turn it down unless you are
  really looking for speed, as all the bits saved by a good motion
  estimation would be spent elsewhere, raising overall quality.
  Therefore, do not go any lower than 5, and even that only as a last
  resort.
</para></listitem>

<listitem><para>
 <emphasis role="bold">chroma_me</emphasis>
  Improves motion estimation by also taking the chroma (color)
  information into account, whereas <option>me_quality</option>
  alone only uses luma (grayscale).
  This slows down encoding by 5-10% but improves visual quality
  quite a bit by reducing blocking effects.
  If you are looking for speed, you should disable this option before
  starting to consider reducing <option>me_quality</option>.
</para></listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</sect2>
</sect1>


<sect1 id="menc-feat-telecine">
<title>How to deal with telecine and interlacing within NTSC DVDs</title>

<sect2 id="menc-feat-telecine-intro">
<title>Introduction</title>