Sonarr Prefer X265 Best (2025)

Before going all-in on x265, ensure all your media playback devices support hardware decoding of HEVC. Older devices, some smart TVs, and certain media players may struggle to play x265 content smoothly, especially at high bitrates. Software decoding is often more CPU-intensive and may not be adequate for 4K content.

Configuring Sonarr to prefer x265 is a game-changer for home server enthusiasts. By taking fifteen minutes to set up Custom Formats or Release Profiles, you can easily cut your library's storage footprint in half, optimize your streaming bandwidth, and keep your hard drives from filling up prematurely. To help refine your automated media setup, tell me: Which are you currently running?

Click or manually add a condition by clicking Add Condition . Select Release Title from the condition dropdown menu. sonarr prefer x265

In the regex field, use a pattern like: [xh][ ._-]?265|\bHEVC(\b|\d) . Click . 2. Assign Scores in Quality Profiles Quality and Custom Format help - sonarr :: forums

The visual quality of your media library depends heavily on release profiles. Configuring Sonarr to prefer x265 (HEVC) video files allows you to maximize your storage capacity without sacrificing visual fidelity. Before going all-in on x265, ensure all your

(Optional) If you want Sonarr to actively upgrade existing x264 files to x265 when they appear on your indexers, check the box and set a Minimum Score threshold. Click Save . How to Prefer x265 in Sonarr v3 (Release Profiles)

: Introduced as a successor to x264, the x265 codec offers more efficient compression. This means it can deliver similar or better video quality at a significantly smaller file size compared to x264. The efficiency of x265 makes it particularly appealing for storing and streaming high-definition video content. Configuring Sonarr to prefer x265 is a game-changer

Identify reputable release groups known for high-quality HEVC encodes (such as QxR , Tigole , or MeGusta ) and assign them positive scores. Conversely, give lower or negative scores to groups whose quality does not meet your standards. 2. Set File Size Limits