This paper discusses the advantages of using AVC to encode for Blu-ray.

What is AVC?

AVC (or MPEG-4 Advanced Video Codec and also known as H.264) is one of two advanced compression techniques included in the Blu-ray specification.  The other is SMPTE VC-1, which is based on Windows Media 9.  Both AVC and VC-1 result in about a 50% reduction in video file size versus MPEG-2 at the same quality.

The performance improvements of AVC over MPEG-2 can be seen in the following graph (Source: http://www.itu.int/ITU-T/worksem/vica/docs/presentations/S3_P1_Sullivan.pdf)

AVC has emerged as the leading codec for Blu-ray encoding, with more Hollywood titles encoded using it than any other codec, and each year AVC’s lead over MPEG-2 grows.

Why AVC for Blu-ray?

The importance of AVC’s bitrate savings over MPEG-2 will vary from application to application – where the asset is small and the destination media has ample capacity, MPEG-2 continues to be a perfectly viable solution.  In Blu-ray, however, a miserly approach to encoding can make a big difference in the ROI of your project.

Consider the replication cost difference between a BD-25 (single layer) and BD-50 (dual layer) of $1.00 per disc.  Using AVC, there’s a better chance you can fit your title on a BD-25, which saves replication costs.  If you’re planning a run of 10,000 copies, that’s a potential savings of $10,0000!

Consider also that, with AVC, you’ll have more space for extras (BD Touch anyone?).  And if you want to add the best audio to your title, like Dolby TrueHD or DTS Master Audio, you can’t use MPEG-2 because you will exceed the maximum bitrate.

Hollywood is clearly embracing AVC, and so are we at NetBlender, which is why we went with AVC for the DoStudio Encoder that comes with our new DoStudio Workflow Edition (DSW).

Evidence that AVC is the Blu-ray encoding technology of choice is easy to find.  One only need do a quick search on Blu-ray.com.  Out of the universe of 2,445 Hollywood titles they list, 230 were encoded using MPEG-2, whereas 998 used AVC and 509 were encoded using VC-1, putting it in second place. (Note: The difference between the total titles on Blu-ray.com and the sum of the titles encoded using the 3 valid codecs is due to some titles not disclosing which codec was used.)

Even more important than the aggregate numbers, though, is the trend.  A search of the 170 2009 titles on Blu-ray.com encoded with MPEG-2 comes back empty, whereas the site’s database includes 73 AVC-encoded titles in 2009 and 36 VC-1 encoded movies.(Ibid.)   So, judging by this data, use of MPEG-2 for Blu-ray is on the decline, AVC is about twice as popular as VC-1, and the AVC/VC-1 ratio is holding steady.

Isn’t it Tricky to Encode a Blu-ray Compliant AVC Stream?

A hurdle to the broad adoption of AVC among independent authors has been the high-price and complexity of available AVC Blu-ray encoders.  Even the relatively affordable Blu-ray compliant AVC encoders make it all too easy for the author to pick a setting that would result in a non-compliant asset.  Bottom line is that, until very recently, the truth in advertising police would have hauled anyone downtown who claimed to provide an affordable and easy to use AVC Blu-ray encoder.

This is where NetBlender’s DSW comes in.  It’s been designed for the Compressor and Encore crowd that’s ready to take their Blu-ray practice to the next level, without sacrificing simplicity and without breaking the bank.  Thoughful DSW features like the ability to import chapter markers from FCP, email (and Twitter) updates on encode job status and very fast encode times on multi-core machines mean you’ll spend less time wrestling with your encoder and more time where it really counts – authoring!

The following short video tutorial (there are several more on our community portal) demonstrates DSW’s ease of use.

DoStudio Encoder Tutorial 1 – The Basics from NetBlender Studios on Vimeo.