How does 10mbps compare with 2K and 4K?

[Daniel D. Teoli Jr.]

I acquired a number of 16mm mp4 scans from an archive. They are listed as 10mbps in quality. They are not raw scans and have been reduced. How many mbps is 2K and 4K full res mp4 for comparison to 10mbps mp4? 

Thanks

 

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[Perry Paolantonio]

Mbps is not a measure of quality so there's no way to answer your question

[Daniel D. Teoli Jr.]

Well, they also offer a lower mbps file, so it must have some bearing, Perry.

[Perry Paolantonio]

mbps means megabits per second and nothing more. It *can* correlate to quality but it doesn't always. All that number tells you is how many bits per second are allocated to the picture. A good encoder can do a lot with a little.  And by tweaking other settings in the same encoder, you can make two files at the same bit rate that look dramatically different. 

The quality of the encoding algorithm, whether it's 1 or multi-pass encoding, what codec, what codec settings, etc, all effect the picture quality. 

Back in the early DVD days you couldn't make a high quality disc at a bit rate below about 6-7mbps. This was because the MPEG encoders were relatively primitive in the late 90s and early 2000s. "Superbit" DVDs were just DVDs encoded at a higher bit rate to get around this problem. By about 2005, there were software based DVD encoders, like Cinemacraft, which would allow you to make DVDs of the same quality as those old Superbit discs, but at half the bit rate. Same footage, same quality, same file format, half the data rate (thus, half the size -- allowing you to fit more on the disc without sacrificing quality). 

So Mbps isn't a measure of quality, it's a measure of bandwidth. 

Edited August 8, 2025 by Perry Paolantonio

[Daniel D. Teoli Jr.]

OK, thanks.

Is modern video software more or less standard now regarding this? Or do you get different quality with the same bitrate with different programs?

And what do you think about these options below?

Do professionals usually use one of these options over the rest? I've been using 'variable' as it was the default.