[edit] Methods of VBR encoding
Note that the choice of a variable bitrate (VBR) method only affects the encoding process. Decoding a VBR stream is performed identically in all cases, regardless of how the encoder chooses to allocate bits.
[edit] Multi-pass encoding and single-pass encoding
VBR is created using the so-called
single-pass encoding or
multi-pass encoding. Single-pass encoding analyzes and encodes the data "
on the fly" and it is also used in the constant bitrate encoding. Single-pass encoding is used when the encoding speed is most important - e.g. for real-time encoding. Single-pass VBR encoding is usually controlled by the
fixed quality setting or by the
bitrate range (minimum and maximum allowed bitrate) or by the
average bitrate setting. Multi-pass encoding is used when the encoding quality is most important. Multi-pass encoding cannot be used in real-time encoding, live broadcast or live
streaming. Multi-pass encoding takes much longer than single-pass encoding, because every pass means one pass through the input data (usually through the whole input file). Multi-pass encoding is used only for VBR encoding, because CBR encoding doesn't offer any flexibility to change the bitrate. The most common multi-pass encoding is two-pass encoding. In the first pass of two-pass encoding, the input data are being analyzed and the result is stored in a log file. In the second pass, the collected data from the first pass are used to achieve the best encoding quality. In a video encoding, two-pass encoding is usually controlled by the average bitrate setting or by the bitrate range setting (minimal and maximal allowed bitrate) or by the target video file size setting.[SUP]
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[edit] Fixed quality
One means of VBR encoding is
fixed quantizer or
fixed quality encoding. It is usually single-pass encoding. The user specifies a given subjective quality value, and the encoder allocates bits as needed to achieve the given level of quality. This ensures the output stream will have consistent quality throughout. A quality level usually has an associated bitrate range. The disadvantage of this encoding method is that the average bitrate (and hence file size) will not be known ahead of time, and achieving a certain average bitrate requires
trial and error. This is typically more of a concern for video than for audio, since file sizes are much larger and encoding can take much longer.
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