New Encoding Formats

We're getting ready to roll out some new encoding formats (see my previous post) for TWiT shows that will give higher quality, smaller files, and enable us to roll out great-looking HD to all our shows.

One of the biggest risks in rolling out new formats is breaking compatibility with older devices. We know our audience likes to watch TWiT on a wide variety of portable players and TV boxes, and unfortunately we don't have them all here at the studio to test on. So we are reaching out to the TWiT Army for help.

Below you will find links to a short video encoded in both the current and proposed encoding settings.

We would like you to download these and try them out on whatever devices you enjoy watching our shows on.

Please report in the comments below what works and what doesn't. Be as specific as possible regarding brands, models, and software versions. Also be sure to include what version of our netcasts you usually download for watching.

Here are the links:

Mobile/SD low

Formerly the "SD low" version, "mobile" will be our compatibility encoding. It will be designed for maximum compatibility with older devices. Nothing is changing with this version except that it will be encoded with Handbrake CLI instead of ffmpeg.

Existing version
MPEG 4 AVC Constrained Baseline (Level 3.0) 640x368 at 256kbps Video with AAC 96kbps 2CH 48Khz 16-bit Audio

Proposed new version
MPEG 4 AVC Constrained Baseline (Level 3.0) 640x368 at 256kbps Video with AAC 96kbps 2CH 48Khz 16-bit Audio

Standard/SD high

Formerly known as "SD high", the "Standard" encode will be moved up from Baseline Profile 3.0 to Main Profile 3.2.

Existing version
MPEG 4 AVC Constrained Baseline (Level 3.0) 864x480 at 500kbps Video with AAC 96kbps 2CH 48Khz 16-bit Audio

Proposed new version
MPEG 4 AVC Main (Level 3.2) 864x480 at 500kbps Video with AAC 96kbps 2CH 48Khz 16-bit Audio

HD

The "HD" version is currently only available for TWiT. It will be updated to Main Profile 3.2 and made available for all shows.

Existing version
MPEG 4 AVC Constrained Baseline (Level 3.0) 1280x720 at 2560kbps Video with AAC 128kbps 2CH 48Khz 16-bit Audio

Proposed new version
MPEG 4 AVC Main (Level 3.2) 1280x720 at 2560kbps Video with AAC 128kbps 2CH 48Khz 16-bit Audio

PS: The lip sync may be off in these. Don't worry about that, we just forgot to adjust it before encoding them :).