How does CCE CQ fair?

[john1290]

We all know that VBR in TMPGEnc is a waste for MPEG2 and CQ is the way to go.........BUT......in CCE.......what's the opion on >its< CQ vs. 3 pass VBR? If I do 3 pass VBR in CCE, do I REALLY get variable bitrate? Or should I stick with CQ in CCE as well?

And lastly......I know I know...not again.........but CCE 2.66.X vs. Mainconcept 1.3.1 standalone vs Procoder 1.2?!?!? Winner issssssssssssssssssssss?

[banjazzer]

We all know that VBR in TMPGEnc is a waste for MPEG2 and CQ is the way to go

It may be a waste of time, but it is not a waste in terms of quality.

.......BUT......in CCE.......what's the opion on >its< CQ vs. 3 pass VBR? If I do 3 pass VBR in CCE, do I REALLY get variable bitrate? Or should I stick with CQ in CCE as well?

Both will give variable bitrate, but so far as I can see, because you cannot stipulate the average bitrate for CCE's one pass VBR (CQ??) then it would seem to suffer from the same limitation as TMPG's CQ - ie you cannot predict filesize.

As to which is best, the best option is to try it yourself. But from what I have experienced, and heard about, the quality for mpeg2 goes CCE then TMPG then MainConcept. YMMV.