#Quality Tiers

Every output in Transcodely has a quality tier that controls the tradeoff between encoding speed, visual quality, and cost. The quality tier determines the default encoder preset, CRF value, and pricing multiplier.

#Tier Overview

#Economy

Economy tier prioritizes encoding speed and cost. It uses fast encoder presets and higher CRF values, producing acceptable quality at the lowest price.

Default encoder settings:

When to use:

• Preview and thumbnail generation
• Mobile-first delivery where bandwidth is limited
• High-volume batch processing where cost matters most
• Internal review copies
• Content where visual quality is not the primary concern

{
  "type": "mp4",
  "video": [
    {
      "codec": "h264",
      "resolution": "720p",
      "quality": "economy"
    }
  ]
}

#Standard

Standard tier is the default and recommended choice for most production content. It balances encoding quality, speed, and cost.

Default encoder settings:

When to use:

• General streaming and VOD delivery
• User-facing content on web and mobile
• Social media distribution
• Most production workloads

{
  "type": "mp4",
  "video": [
    {
      "codec": "h264",
      "resolution": "1080p",
      "quality": "standard"
    }
  ]
}

#Premium

Premium tier maximizes visual quality at the cost of slower encoding and higher price. It uses slower encoder presets and lower CRF values, producing near-reference quality output.

Default encoder settings:

When to use:

• Broadcast and OTT streaming (Netflix, Disney+ quality)
• Archival and preservation
• Flagship content where quality justifies the cost
• Professional post-production deliverables
• 4K and 8K content where compression artifacts are more visible

{
  "type": "mp4",
  "video": [
    {
      "codec": "h265",
      "resolution": "2160p",
      "quality": "premium"
    }
  ]
}

#Pricing Impact

The quality tier multiplier applies to the base price for every output. Here is how it affects the cost formula:

output_cost = (duration_minutes) x base_price x codec_mult x resolution_mult x framerate_mult x quality_mult

For example, a 10-minute 1080p H.264 encode at standard priority:

#Overriding Defaults

The quality tier sets sensible defaults, but you can override individual encoder parameters. When you specify a CRF, preset, or speed value explicitly, it takes precedence over the tier default:

{
  "codec": "h264",
  "resolution": "1080p",
  "quality": "standard",
  "h264": {
    "preset": "slow",
    "crf": 20
  }
}

In this example, the quality tier is standard (1.0x pricing), but the encoder uses slow preset and CRF 20 (which are premium-tier settings). You get premium-quality encoding at standard-tier pricing.

This is useful when you want fine-grained control over encoder behavior without paying the premium tier multiplier. However, the encoding will still take longer due to the slower preset.

#Mixing Tiers in a Single Job

You can use different quality tiers for different outputs in the same job. This is common for ABR ladder generation where the highest resolution gets premium quality and lower resolutions get economy or standard:

{
  "outputs": [
    {
      "type": "hls",
      "video": [
        {"codec": "h264", "resolution": "1080p", "quality": "premium"},
        {"codec": "h264", "resolution": "720p", "quality": "standard"},
        {"codec": "h264", "resolution": "480p", "quality": "economy"}
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Every variant is checked independently against your plan. If your plan restricts which tiers you may use, a ladder like the one above is rejected as a whole when any single rung asks for a tier that is not allowed — see quality_tier_not_allowed.

#Plan Restrictions

A plan can limit which tiers an app may request. When it does, an output — or any variant inside one — asking for a tier outside that set is rejected at create time with invalid_argument and the error_code quality_tier_not_allowed. Nothing is downgraded silently: the request fails so you can decide what to change.

An output that names no tier is a request for standard, not an exemption. On a plan that allows only economy, the examples earlier on this page that omit quality are rejected for that reason — name the tier explicitly.