HandBrake Documentation

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:

• When selecting one of the 720p30 Presets, a Source with 1080p video at 60 frames per second will be downscaled to 720p resolution and peak limited to 30 frames per second
• When selecting one of the 720p30 Presets, a Source with 480p video at 30 frames per second will not be scaled or peak limited
• When selecting a Preset that does not include surround sound, only stereo audio is encoded; the discrete surround audio is dropped
• When selecting a Preset that includes surround sound, stereo audio is encoded and surround audio is “passed through” if possible (or encoded to a compatible format)

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.

Web presets

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

Creator Presets produce videos suitable for uploading to video hosting services such as Vimeo and YouTube.² These Presets generally produce higher quality audio and video to reduce generational loss commonly accrued during re-encoding into multiple formats and resolutions by video hosting services.

Email Presets are designed to guarantee video up to a certain duration will produce a file less than 25 MB for sharing via an online email service such as Gmail.³ The maximum Source 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.

Social Presets are designed to guarantee video up to a certain duration will produce a file smaller than a specific size for sharing with online social communities such as Discord.⁴ The maximum Source duration and target file size are 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.

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.

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.

Hardware presets

HandBrake’s Hardware Presets encode video using dedicated media engines provided by modern graphics hardware, and are optimized for maximum encoding speed.

More information on specific hardware encoders:

• Intel Quick Sync Video (QSV)
• Nvidia NVENC
• AMD VCN
• Microsoft Media Foundation (MF)
  • For Windows on ARM devices such as Qualcomm Snapdragon

HandBrake will disable any Hardware Preset where the associated hardware and software drivers are not detected, or are outdated.

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.

Compatible replacements for deprecated or removed presets

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

Legacy Web presets

As of HandBrake 1.6.0, the Vimeo YouTube HQ Presets have been renamed Creator, the Gmail Presets have been renamed Email 25 MB, and the Discord Presets have been renamed Social.

Legacy Devices presets

Legacy Matroska presets

As of HandBrake 1.6.0, all 2160p60 presets have been renamed 2160p60 4K.

Legacy 0.10.x presets