I keep what’s there which is usually much slower than 60. Usually 30? Old movie theatre reels ran at 24 IIRC. anything beyond that is likely out of your perception.
Also pay attention to the codec modes - for example old film mode, animation mode, etc. Animation can shrink incredibly yet look great with the right codec settings.
I use ALAC but only because we are a MacOs household.
(Edit: added missing L in ALAC)
But archive original rips in ALAC?
(Edit: Edit kings recognize edit kings.)
Originals are here physically. Properly stored CDs and DVDs don’t tend to go bad.
The server stores ALAC files and the backups derived via MakeMkV and Handbrake.
makemkv to ‘backup’ my BluRay and UHD BluRay Movies/TvShows.
BluRay movies/shows I always encode using Handbrake h.265 as I can reduce the filesize that without any visible loss in picture quality.
UHD movies/shows I just remux (remove all the audio tracks and subtitles I dont need) and place that “raw” mkv on the server.
For media playback I use Plex. 
What is better? H264 or H265.
What is an ideal size difference?
Say I have a 6 gig mkv file. What’s the size you guys would get it to without losing quality?
H265 “HEVC” (with the libx265 encoder) will get you better quality for the same size, or a smaller size for the same quality, when compared to H264 “AVC”.
That’s hard to answer. Honestly, it’s best to just go with one of the presets, and call it a day.
Pick one of the “H265” presets, and make sure not to override the framerate or resolution, if you want to preserve the viewing experience.
To go from MPEG-2 to H265 will handily shrink the file size, even at the original framerate and resolution.
Cool cool.
I’m doing DVDs that are 480p. This is not really ideal quality.
I can get them to a better quality by upscaling to 1080p. The size for that 6 gig file goes to 2.4 gig by doing that, and only that.
This is definitely better quality, and so I’ll probably do just that if no one has anything better.
You can use this as a starting pint for a new custom preset. Set these parameters and then save it as a new preset, named something like “DVD Movie Encodes”.
You can set it to “Default” if you want.
MKV is the most versatile.
To the point for NTSC DVDs.
These are the most important options, used by the libx265 encoder.
This makes a good starting point. Tweak them to your liking.
The only thing I didn’t show is “Audio”, “Subtitles”, and “Chapters”, since you can choose how Handbrake loads and converts/preserves them.
For example, maybe you only want it to the “first” audio track. Or maybe only a certain language. Or maybe all of them.
Upscaling will result in larger files (that require more bitrate), and there’s no extra details preserved or “added”.
How do you think we used to enjoy our DVDs when we popped them into a our DVD players? We watched them in their original 480p format. 
Personally I wouldn’t bother transcoding dvd files. Bluray makes some sense, but you can really feel the loss of every bit when you stretch it out over a TV screen…
That depends on many factors, like:
1. the bitrate of the source file:
Sometimes the source file uses a very high bitrate which blows up the filesize while not adding any quality benefits.
I have seen my h265 encode be up to 50% smaller than the source file with no quality loss in such cases.
2. the amount of noise
A movie which has a ton of noise might not get smaller at all when encoding as you need to tune the encoder for noise or it will remove all that detail during encoding.
If you dont tune the encoder for preserving noise then this can result in colorbanding showing up in the encoded file - which you dont want as that will ruin every movie which has dark scenes or takes place in space.
I am using handbrake to encode BluRay/1080p content.
That depends.
With DVDs we are frequently dealing with interlaced content. There you can even improve the quality by using a high quality deinterlacer to create a progressive file.
I have done that with TvShows like Babylon 5 and Star Trek Voyager as these are only available on DVD. The result looks better than the interlaced source and better than the streaming versions of these shows.
That said this process is VERY timeconsuming.
The final videofile will in most cases also be larger than the source rip - however in terms of picture quality it is totally worth it and the encoded file will play nicely on every player - which cant be said about interlaced files.
While tools like Handbrake do have a deinterlacer built in, I have achived the best de-interlace results with the free tool Hybrid (Hybrid 2024.09.29.1 Free Download - VideoHelp)
Well, upscaling a 480 to 1080 debatable increases the viewing quality. No doubt about that. Files are bigger that if you would just keep the same scaling, but I think viewing quality trumps size in this one.
Depending on how you play your content, maybe you just need a better upscaler at playback time?
I would personally leave DVDs in their original format.
I’m assuming that would have more to do with the server than the player?
I’m using jellyfin to play the files.
Does jellyfin support upscaling while playing?
I am keeping the original files that were ripped with makemkv so I always have them.
Will the original ripped mkv file be the optimal quality? If so, I’ll just rip em and serve em up that way without recoding them.
As I understand, encoding is just to have a smaller file size, and since I’m keeping the original anyway, I might as well serve the raw content.
The original will be 480p resolution, MPEG-2 video. If it looks fine to you, and you don’t care how large the file is, then serve away!
To re-encode them is to shrink their filesize, while trying to retain as much original quality as possible.
I understand that part, but I just want to clarify.
The raw mkv file that is ripped will be the best you could possibly get?
Yes.
Minimum character limit cheat!
