Conversion to MP4 - Resolution Change

[eskay2]

Hi,

My device (car dvd player) only allows video play with a 720 x 480 in MPEG4 format.

I am currently using handbrake to convert youtube videos to MPEG4 formats for resizing the resolution and this works, however there is a noticeable drop in quality.

I wanted to see if anyone had a better solution than the above to reduce the loss in video quality. Perhaps a different program is out there?

[Baldrick]

Post the details from the youtube video. Use mediainfo(view->text) or mediainfoxp and copy all information


Or try change the Constant Quality value in Handbrake, try decrease it to 15. And change the x264 Preset to Ultra slow. You find those settings under the video tab.

[jagabo]

I am currently using handbrake to convert youtube videos to MPEG4 formats for resizing the resolution and this works, however there is a noticeable drop in quality.

Just use higher quality compression settings.

[eskay2]

This is the youtube video details:

Format : MPEG-4
Format profile : Base Media
Codec ID : isom
File size : 94.9 MiB
Duration : 4mn 36s
Overall bit rate : 2 881 Kbps
Writing application : Lavf55.33.100

Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L4.0
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 3 frames
Codec ID : avc1
Codec ID/Info : Advanced Video Coding
Duration : 4mn 36s
Bit rate : 2 621 Kbps
Width : 1 920 pixels
Height : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate mode : Variable
Frame rate : 23.976 fps
Minimum frame rate : 23.974 fps
Maximum frame rate : 90 000.000 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.053
Stream size : 86.4 MiB (91%)

Audio
ID : 2
Format : AAC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec
Format profile : LC
Codec ID : 40
Duration : 4mn 36s
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 254 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel positions : Front: L R
Sampling rate : 44.1 KHz
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 8.36 MiB (9%)

Currently I am using a constant bitrate of 9000 to try and maximise the quality, however there is still a noticeable drop in video quality..

[newpball]

Hi,

My device (car dvd player) only allows video play with a 720 x 480 in MPEG4 format.

I am currently using handbrake to convert youtube videos to MPEG4 formats for resizing the resolution and this works, however there is a noticeable drop in quality.

I wanted to see if anyone had a better solution than the above to reduce the loss in video quality. Perhaps a different program is out there?

MPEG-4? That's too vague, you should be more specific.

Your downloaded Youtube videos will typically be encoded with H.264.
That's an MPEG-4 (Part 10) format.

Not holding my breath for the brilliance of firmware engineers but are you sure you player does not downscale the video automatically?

[jagabo]

Currently I am using a constant bitrate of 9000 to try and maximise the quality, however there is still a noticeable drop in video quality..

You're downscaling a 1920x1080 video to 720x480. Of course there's a drop in quality.

[LMotlow]

And variable frame rate on top of that. 90 fps max? Never saw that one before. Whatever....

[Cornucopia]

Yeah, I've seen it (90k fps). That seems to be common quasi-mis-representation with apps that have difficulty doing the difficult calculation of guessing the max based on complex variable rates.

Unlike PCs and modern smartphones/tablets, and contrary to what some overzealous non-tech-savvy newest media proselytizers would like to dictate, very many hardware devices (especially automotive) have real constraints/limitations regarding resolution, framerate (ESPECIALLY VFR), codec and bitrate. If you want to work with that device, you'll have to make changes to accommodate it.

Anytime you have to re-encode (which you would have to do when you resize), you lose quality. When you go from high resolution to standard resolution, you lose (you guessed it...) resolution, and thus quality. No getting around that. But you might have some wiggle room...

Post a mediainfo report of a clip that already is known to work in your player (not a youtube video, but say a demo clip from the device's manufacturer). Also list the actual model of your automotive player. There might be a few formats (or tricks) that can improve on you current outcome. Or not - we'll see.

Scott

[newpball]

Yeah, I've seen it (90k fps).

On Youtube Videos?

I would first question how the poster actually saved the Youtube stream.

[Cornucopia]

No, I believe you are right in expecting YT to (smartly) not encode to VFR. Clearly more info needed.

Scott