Convert a 4K rip to HD? Best way to do this?

[KeyNo]

Because my PC monitor currently won't handle 4K I'd like to convert a 4K rip to HD - what is the best way to achieve this please?

Any recommended software?

I'm using MakeMKV to perform the rip.

[d00zah]

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Any recommended software?

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HandBrake, or VidCoder (alternate UI, based on HandBrake core)

[KeyNo]

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Any recommended software?

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HandBrake, or VidCoder (alternate UI, based on HandBrake core)

Thanks a lot, will give those a try.

[Billycar11]

Just don't bother it can be tone mapped and downscaled to HD no need to reencode and burn a bunch of power and time.
Plus when you get a 4 K screen you are ready for it with your movies don't downgrade them.

Or just rip the Blu-ray in the box most UHDs come with a regular bluray

[KeyNo]

> Just don't bother it can be tone mapped and downscaled to HD no need to reencode and burn a bunch of power and time.

How do I downscale 'on the fly' so to speak? (bearing in mind I'm playing movies on my PC).

Also, this is only a temporary measure, the idea being to buy 4K discs when applicable and still be able to watch their contents prior to me getting a 4K display (whenever that is).

True, 4K often also have a Blu-ray disc in the pack, however not always - for example, the new theatrical cut of Amadeus is ONLY being released on a 4K disc.

[PippyOG]

How do I downscale 'on the fly' so to speak? (bearing in mind I'm playing movies on my PC).

Transcoding using software like Plex. Would recommend hardware encoders for this to work effectively.

[dcoke22]

I wrote a post recently about color spaces and how they compare between a regular blu-ray and a 4K UHD.
https://forum.makemkv.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=163176#p163176

Handbrake can be used to produce a file with a 'tone mapped' color space from the bigger colorspace in a 4K UHD to the smaller colorspace found on a regular blu-ray. You can also choose to change the resolution from 4K down to 1080p for example.

Some players, like MPV, can be configured to tone map on-the-fly while you play a file, assuming your computer is fast enough to do it. (I can't tell if VLC supports this or not; VLC's documentation is a mess.)

As PippyOG mentioned, software like Plex can transcode a file on-the-fly and produce tone mapped output, again assuming the computer Plex is running on is fast enough.

Depending on your needs and computer's capability, you can either tone map on-the-fly while you watch or you can brute-force it by creating a new file with Handbrake. There's no perfect right answer.

[Billycar11]

> Just don't bother it can be tone mapped and downscaled to HD no need to reencode and burn a bunch of power and time.

How do I downscale 'on the fly' so to speak? (bearing in mind I'm playing movies on my PC).

Also, this is only a temporary measure, the idea being to buy 4K discs when applicable and still be able to watch their contents prior to me getting a 4K display (whenever that is).

True, 4K often also have a Blu-ray disc in the pack, however not always - for example, the new theatrical cut of Amadeus is ONLY being released on a 4K disc.

It should just happen automatically with VLC the movie your playing is not off your screen because it's to big and VLC automatically tone maps.
Back in 2018 that was not the case but it has been for a long time now.
If it was not tone mapped would look extremely desaturated.