IDC Level in Mpeg4 AVC (X264)

[ABBrittain]

Can anyone explain what this parameter is and does please.

[Jan Gruuthuse]

in my opinion these refer to: H.264/MPEG-4 AVC

[ABBrittain]

So the default setting of 3.1 should be ok? 

[Jan Gruuthuse]

If you encode to specific hardware/media player (flat screen TV, ...) make some test videos couple of minutes with content you view often (football, action scenes, ...) and see what works best for you.

indicating a degree of required decoder performance for a profile

3.1 would not support 1080i/p, supports up to 720p 30 fps (1280Ãâ€"720@30.0), it is not always clearcut, more like a trial by error.

[nibbles]

In general, 4.1 is the optimal level and is the unofficial standard for 720p or 1080p.  It can handle all the resolutions and frame rates.

[macduke]

Some multimedia machines (ex.: WD) don't support IDC 5 and above.
In my opinion 4.1 or 4.2 is the best.
And don't forget "Max Ref. Frames": it's better to set not more than 5, for the same reasons as above.

Mac.

[ABBrittain]

Thanks - I will make some test at 3.1/3.2/4.1/4.2 ansd check see which one of these works best for me.

[ABBrittain]

Have been using 3.2 and eveything appears to be working. However I'm unable to make a direct comparision between 2.6 and 2.56-1 as not all the config options are active.

Any one know when the other config options will be active?

[Jan Gruuthuse]

2.5 branch is frame based, 2.6 time based. More info can be found @ Avidemux versions

[plasticassius]

According to the wiki

http://www.avidemux.org/admWiki/doku.php?id=tutorial:h.264

Specifying an IDC Level does not mean that your stream actually complies to that level! Therefore it's highly commended to keep the IDC Level setting on Auto and let x264 detect the proper Level. However, Auto does not work. So, it doesn't make any difference what you set this parameter to, it just can't be Auto. See my other post:

http://avidemux.org/smuf/index.php/topic,11552.0.html