Find your new x265 (HEVC) format and enter a positive (e.g., 1000 ).

: This is one of the most widely used video codecs. It provides a good balance between video quality and file size. However, with the advancement in technology and the increasing demand for higher quality video content, the limitations of x264 have become more apparent, particularly in terms of handling higher resolutions.

In the field, leave it blank (forcing it will cause Sonarr to reject downloads if an x265 version doesn't exist).

If you already have a large library of x264 content and want to migrate to x265, Sonarr alone isn't the right tool for the job. Sonarr is designed for content, not re-encoding it.

Once your profiles are updated, Sonarr won't immediately replace your entire library. To trigger the shift:

This is the phase where you auto-replace your old x264 files.

This review covers the "Why," the "How," and the potential pitfalls of setting up an x265 preference in Sonarr.

: For the same bitrate, x265 generally provides a better quality picture than x264. This improvement in quality makes for a more enjoyable viewing experience, especially on high-definition displays.

One of the primary benefits of preferring x265 in Sonarr is storage efficiency. Because x265 offers better compression ratios, users can store more content on their storage devices without needing to invest in more hardware. This is particularly beneficial for those with large media collections or those who are limited by storage capacity. For instance, a movie that takes up 50GB in x264 could be as low as 20-30GB in x265, representing a significant saving in storage space. Over a large collection, this adds up quickly, making efficient storage solutions like x265 highly desirable.