Amazon and Netflix file size

[0x0x0x0x0]

Hello,

I have noticed that on average, 1080p downloads from Amazon are almost double in size compared to Netflix. There are instances where there's the same movie on both providers in 1080p, but Amazon's file will be 4-5gb bigger.....

Does that mean that Netflix does not allow AS to download bigger streams (I know it's out of AS's control) or does Netflix use better compression that results in smaller sizes by comparison?

When I give technical details for various things people don't believe me and refer to many posts on "the Interwebs" of various switches for encodes (most of which actually make things worse), so I just stick to referring to the proverbial horse's mouths, given that one knows what they are doing:

You can improve quality and reduce bitrate at the same time.

from

https://forum.doom9.org/showpost.php?p=1116743&postcount=16

and, for people who have a better clue what they are doing:

https://netflixtechblog.com/per-title-encode-optimization-7e99442b62a2

I'm not at all saying people at Amazon don't have a clue, I know of some bright video coding guys working there, but their business pressures are somewhat different to those at flix.

 

[Vzxy]

Plex has a serious issue with seeking h264 in mp4 containers so I reencode everything with ffmpeg anyways, usually getting rid any "fluff" at the beginning of the file while I am at it. I get very comparable results, visually, with h265 at 5M for nearly anything I've picked up thru AS. HEVC seeks instantly in Plex without transcoding. I use -qp 18 for anything less than 5Mbps source and 20 for anything higher, but I have several sets of scripts I use depending on the quality of the source. There is no one size fits all command that will handle everything accordingly. Usually cuts about any file over 8GB nearly in half filesize wise. Most of the files end up in the 5GB range.

 

[Wowfunhappy]

Plex has a serious issue with seeking h264 in mp4 containers so I reencode everything with ffmpeg anyways

If the issue is just mp4 containers, I highly recommend changing the container without re-encoding.

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -codec copy output.mkv

Lossless and super fast!

(Also, that's terrible, Plex should fix their crap!)

 

[Vzxy]

If the issue is just mp4 containers, I highly recommend changing the container without re-encoding.

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -codec copy output.mkv

Lossless and super fast!

(Also, that's terrible, Plex should fix their crap!)

I am trying to save as much space as possible and I've got a quadro card and a good set of scripts for converting to HEVC and I usually save anywhere from 1-8 GB in storage by doing so without any noticeable degradation in visual quality. Takes just 10 mins or so to convert a 2 hr video.

Also, there are other issues with MKV containers in Plex. The root of most of these issues is subtitles. HEVC allows Plex to play any file at original quality, no transcoding, without issues.

I agree Plex should fix these issues, but I would rather it work than just be a wishful thinker.