A quality target is a perceptual score you aim every encode at, typically a VMAF number, instead of a fixed bitrate. The single most useful fact for setting it is that picture quality goes invisible (transparent) near VMAF 95 on a living-room screen, so every point targeted above that line is bandwidth no viewer can see; a common premium band is VMAF 93 to 95. In a pipeline the target drives per-title and per-shot encoding and the convex hull that turns it into a bitrate, and it becomes the threshold a quality gate enforces. The catch is that the target is not one number: it changes with the screen (the phone model scores the same encode higher than the TV model), so the right move is a target per platform, plus a floor for the lowest rung you will still ship. State the model and check the low percentile, because a high mean can hide a bad scene.
The handbook · 7 volumes
Fora Soft Video Engineering Handbook
Picking a quality target decides your bandwidth bill: aim too high and you pay for bits nobody can see, aim too low and viewers notice. Across our seven-volume handbook, Volume 1 is where to start for quality targets, covering VMAF, rate control, encoding ladders and per-title tuning, with Volume 3 on ABR and delivery costs. Written by Nikolay Sapunov, CEO at Fora Soft.
Choosing a VMAF quality target that cuts bitrate without visible loss?
Send us a few titles and we will propose a quality target per device class and estimate the bitrate it saves. 250+ video products shipped since 2005.
