HandBrake Documentation

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.

Discord Nitro Presets are designed to guarantee video up to a certain duration will produce a file less than 50 MB for use with Discord Nitro Classic or 100 MB for use with Discord Nitro. Likewise, Discord Presets are designed to guarantee video up to a certain duration will produce a file less than 8 MB for use with Discord free accounts. 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.

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.

Vimeo YouTube Presets produce videos suitable for uploading to popular video hosting services.3 Presets marked HQ are designed to deliver higher quality while encoding in a resonable amount of time.

Preset Type Video Audio Picture Quality Encoding Speed File Size
Discord Nitro Large 3-6 Minutes 1080p30 MP4 H.264 AAC stereo Depends on source Fast 50/100 MB or less
Discord Nitro Medium 5-10 Minutes 720p30 MP4 H.264 AAC stereo Depends on source Fast 50/100 MB or less
Discord Nitro Small 10-20 Minutes 480p30 MP4 H.264 AAC stereo Depends on source Fast 50/100 MB or less
Discord Small 2 Minutes 360p30 MP4 H.264 AAC mono Depends on source Very Fast 8 MB or less
Discord Tiny 5 Minutes 240p30 MP4 H.264 AAC mono Depends on source Very Fast 8 MB or less
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
Vimeo YouTube HQ 2160p60 4K MP4 H.264 AAC stereo High Medium Large
Vimeo YouTube HQ 1440p60 2.5K MP4 H.264 AAC stereo High Medium Large
Vimeo YouTube HQ 1080p60 MP4 H.264 AAC stereo High Medium Large
Vimeo YouTube HQ 720p60 MP4 H.264 AAC stereo High Medium Large
Vimeo YouTube 720p30 MP4 H.264 AAC stereo Standard Medium Average

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
Amazon Fire 2160p60 4K HEVC Surround MP4 H.265 AAC stereo; Dolby Digital (AC-3) Very slow
Amazon Fire 1080p30 Surround MP4 H.264 AAC stereo; Dolby Digital (AC-3) Medium
Amazon Fire 720p30 Surround MP4 H.264 AAC stereo Medium
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 2160p60 4K HEVC Surround MP4 H.265 AAC stereo; Dolby Digital (AC-3) Very slow
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 2160p60 4K HEVC Surround MP4 H.265 AAC stereo; Dolby Digital (AC-3) Very slow
Chromecast 1080p60 Surround MP4 H.264 AAC stereo; Dolby Digital (AC-3) Medium
Chromecast 1080p30 Surround MP4 H.264 AAC stereo; Dolby Digital (AC-3) Medium
Playstation 2160p60 4K Surround MP4 H.264 AAC stereo; Dolby Digital (AC-3) Slow
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 HEVC 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
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.265 MKV 2160p60 MKV H.265 AAC stereo Very slow
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
H.264 MKV 2160p60 MKV H.264 AAC stereo Standard
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
VP9 MKV 2160p60 MKV VP9 Opus 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
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

Production presets

HandBrake’s Production Presets create mastering grade, short GOP, constant frame rate video with high bit rate audio, suited for professional video editing workflows. These presets typically create files much larger than most compressed sources and are not suitable for general use.

Production Proxy Presets create fast to encode, Intra-only video limited to one-quarter the desired editing resolution.

Preset Type Video Audio Max Resolution Picture Quality Frame Types GOP Size Encoding Speed File Size
Production Max MP4 H.264 AAC stereo Unlimited Max Master I/P 1-12 Depends on source Gigantic
Production Standard MP4 H.264 AAC stereo Unlimited Standard Master I/P 1-12 Depends on source Huge
Production Proxy 1080p MP4 H.264 AAC stereo ¼ 2160p 4K Proxy Intra-only 1 Fast Average
Production Proxy 540p MP4 H.264 AAC stereo ¼ 1080p HD Proxy Intra-only 1 Very Fast Small

Compatible replacements for deprecated or removed presets

From time to time, official Presets may be deprecated or removed. Compatible replacements are listed here.

Windows Mobile presets

Preset Compatible Preset Notes
Windows Mobile 1080p30 General > Fast 1080p30 Later Windows Mobile and Windows Phone devices, and Windows 10 Mobile devices.
Windows Mobile 720p30 General > Fast 720p30 Add vbv-bufsize=10000:vbv-maxrate=10000 to the additional encoder options for older devices.
Windows Mobile 540p30 General > Fast 480p30 Add vbv-bufsize=4000:vbv-maxrate=4000 to the additional encoder options for older devices.
Windows Mobile 480p30 General > Fast 480p30 Add vbv-bufsize=2000:vbv-maxrate=2000 to the additional encoder options for older devices.

Legacy 0.10.x presets

Preset Compatible Preset Notes
Normal General > Fast 1080p30 Decomb filter, peak limited to 30 FPS, slightly decreased video bit rate, improved motion quality, foreign audio search.
High Profile General > HQ 1080p30 Surround Peak limited to 30 FPS, reduced video bit rate spikes, foreign audio search.
Universal None General > Fast 576p25/480p30 may be suitable replacements where compatibility with ancient devices and surround sound are not required.
iPod Devices > Apple 240p30 Decomb filter, foreign audio search.
iPhone & iPod touch Devices > Apple 540p30 Surround Decomb filter, slightly increased video bit rate, surround sound, foreign audio search.
iPad Devices > Apple 720p30 Surround Decomb filter, slightly decreased video bit rate, surround sound, foreign audio search.
AppleTV Devices > Apple 540p30 Surround Decomb filter, foreign audio search.
AppleTV 2 Devices > Apple 720p30 Surround Decomb filter, slightly decreased video bit rate, foreign audio search.
AppleTV 3 Devices > Apple 1080p30 Surround Decomb filter, slightly decreased video bit rate, foreign audio search.
Android Devices > Android 576p25/480p30 Decomb filter, peak limited to 25 FPS (Android 576p25 only), slightly increased video bit rate, foreign audio search, chapter markers.
Android Tablet Devices > Android 720p30 Decomb filter, slightly increased video bit rate, foreign audio search, chapter markers.
Windows Phone 8 None Devices > Windows Mobile 720p30 may be suitable with anamorphic off and audio bit rate reduced to 128 kbps.
  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.↩
  3. The Vimeo YouTube presets are designed and tested to meet these specific services' video guidelines. Compatibility with other services is possible, but neither tested nor guaranteed.↩