While RARBG was excellent, their settings are now 3-4 years outdated. The x265 algorithm has improved. Here is how to exceed their quality using modern tools (x265 3.5+).
| Setting | Value | Why RARBG used it | |---------|-------|--------------------| | Profile | main10 | 10-bit encoding – better compression, less banding | | Preset | medium | Best speed/compression trade-off | | CRF | 19–22 | Lower CRF = higher quality; they often used 20 for 1080p | | AQ-mode | 3 (Auto-Variance) | Preserves detail in dark/flat areas | | No SAO | Disabled | Prevents blurring of fine detail (slightly less compression, sharper image) | | Deblock | -2:-2 | Stronger deblocking filter to reduce blocking artifacts at low bitrates | | Psy-RD / Psy-RDOQ | 2.0 / 1.0 | Retains film grain and texture – crucial for “better” subjective quality | | RDOQ level | 2 | More precise quantization – better detail retention per bit | | ME | star | More thorough motion estimation (better than umh or hex) | | B-frames | up to 8 | Improves compression in still/low-motion scenes |
| Aspect | Default x265 (medium) | RARBG x265 | |--------|----------------------|-------------| | Bit depth | 8-bit | 10-bit | | CRF (1080p) | 23 | 20 | | AQ mode | 1 | 3 | | SAO | On | Off | | Psy-RD | 0.6 | 2.0 | | Encoding speed | Baseline | ~50% slower | | File size (2h movie) | ~2 GB | ~2.5 GB | | Subjective quality | Good | Very good |
RARBG’s settings were “better” because they prioritized visual transparency over smallest file size, but still kept files reasonable (unlike remuxes). That’s why many users specifically searched for RARBG x265 releases. rarbg x265 encoding settings better
Before diving into settings, it is essential to understand the codec. x265 is the library used to encode video into the HEVC (High Efficiency Video Coding) standard.
Compared to its predecessor, x264 (AVC), x265 offers superior compression efficiency. In simple terms, x265 can deliver the same visual quality as x264 at roughly half the file size. This is why RARBG and similar platforms favored it for high-resolution content (1080p and 4K)—it allowed for smaller downloads without sacrificing perceived quality.
As 4K content became standard, RARBG x265 releases became the go-to source for non-HDR TV owners. While RARBG was excellent, their settings are now
Re-encoding HDR (High Dynamic Range) content to SDR (Standard Dynamic Range) is difficult. Bad encodes result in washed-out colors and gray blacks. RARBG releases typically featured superior tone mapping algorithms.
If they released an HDR version, they utilized the x265 Main10 profile correctly, ensuring colors popped without banding. If they released an SDR version of an HDR source, the conversion was generally handled by experienced encoders using tools like ffmpeg with high-quality filters, resulting in a picture that looked natural rather than faded.
Before tweaking settings, you must understand the target. RARBG specialized in "transparent" HD encodes. Their goal was a file size roughly 20-30% of the original Blu-ray source (usually 2GB to 5GB for a movie) while retaining grain, sharpness, and motion clarity. | Aspect | Default x265 (medium) | RARBG
Their secret wasn't one magic bullet, but a combination of:
If you simply use preset=medium or crf=22, you will not beat RARBG. You need their exact tuning logic.
The main reason RARBG settings were considered "better" by the general public was consistency.