Reddit "encoders"—the hobbyists who digitize their own media—generally converge on a few key settings to ensure their movies look professional:
: There is a strong consensus that CPU encoding (software) is superior to GPU hardware encoding (NVENC/VCE) for long-term storage, as it produces smaller files with better detail preservation. Tools of the Trade reddit-x265-movies
The main "story" on subreddits like r/Handbrake and r/Piracy is the massive space savings x265 offers over its predecessor, x264. I'd also like to mention that if you
“I find that X265 can fall apart a little bit during dark scenes unless you increase the file size. I'd also like to mention that if you choose to go AV1 although Plex supports it there are many clients... that don't.” Reddit · r/handbrake · 6 months ago reddit-x265-movies
: The most popular, user-friendly entry point for converting files.
: Even for 8-bit source material, encoding in x265 10-bit is a common community recommendation to reduce "banding" (ugly color gradients) in dark scenes. Community-Recommended "Gold Standard" Settings
For those looking to start their own collection, the community frequently points toward specific open-source tools: