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Does makemkv use H264 to encode BD video by default?
Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2026 1:34 am
by seamus
I'm trying to confirm some "notions" that I've come by - without being able to recall exactly where I got them. I'd appreciate any comments or feedback:
Notion #1: The video on DVDs is typically encoded with the MP2 codec.
Notion #2: The video on BDs is typically encoded with H264-BluRay - a variant on H264.
Notion #3: MakeMKV does not re-encode BD or DVD video that it rips to the .mkv file; i.e. "generation loss" using MakeMKV is zero because it does not re-encode the encoding found on the DVD source.
If I run 'ffprobe' on an mkv file created from DVD using MakeMKV, I see something like this:
Code: Select all
% ffprobe7 -v error -select_streams v:0 -show_entries stream=codec_name -of default=noprint_wrappers=1:nokey=1 'Nosferatu (1922) - [dvd-makemkv].mkv'
mpeg2video
%
If I run 'ffprobe' on an mkv file created from BD using MakeMKV, I see something like this:
Code: Select all
% ffprobe7 -v error -select_streams v:0 -show_entries stream=codec_name -of default=noprint_wrappers=1:nokey=1 'Lost_Horizon (1937) - [bd-makemkv].mkv'
h264
%
If my Notions are correct, can someone explain why 'ffprobe' indicates that the BD codec used by MakeMKV is H264 instead of H264-BluRay? This may (or may not) be a subtle difference; I've not been able to find anything that explains it definitively.
Re: Does makemkv use H264 to encode BD video by default?
Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2026 3:37 am
by flojo
seamus wrote: ↑Sat Mar 14, 2026 1:34 am
... encoded with H264-BluRay - a variant on H264.
Incorrect, there's only different profiles/presets. ffprobe might be displaying a slightly more acute description if you've supplied a .m2ts or something like that.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Video_Coding
Re: Does makemkv use H264 to encode BD video by default?
Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2026 5:07 am
by seamus
flojo wrote: ↑Sat Mar 14, 2026 3:37 am
seamus wrote: ↑Sat Mar 14, 2026 1:34 am
... encoded with H264-BluRay - a variant on H264.
Incorrect, there's only different profiles/presets. ffprobe might be displaying a slightly more acute description if you've supplied a .m2ts or something like that.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Video_Coding
I'm sorry, but your answer makes absolutely no sense to me. But I do thank you for the Wikipedia link; that clarifies that there are numerous different
profiles that target various applications, and the one I referred to as "H.264-BluRay" is apparently "
officially named":
High Profile (HiP, 100) .
IOW: "H.264-BluRay" = "H.264, High Profile (HiP, 100)"
That still leaves me with an unanswered question, but perhaps the answer can be had with a bit more research into 'ffprobe' options. Adding the
'profile' option to the previous command used seems to provide the answer I was looking for:
Code: Select all
% ffprobe7 -v error -select_streams v:0 -show_entries stream=codec_name,profile -of default=noprint_wrappers=1 'Lost_Horizon (1937) - [bd-makemkv].mkv'
^^^^^^^
codec_name=h264
profile=High
And that seems to be the answer! MakeMKV does in fact use the "H.264 High" profile as it is encoded on the BD (i.e. it does not "re-encode" it). The
H.264 High Profile is defined in the Wikipedia article as follows:
Code: Select all
High Profile (HiP, 100)
The primary profile for broadcast and disc storage applications, particularly for
high-definition television applications (for example, this is the profile adopted
by the Blu-ray Disc storage format and the DVB HDTV broadcast service).
Re: Does makemkv use H264 to encode BD video by default?
Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2026 12:50 pm
by dcoke22
seamus wrote: ↑Sat Mar 14, 2026 5:07 am
And that seems to be the answer! MakeMKV does in fact use the "High" profile, defined in the Wikipedia article as follows:
Code: Select all
High Profile (HiP, 100)
The primary profile for broadcast and disc storage applications, particularly for
high-definition television applications (for example, this is the profile adopted
by the Blu-ray Disc storage format and the DVB HDTV broadcast service).
MakeMKV does not do any encoding of the video. It just copies the encoded video from the optical disc into a .mkv file.
Re: Does makemkv use H264 to encode BD video by default?
Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2026 7:36 pm
by seamus
dcoke22 wrote: ↑Sat Mar 14, 2026 12:50 pm
seamus wrote: ↑Sat Mar 14, 2026 5:07 am
And that seems to be the answer! MakeMKV does in fact use the "High" profile, defined in the Wikipedia article as follows:
Code: Select all
High Profile (HiP, 100)
The primary profile for broadcast and disc storage applications, particularly for
high-definition television applications (for example, this is the profile adopted
by the Blu-ray Disc storage format and the DVB HDTV broadcast service).
MakeMKV does not do any encoding of the video. It just copies the encoded video from the optical disc into a .mkv file.
Technically, you are of course correct. I probably could have worded that more clearly, by saying that MakeMKV did not re-encode the video, and this is proven by the fact that 'ffprobe' reports the video stream in the .mkv file is H264, High Profile - just as it is on the BD.