VMAF (Video Multi-Method Assessment Fusion) is like a video critic that watches your content and scores how close it feels to the original, on a scale of 0–100. Imagine you're showing off your video to an audience:
95–100: The audience applauds — the quality is so excellent, they can’t tell it’s not the original.
90–94: A few keen eyes notice tiny imperfections, but most still cheer — very good quality.
80–89: Some viewers nod, but others squint at the visible compression — good but not flawless.
Below 80: Murmurs of distraction as artifacts steal the spotlight — fair to poor quality.
If you want standing ovations, aim for 95+. For casual enjoyment, 90+ will do.
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Encoding
FFmetrics
10minutes - VMAF 96.65
Handbrake 1.8.2 (2024081000)
Video.svt-av1 10 bit fast decode Preset 5 2-pass vbr 1700 kbps
Audio.128 kbps opus 2.0
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File
Video: AV01 1920x1080 23.976fps [V: av1 (av1 main, yuv420p10le, 1920x1080) [default]]
Audio: Opus 48000Hz stereo 3072kbps [A: Opus 128 kbps stereo [eng] (opus, 48000 Hz, stereo) [default]]
Subtitle: Advanced SubStation Alpha [S: English [eng] (ass)]
Subtitle: Advanced SubStation Alpha [S: Spanish [spa] (ass)]
Subtitle: Advanced SubStation Alpha [S: Spanish [spa] (ass)]
Subtitle: Advanced SubStation Alpha [S: Spanish [spa] (ass)]
Subtitle: UTF-8 [S: GalaxyRG - Gran.Turismo.2023.1080p.WEBRip.1600MB.DD5.1.x264-GalaxyRG [eng] (subrip) [default]]
Subtitle: UTF-8 [S: British [eng] (subrip)]
Subtitle: UTF-8 [S: English [eng] (subrip)]
Subtitle: UTF-8 [S: Arabic [ara] (subrip)]
Subtitle: UTF-8 [S: Bulgarian [bul] (subrip)]
Subtitle: UTF-8 [S: Simplified [chi] (subrip)]
Subtitle: UTF-8 [S: Traditional [chi] (subrip)]
Subtitle: UTF-8 [S: Czech [cze] (subrip)]
Subtitle: UTF-8 [S: Danish [dan] (subrip)]
Subtitle: UTF-8 [S: German [ger] (subrip)]
Subtitle: UTF-8 [S: Latin American [spa] (subrip)]
Subtitle: UTF-8 [S: Spanish [spa] (subrip)]
Subtitle: UTF-8 [S: Estonian [est] (subrip)]
Subtitle: UTF-8 [S: Finnish [fin] (subrip)]
Subtitle: UTF-8 [S: French [fre] (subrip)]
Subtitle: UTF-8 [S: Hebrew [heb] (subrip)]
Subtitle: UTF-8 [S: Indonesian [ind] (subrip)]
Subtitle: UTF-8 [S: Korean [kor] (subrip)]
Subtitle: UTF-8 [S: Lithuanian [lit] (subrip)]
Subtitle: UTF-8 [S: Latvian [lav] (subrip)]
Subtitle: UTF-8 [S: Dutch [dut] (subrip)]
Subtitle: UTF-8 [S: Norwegian [nor] (subrip)]
Subtitle: UTF-8 [S: Polish [pol] (subrip)]
Subtitle: UTF-8 [S: Portuguese [por] (subrip)]
Subtitle: UTF-8 [S: Slovak [slo] (subrip)]
Subtitle: UTF-8 [S: Slovenian [slv] (subrip)]
Subtitle: UTF-8 [S: Swedish [swe] (subrip)]
Subtitle: UTF-8 [S: Thai [tha] (subrip)]
Subtitle: UTF-8 [S: Vietnamese [vie] (subrip)]
Subtitle: UTF-8 [S: Traditional [chi] (subrip)]
Subtitle: UTF-8 [S: No subtitles]
General
Unique ID : 57671398337541184396755637960138578559 (0x2B631B77F774FA9388F9E327B78C5A7F)
Complete name : Gran.Turismo.2023.bluray.sdr.1080p.av1.vmaf96-Rosy.mkv
Format : Matroska
Format version : Version 4
File size : 1.71 GiB
Duration : 2 h 14 min
Overall bit rate : 1 826 kb/s
Frame rate : 23.976 FPS
Movie name : Gran.Turismo.2023.bluray.sdr.1080p.av1.vmaf96-Rosy
Encoded date : 2024-11-13 19:12:25 UTC
Writing application : mkvmerge v88.0 ('All I Know') 64-bit
Writing library : libebml v1.4.5 + libmatroska v1.7.1
Cover : Yes
Attachments : cover.jpg
Video
ID : 1
Format : AV1
Format/Info : AOMedia Video 1
Format profile : Main@L4.0
Codec ID : V_AV1
Duration : 2 h 14 min
Bit rate : 1 700 kb/s
Width : 1 920 pixels
Height : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 23.976 (24000/1001) FPS
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0 (Type 0)
Bit depth : 10 bits
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.034
Stream size : 1.59 GiB (93%)
Title : av1
Default : Yes
Forced : No
Color range : Limited
Color primaries : BT.709
Transfer characteristics : BT.709
Matrix coefficients : BT.709
Audio
ID : 2
Format : Opus
Codec ID : A_OPUS
Duration : 2 h 14 min
Bit rate : 119 kb/s
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel layout : L R
Sampling rate : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate : 50.000 FPS (960 SPF)
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 114 MiB (7%)
Title : Opus 128 kbps stereo
Language : English
Default : Yes
Forced : No
____________________________________________________________
Source
Video. Gran.Turismo.2023.1080p.REMUX.ENG.RUS.UKR.HINDI.ITA.LATINO.DTS-HD.Master.DDP5.1.MKV-BEN.THE.MEN
Subtitles. Gran.Turismo.2023.1080p.WEBRip.1600MB.DD5.1.x264-GalaxyRG
Unique ID : 122519116762560257099318293810083678103 (0x5C2C52D5B2F683B157CC13CCA68A4797)
Complete name : Gran.Turismo.2023.1080p.REMUX.ENG.RUS.UKR.HINDI.ITA.LATINO.DTS-HD.Master.DDP5.1.MKV-BEN.THE.MEN.mkv
Format : Matroska
Format version : Version 4
File size : 30.8 GiB
Duration : 2 h 14 min
Overall bit rate mode : Variable
Overall bit rate : 32.9 Mb/s
Frame rate : 23.976 FPS
Movie name : Gran.Turismo.2023.1080p.REMUX[Ben The Men]
Encoded date : 2023-11-03 04:23:33 UTC
Writing application : mkvmerge v80.0 ('Roundabout') 64-bit
Writing library : libebml v1.4.4 + libmatroska v1.7.1
Video
ID : 1
ID in the original source medi : 4113 (0x1011)
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L4.1
Format settings : CABAC / 2 Ref Frames
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, Reference fra : 2 frames
Format settings, GOP : M=1, N=10
Format settings, Slice count : 4 slices per frame
Codec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration : 2 h 14 min
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 24.9 Mb/s
Width : 1 920 pixels
Height : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 23.976 (24000/1001) FPS
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.500
Time code of first frame : 00:59:59:00
Stream size : 23.3 GiB (76%)
Title : BEN.THE.MEN
Default : Yes
Forced : No
Original source medium : Blu-ray
Audio #1
ID : 2
ID in the original source medi : 4352 (0x1100)
Format : DTS XLL
Format/Info : Digital Theater Systems
Commercial name : DTS-HD Master Audio
Codec ID : A_DTS
Duration : 2 h 14 min
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 2 265 kb/s
Channel(s) : 6 channels
Channel layout : C L R Ls Rs LFE
Sampling rate : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate : 93.750 FPS (512 SPF)
Bit depth : 16 bits
Compression mode : Lossless
Stream size : 2.12 GiB (7%)
Title : BTM DTS-HD Master
Language : English
Default : No
Forced : No
Original source medium : Blu-ray
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Ab-av1
Sample encode → sample-encode -i "c:\file.mkv" --pix-format yuv420p10le --svt fast-decode=1 --svt tune=0 --preset 5 --min-samples 20 --crf 20
Source resolution → crf-search -i "c:\file.mkv" --pix-format yuv420p10le --svt fast-decode=1 --svt tune=0 --preset 5 --min-samples 20 --min-vmaf 98
1080p Downscale → crf-search -i "c:\file.mkv" --pix-format yuv420p10le --svt fast-decode=1 --svt tune=0 --preset 5 --min-samples 20 --min-vmaf 96 --vfilter "scale=-1:1080"
720p Downscale → crf-search -i "c:\file.mkv" --pix-format yuv420p10le --svt fast-decode=1 --svt tune=0 --preset 5 --min-samples 20 --min-vmaf 96 --vfilter "scale=-1:720"
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Tools
Ab-av1
FFBitrateViewer
FFmpeg
FFmetrics
Freefilesync
Handbrake
Jackett
Mediainfo
Mkvtoolknix
Qbittorent
Scenerulez
Shutterencoder
VVV-virtualvolumeview
Xnconvert
Xnview mp
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References
1. Dolby, 2023. What are Dolby Vision profiles and levels? [Online]
2. Ozer, J., 2017. Video Encoding by the Numbers: Eliminate the Guesswork from your Streaming Video. Doceo Publishing.
3. Sayood, K., 2017. Introduction to Data Compression. 5th Edition.
4. Ozer, J., 2021. What is CBR, VBR, CRF, Capped-CRF? Rate Control Modes Explained.
5. Rassool, Reza. VMAF Reproducibility: Validating a Perceptual Practical Video Quality Metric.
6. Kah, A. e al. Fundamental relationships between subjective quality, user acceptance, and the VMAF metric for a quality-based bit rate ladder design for over-the-top video streaming services.
7. Boldrin, M. 2008. Against Intellectual Monopoly.