This article is for an older version of HandBrake. All versions.

Dieser Artikel ist für eine ältere Version von HandBrake. Alle Versionen.

Official presets

A Preset is a group of settings specifically tailored for the software or device you want your videos to play on. Selecting a Preset can go a long way toward ensuring your video works where you want it to.

HandBrake includes a number of official Presets that select specific settings to ensure compatibility for specific devices, the web, and for general use. When selecting one of these Presets, higher resolution video will be downscaled to a maximum resolution, and higher frame rates will be peak limited to a maximum frame rate. Audio and other settings may also be enforced.

Here are some examples of how Presets work in practice:

Select a Preset and explore which settings have changed. These settings will be used to make your new video.

The default Fast 1080p30 preset is a good choice if you’re just getting started. It’s fast and compatible across a wide range of software and devices.

General presets

HandBrake’s General Presets use the MP4 container and are intended to be broadly compatible across a wide range of software and devices.1

Each General Preset is named according to the quality or speed, maximum resolution, and maximum frame rate it produces.

Preset Type Video Audio Picture Quality Encoding Speed File Size
Very Fast 1080p30 MP4 H.264 AAC stereo Average Very fast Small
Very Fast 720p30 MP4 H.264 AAC stereo Average Very fast Small
Very Fast 576p25 MP4 H.264 AAC stereo Average Very fast Small
Very Fast 480p30 MP4 H.264 AAC stereo Average Very fast Small
Fast 1080p30 MP4 H.264 AAC stereo Standard Fast Average
Fast 720p30 MP4 H.264 AAC stereo Standard Fast Average
Fast 576p25 MP4 H.264 AAC stereo Standard Fast Average
Fast 480p30 MP4 H.264 AAC stereo Standard Fast Average
HQ 1080p30 Surround MP4 H.264 AAC stereo; Dolby Digital (AC-3) High Slow Large
HQ 720p30 Surround MP4 H.264 AAC stereo; Dolby Digital (AC-3) High Slow Large
HQ 576p25 Surround MP4 H.264 AAC stereo; Dolby Digital (AC-3) High Slow Large
HQ 480p30 Surround MP4 H.264 AAC stereo; Dolby Digital (AC-3) High Slow Large
Super HQ 1080p30 Surround MP4 H.264 AAC stereo; Dolby Digital (AC-3) Super high Very slow Very large
Super HQ 720p30 Surround MP4 H.264 AAC stereo; Dolby Digital (AC-3) Super high Very slow Very large
Super HQ 576p25 Surround MP4 H.264 AAC stereo; Dolby Digital (AC-3) Super high Very slow Very large
Super HQ 480p30 Surround MP4 H.264 AAC stereo; Dolby Digital (AC-3) Super high Very slow Very large

Web presets

HandBrake’s Web Presets use the broadly compatible MP4 container and are tailored for sharing videos on the Internet.

Gmail Presets are designed to guarantee video up to a certain duration will produce a file less than 25 MB for attaching to an email.2 The maximum duration is part of each Preset name. Audio quality is slightly reduced, and visually noisy/grainy or high motion scenes may show a reduction in quality in order to achieve the target file size.

Preset Type Video Audio Picture Quality Encoding Speed File Size
Gmail Large 3 Minutes 720p30 MP4 H.264 AAC stereo Depends on source Fast 25 MB or less
Gmail Medium 5 Minutes 480p30 MP4 H.264 AAC stereo Depends on source Fast 25 MB or less
Gmail Small 10 Minutes 288p30 MP4 H.264 AAC mono Depends on source Fast 25 MB or less

Devices presets

HandBrake’s Devices Presets target specific devices and classes of devices, such as mobile phones, tablets, TV media players, and game consoles.

Most Devices Presets use the broadly compatible MP4 container, while a select few use the Matroska Multimedia Container to support advanced features such as Ultra HD 4K resolution and additional audio types compatible with target devices.

Each Devices Preset is named according to the device name or class, maximum resolution, and maximum frame rate it produces.

Preset Type Video Audio Encoding Speed
Android 1080p30 MP4 H.264 AAC stereo Medium
Android 720p30 MP4 H.264 AAC stereo Medium
Android 576p25 MP4 H.264 AAC stereo Medium
Android 480p30 MP4 H.264 AAC stereo Medium
Apple 1080p60 Surround MP4 H.264 AAC stereo; Dolby Digital (AC-3) Medium
Apple 1080p30 Surround MP4 H.264 AAC stereo; Dolby Digital (AC-3) Medium
Apple 720p30 Surround MP4 H.264 AAC stereo; Dolby Digital (AC-3) Medium
Apple 540p30 Surround MP4 H.264 AAC stereo; Dolby Digital (AC-3) Medium
Apple 240p30 MP4 H.264 AAC stereo Medium
Chromecast 1080p30 Surround MP4 H.264 AAC stereo; Dolby Digital (AC-3) Medium
Fire TV 1080p30 Surround MP4 H.264 AAC stereo; Dolby Digital (AC-3) Medium
Playstation 1080p30 Surround MP4 H.264 AAC stereo; Dolby Digital (AC-3) Medium
Playstation 720p30 MP4 H.264 AAC stereo Medium
Playstation 540p30 MP4 H.264 AAC stereo Medium
Roku 2160p60 4K Surround MKV H.265 AAC stereo; AAC, Dolby Digital (AC-3), Dolby Digital Plus (E-AC-3), DTS, or MP3 Very slow
Roku 2160p30 4K Surround MKV H.265 AAC stereo; AAC, Dolby Digital (AC-3), Dolby Digital Plus (E-AC-3), DTS, or MP3 Very slow
Roku 1080p30 Surround MP4 H.264 AAC stereo; Dolby Digital (AC-3) Medium
Roku 720p30 Surround MP4 H.264 AAC stereo; Dolby Digital (AC-3) Medium
Roku 576p25 MP4 H.264 AAC stereo Medium
Roku 480p30 MP4 H.264 AAC stereo Medium
Windows Mobile 1080p30 MP4 H.264 AAC stereo Medium
Windows Mobile 720p30 MP4 H.264 AAC stereo Medium
Windows Mobile 540p30 MP4 H.264 AAC stereo Medium
Windows Mobile 480p30 MP4 H.264 AAC stereo Medium
Xbox 1080p30 Surround MP4 H.264 AAC stereo; Dolby Digital (AC-3) Medium
Xbox Legacy 1080p30 Surround MP4 H.264 AAC stereo; Dolby Digital (AC-3) Medium

Matroska presets

HandBrake’s Matroska Presets target software and devices supporting the Matroska Multimedia Container. MKV files support virtually all video and audio types, including many that the MP4 container does not.

Each Matroska Preset is named according to the video type, maximum resolution, and maximum frame rate it produces.

Preset Type Video Audio Encoding Speed
H.264 MKV 1080p30 MKV H.264 AAC stereo Standard
H.264 MKV 720p30 MKV H.264 AAC stereo Standard
H.264 MKV 576p25 MKV H.264 AAC stereo Standard
H.264 MKV 480p30 MKV H.264 AAC stereo Standard
H.265 MKV 1080p30 MKV H.265 AAC stereo Very slow
H.265 MKV 720p30 MKV H.265 AAC stereo Very slow
H.265 MKV 576p25 MKV H.265 AAC stereo Very slow
H.265 MKV 480p30 MKV H.265 AAC stereo Very slow
VP8 MKV 1080p30 MKV VP8 Vorbis stereo Ultra slow
VP8 MKV 720p30 MKV VP8 Vorbis stereo Ultra slow
VP8 MKV 576p25 MKV VP8 Vorbis stereo Ultra slow
VP8 MKV 480p30 MKV VP8 Vorbis stereo Ultra slow
VP9 MKV 1080p30 MKV VP9 Opus stereo Ultra slow
VP9 MKV 720p30 MKV VP9 Opus stereo Ultra slow
VP9 MKV 576p25 MKV VP9 Opus stereo Ultra slow
VP9 MKV 480p30 MKV VP9 Opus stereo Ultra slow

Legacy presets

HandBrake’s Legacy Presets are retained from previous HandBrake releases for compatibility with existing workflows and scripts.

Preset Type Video Audio Max Resolution Encoding Speed
Normal MP4 H.264 AAC stereo 1080p Very fast
High Profile MP4 H.264 AAC stereo; Dolby Digital (AC-3) 1080p Medium
Universal MP4 H.264 AAC stereo; Dolby Digital (AC-3) 576p/480p Very fast
iPod MP4 H.264 AAC stereo 240p Ultra fast
iPhone & iPod touch MP4 H.264 AAC stereo 540p Medium
iPad MP4 H.264 AAC stereo 720p Medium
AppleTV MP4 H.264 AAC stereo; Dolby Digital (AC-3) 540p Medium
AppleTV 2 MP4 H.264 AAC stereo; Dolby Digital (AC-3) 720p Medium
AppleTV 3 MP4 H.264 AAC stereo; Dolby Digital (AC-3) 1080p Medium
Android MP4 H.264 AAC stereo 480p Medium
Android Tablet MP4 H.264 AAC stereo 720p Medium
Windows Phone 8 MP4 H.264 AAC stereo 720p Medium

  1. Higher quality General Presets may include settings that are incompatible with older or slower devices.
  2. The 25 MB per message size limit for email attachments is specific to the Gmail service and may change in the future. Other email services may set different limits. It is generally recommended to use a file hosting service when sharing large or long videos.