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Torrents indicate their resolution, and usually bitrate too.
But keep in mind, while it might say the resolution in the name, that doesn't mean it's not compressed to all hell. You'll want to also check the file size and runtime to estimate the quality.
Do you have a favorite torrenting site?
1337x is my favorite. Look for efficient encodes like HEVC or AV1 for a better quality/size ratio (and ideally AAC or opus for audio). It's usually in the torrent name as well as the resolution, source, etc.
Thanks 👍
If you want better speeds and quality I recommend looking into TorrentLeech, FearNoPeer and similar private trackers.
Sometimes BluRay remuxes aren't available or well seeded on public trackers, while they aren't even counting against your upload/download ratio on the above trackers (On TL, FNP big torrents are freeleech).
Second option
Streaming can provide decent quality, but not high quality. That's simply too costly on scale.
Bit rate alone doesn't necessarily tell you quality either.
I suggest you look for downloads and look for
To assess encoding information, you look at file type, video codec, and encoding bit-ness.
From high to low compatibility, and low to high compression ratio:
You can consider the triplets of the codec to be different names for the same thing.
You'll be able to play all file and codec types on a PC, but not necessarily on other devices. If you're streaming from PC to something else, that's fine too.
I'm usually looking for 10-bit HEVC releases because of their vastly superior size for quality. If that's not available, HEVC or AVC. In most cases, it doesn't matter too much to me.
A video with a lot of movement or visual detail will have bigger sizes.
If you compare an AVC release and bitrate with a HEVC 10-bit release and bitrate, they are vastly different. You can get the same quality for a fraction of file size and bitrate. More bitrate is often a waste of bandwidth and storage space.
Thank you for your super detailed response. That's a lot of information 😅 Talking about codecs is only applicable to torrenting, right? (I've never seen a streaming site talk about the codecs they use).
I don't really mind paying a bit (and hopefully supporting the creation of new media), but it's unbelievable that Disney+ butchers a lot of the most memorable Pixar scenes, with terrible compression. (When a lot of snow, confetti or other particles are on screen).
PS: I live in the EU, so I'm not signing away my right to live by subscribing to a streaming service. WTF is going on on the other side of the atlantic. I can't even believe what a capitalist nightmare some call the United States of America.
Any form of audio and video uses codecs. It applies to streaming websites as well. It's usually technological details that is not obviously disclosed to users for simplicity/convenience.
It's possible to inspect the stream and media, and find out what is being used. It may offer alternative streams, to support more efficient modern and less efficient older platforms.
Unpopular opinion: sub to a plex/emby server. All your favorite shows on one platform, probably in 4k too, works on all devices, you never need to think ahead about torrenting something. Mine is 10$/month.
What is the video bitrate of movies/shows in the share? Does it support transcoding or are they only doing direct stream?
I'm curious because OP wants higher quality and to save space I'm usually using similar bitrate as commercial streaming services for my media library.
Transcoding for 1080p, which is usually 6-7mbit/s, you can downsample it to 300kbits if you like. FYI, Netflix is about 2-3mbit, premium is like maybe 10.
Transcoding is not allowed for 4k.
4k bitrate varies from 10mbit/s to like 60-80mbit/s, so at least 100mbit link is recommended.
Almost all new content is available both in 1080p and 4k. Some older stuff only in 4k.
If you are looking for a seamless streaming like experience you should look into Real Debrid + Stremio, it's 16-ish bucks/180 days
You can stream remux releases using Stremio + Torrential + a Debrid service, like Real Debrid. 30+GB 4K resolution.
I only have a 1080p screen, so I've never tried it, but I've tested the download speed from Real Debrid for regular file downloads and it caps out my gigabit line, so it can definitely handle streaming remuxes.