https://spectra.video/videos/watch/97124195-82a1-4d6f-ab2f-54c43c629a35 TL;DR Bitrate up to 36000 - two pass - seems to prevent digital distortion If I upload an noisy/grainy h265 video to Peertube, it's internal de-re-or-whatever-muxing seems to create digital distortion on-top of analog distortion, even when CRF is up to 18. (https://spectra.video/w/6J2F5qXnXyJshXRDL16QS2) If I up the Bitrate to 36 000 (two-pass), the picture is pretty clear of digital distortion. As seen here in this test. Even though the file size is much smaller than with CRF 18. Even bitrate of 30 000 (two-pass) results in less digital distortion than CRF 18. (https://spectra.video/w/cKsnFRGYkjgmEjCZLFmx1p) Having a non-square pixel ratio worsens the distortion (Handbrake's "automatic ratio" setting often creates a non 1:1 ratio). Wed, 16 Sep 2026 19:20:10 GMT https://validator.w3.org/feed/docs/rss2.html PeerTube - https://spectra.video https://spectra.video/lazy-static/avatars/71f5d173-eea9-47a7-b254-f7e91f9f5d25.png https://spectra.video/videos/watch/97124195-82a1-4d6f-ab2f-54c43c629a35 All rights reserved, unless otherwise specified in the terms specified at https://spectra.video/about and potential licenses granted by each content's rightholder.