Best SVT-AV1 Settings for Blu-ray Archiving

This article outlines the optimal SVT-AV1 (libsvtav1) encoding workflow for preserving ultra-high-quality Blu-ray rips. It covers the recommended parameters for FFmpeg and HandBrake, including rate control, preset selection, 10-bit color depth, and film grain synthesis, allowing you to achieve near-transparent visual quality with highly efficient file sizes.

For archiving 1080p and 4K Blu-ray rips, the following FFmpeg command represents the gold standard for high-fidelity SVT-AV1 encoding:

ffmpeg -i input.mkv -map 0 -c:v libsvtav1 -preset 4 -crf 20 -pix_fmt yuv420p10le -svtav1-params tune=0:film-grain=12:keyint=240 -c:a copy -c:s copy output.mkv

Parameter Breakdown

1. Preset: -preset 4

SVT-AV1 presets range from 0 (slowest, highest compression) to 13 (fastest, lowest compression). * Preset 4 is the recommended sweet spot for high-quality archiving. It offers excellent compression efficiency and preserves fine detail without requiring the impractical encoding times of presets 0 to 3. * If you are limited by hardware or time, Preset 5 is an acceptable alternative that slightly speeds up the process with a minimal loss in compression efficiency.

2. Rate Control: -crf 20

Constant Rate Factor (CRF) controls the visual quality of the output. * For 1080p Blu-rays, a CRF between 18 and 22 yields visually transparent results. * For 4K UHD Blu-rays, you can safely use a CRF between 22 and 24 because the higher resolution naturally masks minor compression artifacts.

3. Color Depth: -pix_fmt yuv420p10le

Always encode AV1 in 10-bit color depth, even if the source Blu-ray is 8-bit (SDR). Encoding in 10-bit utilizes the mathematical precision of the AV1 encoder to dramatically reduce color banding in gradients (such as skies or dark scenes) and improves compression efficiency.

4. SVT-AV1 Specific Parameters: -svtav1-params

Fine-tuning the encoder via internal parameters is essential for film preservation: * tune=0: This tunes the encoder for subjective visual quality (rather than synthetic benchmark metrics like PSNR or SSIM), ensuring that details look natural to the human eye. * film-grain=12: Blu-ray rips often contain heavy film grain, which is incredibly expensive to encode traditionally. SVT-AV1’s film grain synthesis denoises the video, estimates the grain pattern, and instructs the player to regenerate it on playback. Use a value of 8 to 15 for grainier films, and set it to 0 (or omit it) for clean digital animations. * keyint=240: Sets the maximum keyframe interval (GOP size). For 24fps content, a value of 240 (10 seconds) allows for optimal compression while maintaining reasonable seeking performance.

5. Audio and Subtitles: -c:a copy -c:s copy

Archiving Blu-rays requires preserving the original, uncompromised audio tracks (such as DTS-HD Master Audio, TrueHD, or Dolby Atmos) and original PGS subtitle tracks. Copying these streams directly bypasses re-encoding, preserving the source audio quality perfectly and saving CPU cycles.