Eureka S05E03 HDTV x264-ASAP

over 100mb too big isn't it? and it's not like the quality is better than the average x264, seems to be worse
quality.

considering x264 rules has no size limits it can't actually be too big. they only define a quality settings
(like bitrate).
although i have found eureka's been weird this season. the quality on the xvid rips for this have been
horrid this season and the x264 rips are about normal but much larger then most other shows.

so either everyone ripping eureka this season is doing it while high or perhaps it has far more action
scenes in it making it hard to produce high quality files in a low file size.

um ok, whatever.. xvid shows at 350mb look pretty good, ever since the switch to x264 those same
shows either stayed the same size or dropped to near 250mb and their quality actually went up.

with this episode the size is a lot bigger and the quality is actually lower than 350mb xvid episodes where.

episode 1 and 2 of this season i watched where xvid, this might be the first x264 non 720p i've watched of
erueka unless there where x264 non 720p of other season but i think they where all xvid.

look at person of interest for example, it's size went down a lot and i think the quality is the same or better,
and that show has a lot more motion the eureka usually does i think.

i am not crying about it tho i am just saying.

i watched the xvid for eureka this season and the quality was shit (i'm talking exclusively about the
eureka xvids this season, not all xvids). if you check comments on those
releases i'm not the only person who thinks so. i'm well aware x264 files are usually smaller. all i'm
saying is something is going on with eureka this season. the over all quality of the rips is poor for
eureka specifically and i don't know why.

also the quality on this episode is not lower then the xvids. it's leaps and bounds better then the crap
they've released with the last two xvid releases. although it may not be quite as good as the normal
x264 releases.

the comment about motion was really just a guess, i don't really think it's the issue. all i know is the
eureka releases this season are messed up.

why is this x264 - 42 minutes hdtv show 100-200 mb larger than other x264 - 42 minute hdtv
shows? i don't know the answer but i bet if we take a look at the basic video specs we will find the
answer.

let's take a look at some recent shows and see what the differences are....

harrys.law.s02e19.hdtv - 240 mb - 720x404 - 43 minutes - 23.97 fps - avg bitrate 650
the.good.wife.s03e22.hdtv - 286 mb - 720x404 - 43 minutes - 23.97 fps - avg bitrate 792
fringe.s04e19.hdtv - 303 mb - 720x404 - 42 minutes - 23.97 fps - avg bitrate 842
survivor.s24e11.hdtv - 345 mb - 720x404 - 42 minutes - 29.97 fps - avg bitrate 999
eureka.s05e03.hdtv - 476 mb - 720x404 - 42 minutes - 23.97 fps - avg bitrate 1381

ding! ding! ding! we have a winner! as the file size increased so did the average bitrate.

higher bitrates are directly related to higher video quality...whether or not you are able to see the
diffdrence on your particular setup with your pair of eyes. i see the difference and so do the experts
and professionals. on the other hand, most of the time i'm fine with a slightly lower bitrate and smaller
file size (200-350 mb) because most shows i only watch once, on a 25" screen, then delete. if i plan to
archive or watch on a 42" screen then i consider downloading the higher quality and larger file size
720p versions.

x264 kicks ass over xvid in quality and size. this is not open to debate, it is fact!
if you attempted to match the quality of this x264 464 mb version using the xvid codec the resulting file
could be like 700 mb, mabe even more.

if you want to know more about bitrates, fps, resolution, sizes, video codecs, yadda yadda, jfgi
http://justfuckinggoogleit.com/

p.s. this is my guesswork, i am not a pro at this, i just look at what's in front of me and take a stab at
it. if someone has a better explanation please feel free to jump in.

[amendment] i've been googling and reading. yikes! there's so much more involved. crf, bitrates,
source noisy vs clean, amount of motion vs still scenes (less motion equals larger file size?) , crf will
allocate bitrate according to the complexity of the video. my previous explanation is still pretty good as
a condensed simpler explanation. i now have a headache. lol. off to bed.

what tool did you use for displaying avg bitrate? in players that i have, it just seems to show the current bitrate, so the
figure is jumping all over the place.

i cant believe people got so much time to rant about bitrate this much, i cant believe i took the time to write
about it

it was an answer to another member's question...not so much a rant. excuse me for trying to be helpful.
dramonicous, be grateful there are people with time on there hands...they are the people who learned
how to encode, and are providing you with the shows you watch everyday. how do i politely say stfu?

@rseiler -- i used and old app someone suggested in a post, "gspot". http://www.headbands.com/gspot/
there may be other/better easier to use tools/utilities out there. one of these days i'll take a look.

i don't know all that much about encoding.. but i do know this won't play in 3 different players on
my pc.

your issue is with your media player, not the file formats. go to your media player's website and
update your player and codecs. or, install a better media player...one that plays all current file
formats and requires no additional codecs...such as the one below.

vlc player - www.videolan.org/vlc
completely free, 0 spyware, ads or user tracking
simple, powerful and fast
plays everything, files, discs (dvd, cd, vcd, blu-ray), webcams and streams
plays most codecs with no additional codec packs needed:
mpeg-2, h.264, divx, mpeg-4, webm, wmv player
works on most platforms: windows, linux, mac os x, unix...

either use vlc or update your codecs. either option works, if you want the easy way just use vlc.

i have movie player, vlc, and mplayer .. all with plenty of codecs.. doesn't run on any of em.. gave
up, and downloading the repack.. it's possible the torrent was a bad download.. don't know, but not
going to delete and redownload the same file to find out,, the other file will hopefully fix me up.

this file plays fine for me and i suspect it played fine for tens-of-thousands of other people...or we
would be hearing about it.

sounds like you may have conflicting or corrupt codecs and possibly some corrupt dll's.
it might require unistalling all the players and using a codec clean-up tool to search for hidden codecs
and remove them so you can start fresh with a clean install of one media player. of coures i
recommend vlc first. once you have one player that works, you can decide if you want to install other
players. i know that over time many people will download multiple codec packs, often from
questionable websites, installing one over the top of another, thinking they are improving their media
player options but instead they end up with a mess.

good luck.

i had checked the file with gspot before you had posted that, and i did notice the bitrate wasn't bad, so i
was at a loss as to why there was so much pixelation, wasn't even that much motion. irrc it was noticeable at like every scene change as well.

well maybe you watched it on a low resolution lcd or a crt? because on my 21' 1920x1080 monitor this
episode didn't look better then the xvids.

also maybe the fact that i use mpc might play a role too, i notice videos look different in vlc and i never
made an effort to adjust brightness and whatever other settings i just stick with mpc and only have vlc
installed just incase i one day find a video i can't play in mpc.

maybe my monitor brightness level makes it easier for me to see the pixalation, all i know as this was
my first eureka ep in x264 i know it wasn't at the quality i am used to.

in the end maybe its just a matter of opinion and we cant argue that, but i am thinking maybe it's our
screen or player differences