The new iPod video formatting is extremely hard to follow and hopefully this review will help. I created it because I just wanted to put the highest quality video on my 5g video iPod for playback on a TV.
DVD Ripping
The first hurdle was finding the app that would rip my DVDs to H.264. I used Instant Handbrake (with the unofficial icons of course) in the past, but as you might know it rips the DVDs in the old file size of 320×240, half the resolution as the new 640×480. The full version of Handbrake does allow for h.264 encoding at higher resolutions but not at with the supported Baseline Low-Complexity Profile encoding for it to be compatible with the iPod. So my search started.
Both VisualHuband Video2Go misled me into believing they would rip DVDs into H.264, they simply don’t. VisualHub doesn’t have the functionality and Video2Go only rips unprotected DVDs. So don’t bother.
Hawkeye is the only application I know of that can properly rip and encode DVDs in the baseline low-complexity profile. Not only is the application easy to use the support is wonderful and I would like to review it but it’s simply the only solution out there for H.264 LBE at 640x. It will be the application I use to rip DVDs to H.264 in order to compare them MP4 formats. One thing I would like to see come out in the next update is a queueing, having a Mac Pro with Dual drives Handbrakes makes it easy allowing me to back-up 2 DVDs per setup.
H.264 isn’t the only thing iPod plays, Mpeg4 is the other alternative. And for ripping DVDs to Mpeg4 the best solution is Handbrake. It’s widely used and highly documented and reviewed. In the comparisons below this will be the app I use to encode to Mpeg4.
H.264 vs. Mpeg4
It’s not really fair to compare the two directly because H.264 is limited to 640x where as Mpeg4 is not. Believe it or not the iPod will play 720x ripped straight from Handbrake at bitrates higher then 2k. But what about all the hype surrounding H.264? H.264 increases the quality of video at low bitrates; the blacks are darker, it produces less artifacts increasing detail with decreased file size. H.264 is superior to Mpeg4 in every way but in the tests below I had to compare Mpeg4 720x vs. H.264 640x because I wanted the maximum quality for iPod playback on a TV out.
H.264 encoded at a bitrate of 1600, single pass. 640x
H.264 encoded at a 1600 bitrate, 2pass. 640x
Mpeg4 encoded at a 2000 bitrate, 2pass. 720x
Important!: Click through to the full resolution grabs.
In this comparison you’ll notice there is a huge difference in detail. The two areas of notice are the fur and the snow.
Below I’ll compare the same resolutions but different formats at different bitrates.
H.264 encoded at a 1600 bitrate, 2pass. 640x
Mpeg4 encoded at a 2500 bitrate, 2pass. 640x
You’ll notice little difference in these two images except for the floor looking better in H.264 and the walls looking more detailed in Mpeg4. Not a great quality comparison since the bitrates are so spread but both bitrates are what you generally want from each format. H.264 around 1400 and Mpeg4 around 2000.
Below the comparison is strictly to show the quality of picture to justify the extra file size.
Mpeg4 encoded at a 2000 bitrate, 2pass. 720x
Quick file size comparison on Monsters Inc., Duration 1:32 :
Mpeg4, 2000 bitrate, 720×400 = 1.36 GB
H.264, 1500 bitrate, 640×352 = 1.07
H.264, 1000 bitrate, 640×352 = 896 MB
With H.264 being 10% smaller in resolution you only see a 20% decrease in file size. Worth it?
Conclusion, In my tests Mpeg4 is the best solution by far. H.264 is smaller but what you gain in space you loose in quality. There is no reason to encode all of your DVDs in a lower quality only to go back and do it again when Apple releases another iPod that can do H.264 at proper DVD quality. What I’ve done and plan on continuing is ripping all my DVDs at full resolution at a high bitrate producing almost 1:1 quality transfers. Because you’ll always be able to use Mpeg4 and more importantly you can use them now.
H.264 encoding
Let’s start with Quicktime Pro. Although you cannot rip DVDs through Quicktime you can convert all of your other Xvid, DivX and .avi files (with the right compnents and downloads) with Quicktime Pro. Apple provides a great tutorial here. I would recommend Quicktime Pro for other reasons not related to iPod conversions but it does cost $29, relatively cheap but relatively expensive if you prefer free. I’d also recommend that you don’t just rip your DVDs in Handbrake and then convert them in QTP; be ready for artifacts galore if you intend to do that.
A free alternative to Quicktime Pro for for Video Conversions is iSquint and up until the resolution updates I had used it exclusively for encoding. Once iSquint is updated I’d recommend using it over Quicktime Pro and if you’d rather wait, perfect. Because I haven’t even gotten to DVD ripping.
FFmpegX although free and now able to encode in H.264 with LBC I just haven’t tested it, I’ve used it in the past and it worked great so if you can get around having to download a few components I’d recommend this as the best app to use in converting your pre-existing video files for your 5G ipod since it’s free.
Find the best deals on new mp3 players. Get customer ratings and professional price comparison. Get the latest in mp3 technology legal debates and who really pays the price for free music.
