Definitions

Common File Containers

• MKV - An MKV file is a video file saved in the Matroska multimedia container format. It supports several types of audio and video codecs and may include .SRT, .SSA, .USF (Universal Subtitle Format), or VobSub subtitles. MKV files are typically used for storing short video clips, TV shows, and movies.

• MP4 - An MP4 file is a multimedia file commonly used to store a movie or video clip. It may also contain subtitles or images. MP4 is short for MPEG-4 Part 14, which is a container format based on the QuickTime File Format (QTFF) used by .MOV and .QT files

• MP3 - An MP3 file is an audio file saved in a compressed audio format developed by the Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) that uses "Layer 3" audio compression (MP3). It is most commonly used to store music, but may also contain other types of audio content, such as a lecture, sermon, audiobook, or podcast.

• AAC - Compressed audio file similar to an .MP3 file, but offers several performance improvements; examples include a higher coding efficiency for both stationary and transient signals, a simpler filterbank, and better handling of frequencies above 16 kHz; maintains quality nearly indistinguishable from the original audio source.

• OGG - An OGG file is a compressed audio file that uses free, unpatented Ogg Vorbis audio compression. It is similar to an .MP3 file, but sounds better than an MP3 file of equal size, and may include song metadata, such as artist information and track data. OGG files are supported by many software music players and some portable music players.

• FLAC - A FLAC file is an audio file compressed in the Free Lossless Audio Codec (FLAC) format, which is an open source lossless audio compression format. It is similar to an .MP3 file, but is compressed without any loss in quality or loss of any original audio data.

For a list of different video containers and its capabilities click HERE

For a list of different audio containers and its capabilities click HERE

Bitrates

Bitrate, as the name implies, describes the rate at which bits are transferred from one location to another. In other words, it measures how much data is transmitted in a given amount of time. Bitrate is commonly measured in bits per second (bps), kilobits per second (Kbps), or megabits per second (Mbps). For example, a DSL connection may be able to download data at 768 kbps, while a Firewire 800 connection can transfer data up to 800 Mbps.

Bitrate can also describe the quality of an audio or video file. For example, an MP3 audio file that is compressed at 192 Kbps will have a greater dynamic range and may sound slightly more clear than the same audio file compressed at 128 Kbps. This is because more bits are used to represent the audio data for each second of playback. Similarly, a video file that is compressed at 3000 Kbps will look better than the same file compressed at 1000 Kbps. Just like the quality of an image is measured in resolution, the quality of an audio or video file is measured by the bitrate.

Scene Naming

• PROPER - means there was a problem with the previous release. Downloads tagged as PROPER shows that the problems have been fixed in that release. This is done by a Group that did not release the original.
• REPACK - means there was a problem with the previous release and is corrected by the original Group. Downloads tagged as REPACK shows that the problems have been fixed in that release. This is done by a Group that did release the original.

Qualities

Video Qualities

• Bluray-480p - A re-encode of the final released Blu-ray, downscaled to 480p resolution (720x480 @ 16:9, any other Aspect Ratio may be a different resolution). If possible this is released PRE retail. It should be excellent quality for the resolution. Bitrates may vary, but these are generally encoded to DivX, XviD, or AVC and offer the tradeoff of a small perceived quality reduction over the original source while drastically reducing filesize. These are generally MKV or MP4, but some DivX/XviD are around as well which use AVI.

• Bluray-576p - Same as Bluray-480p, but in 576p (720x576). 576p is the standard PAL resolution for SDTV (although some manufacturers represent HDTV as anything above 480p, 576p offers barely any perceived quality increase over 480p). Bitrates may vary, but these are generally encoded to AVC or HEVC and offer the tradeoff of a small perceived quality reduction over the original source while drastically reducing filesize. These are generally MKV or MP4 container.

• Bluray-720p - A re-encode of the final released Blu-ray, downscaled to 720p resolution (1280x720 @ 16:9, any other aspect ratio may be a different resolution). If possible this is released PRE retail. It should be excellent quality for the resolution. Bitrates may vary, but these are generally encoded to AVC or HEVC and offer the tradeoff of a small perceived quality reduction over the original source while drastically reducing filesize. These are generally MKV or MP4 container.

• Bluray-1080p - A re-encode of the final released Blu-ray, at its native 1080p resolution (1920x1080 @ 16:9, any other aspect ratio may be a different resolution). If possible this is released PRE retail. It should be excellent quality and the same resolution as the source. Bitrates may vary, but these are generally encoded to AVC or HEVC and offer the tradeoff of a small perceived quality reduction over the original source while slightly reducing filesize. These are generally MKV or MP4 container.

• Bluray-2160p - A re-encode of the final released Blu-ray, at its native 21600p resolution (3840x2160 @ 16:9, any other aspect ratio may be a different resolution). 4K versions of films that are released in generally HEVC codec and could be either 8-bit or 10-bit color reproduction or from an HDR source. slightly reducing filesize. These are generally MKV or MP4 container.

• BR-DISK - The original Blu-ray disc, with it's AVC folder structure and no change in container format. Some media players are unable to deal with these, but they are generally used for archival purposes. The original Blu-ray disc content is unmodified. Most of the time, these have been run through an HDCP decryption process already via the ripper. Sometimes they are still encrypted.

• CAM - is a theater rip usually done with a digital video camera. A mini tripod is sometimes used, but a lot of the time this won't be feasible, so the camera may shake. Seating placement isn't always ideal, and it might be filmed from an awkward angle. If cropped properly, this is hard to tell unless there's text on the screen, but a lot of times these are left with triangular borders on the top and bottom of the screen. Sound is taken from the onboard microphone of the camera, and especially in comedies, laughter can often be heard during the film. Due to these factors picture and sound quality are usually quite poor, but sometimes we're lucky, and the theater will be fairly empty and a fairly clear signal will be heard.

• DVD - A re-encode of the final released DVD9. If possible this is released PRE retail. It should be excellent quality (for the resolution). DVDrips are usually released in DivX/XviD or MP4.

• DVD-R - Same as DVD, but re-compressed to fit a single-layer DVD (generally reduces the original source bitrate by half, so the source material may have already been compressed from the original DVD copy and has been compressed a third time by the ripper).

• DVDSCR - A pre-release DVD often sent to awards judges and various other places for promotional use. A screener is supplied on a DVD or other large enough media. The main draw back is a “ticker” (a message that scrolls past at the bottom of the screen, with the copyright and anti-copy telephone number). Also, if the screener contains any serial numbers, or any other markings that could lead to the source of the tape, these will have to be blocked, usually with a black mark over the section. This is sometimes only for a few seconds, but unfortunately on some copies this will last for the entire film, and some can be quite big. Depending on the equipment used, screener quality can range from excellent to very poor. Usually transferred to SVCD, DivX/XviD, or MP4.

• HDTV-720p - A re-encode of the final released Blu-ray, but broadcast over HD cable or satellite (1280x720 @ 16:9, any other aspect ratio may be a different resolution). It may be modified for runtime or content depending on the network it came from. This is released usually several months after a retail release, but sometimes upscaled versions of a Standard Definition film are released on cable channels such as STARZ or HBO, and they would be the only HD copies of that specific film available. These are generally MKV or MP4.

• HDTV-1080p - A re-encode of the final released Blu-ray, but broadcast over HD cable or satellite (1920x1080 @ 16:9, any other aspect ratio may be a different resolution). It may be modified for runtime or content depending on the network it came from. This is released usually several months after a retail release, but sometimes upscaled versions of a Standard Definition film are released on cable channels such as STARZ or HBO, and they would be the only HD copies of that specific film available. These are generally MKV or MP4 container.

• HDTV-2160p - TVRip is a capture source from an capture card. HDTV stands for captured source from HD television. With an HDTV source, the quality can sometimes even surpass DVD. Movies in this format are starting to grow in popularity. Some advertisement and commercial banner can be seen on some releases during playback. This is at 2160p (4K) quality.

• Raw-HD - Uncompressed HD footage, these may vary in resolution but are completely lossless. These generally come from the studio itself, processed from uncompressed clips sent between the color correction station and the editing station.

• REGIONAL - <--------------------- Needs definition

• Remux-1080p - A remux is a rip of a Blu-ray or HD DVD disc to another container format or just stripping the disc of menus and bonus material while keeping the contents of its audio and video streams intact (also keeping the current codecs), guaranteeing the exact 1:1 movie quality as on original disc. This is at 1080p quality.

• Remux-2160p - A remux is a rip of a Blu-ray or HD DVD disc to another container format or just stripping the disc of menus and bonus material while keeping the contents of its audio and video streams intact (also keeping the current codecs), guaranteeing the exact 1:1 movie quality as on original disc. This is at 2160p (4K) quality.

• SDTV - Post air rips from an analog source (usually cable television or OTA standard definition). The image quality is generally good (for the resolution) and they are usually encoded in DivX/XviD or MP4.

• TELECINE - A telecine machine copies the film digitally from the reels. Sound and picture should be very good, but due to the equipment and cost involved telecines are fairly uncommon. Generally, the film will be in correct aspect ratio, although 4:3 telecines have existed. TC should not be confused with TimeCode, which is a visible counter on screen throughout the film.

• TELESYNC - is the same spec as a CAM except it uses an external audio source (most likely an audio jack in the chair for the disabled). A direct audio source does not guarantee good quality audio, as a lot of background noise can interfere. Sometimes a telesync is filmed in an empty cinema or from the projection booth with a professional camera, giving better picture quality. Quality ranges drastically. A high percentage of telesyncs are CAMs that have been mislabeled.

• Unknown - Self Explanatory

• WEBDL-480p - WEB-DL (P2P) refers to a file losslessly ripped from a streaming service, such as Netflix, Amazon Video, Hulu, Crunchyroll, Discovery GO, BBC iPlayer, etc., or downloaded via an online distribution website such as iTunes. The quality is quite good, since they are not reencoded. The video (H.264 or H.265) and audio (AC3/AAC) streams are usually extracted from the iTunes or Amazon Video and remuxed into a MKV container without sacrificing quality. An advantage with these releases is that, like BD/DVDRips, they usually have no onscreen network logos. These are nearly as good as a Blu-ray source but can suffer from audio lag or visual artifacts from the adaptive bitrate of streaming services. If a ripper's internet connection drops to a point where the bitrate lowers, the source bitrate could change dynamically, causing variations in picture quality. Most releases that suffer from an extreme amount of visual artifacts are NUKED and a PROPER is generally released to fix any wild variations in adaptive bitrate. This will be in 480p (SD) quality.

• WEBDL-720p - WEB-DL (P2P) refers to a file losslessly ripped from a streaming service, such as Netflix, Amazon Video, Hulu, Crunchyroll, Discovery GO, BBC iPlayer, etc., or downloaded via an online distribution website such as iTunes. The quality is quite good, since they are not reencoded. The video (H.264 or H.265) and audio (AC3/AAC) streams are usually extracted from the iTunes or Amazon Video and remuxed into a MKV container without sacrificing quality. An advantage with these releases is that, like BD/DVDRips, they usually have no onscreen network logos. These are nearly as good as a Blu-ray source but can suffer from audio lag or visual artifacts from the adaptive bitrate of streaming services. If a ripper's internet connection drops to a point where the bitrate lowers, the source bitrate could change dynamically, causing variations in picture quality. Most releases that suffer from an extreme amount of visual artifacts are NUKED and a PROPER is generally released to fix any wild variations in adaptive bitrate. This will be in 720p quality.

• WEBDL-1080p - WEB-DL (P2P) refers to a file losslessly ripped from a streaming service, such as Netflix, Amazon Video, Hulu, Crunchyroll, Discovery GO, BBC iPlayer, etc., or downloaded via an online distribution website such as iTunes. The quality is quite good, since they are not reencoded. The video (H.264 or H.265) and audio (AC3/AAC) streams are usually extracted from the iTunes or Amazon Video and remuxed into a MKV container without sacrificing quality. An advantage with these releases is that, like BD/DVDRips, they usually have no onscreen network logos. These are nearly as good as a Blu-ray source but can suffer from audio lag or visual artifacts from the adaptive bitrate of streaming services. If a ripper's internet connection drops to a point where the bitrate lowers, the source bitrate could change dynamically, causing variations in picture quality. Most releases that suffer from an extreme amount of visual artifacts are NUKED and a PROPER is generally released to fix any wild variations in adaptive bitrate. This will be in 1080p quality.

• WEBDL-2160p - WEB-DL (P2P) refers to a file losslessly ripped from a streaming service, such as Netflix, Amazon Video, Hulu, Crunchyroll, Discovery GO, BBC iPlayer, etc., or downloaded via an online distribution website such as iTunes. The quality is quite good, since they are not reencoded. The video (H.264 or H.265) and audio (AC3/AAC) streams are usually extracted from the iTunes or Amazon Video and remuxed into a MKV container without sacrificing quality. An advantage with these releases is that, like BD/DVDRips, they usually have no onscreen network logos. These are nearly as good as a Blu-ray source but can suffer from audio lag or visual artifacts from the adaptive bitrate of streaming services. If a ripper's internet connection drops to a point where the bitrate lowers, the source bitrate could change dynamically, causing variations in picture quality. Most releases that suffer from an extreme amount of visual artifacts are NUKED and a PROPER is generally released to fix any wild variations in adaptive bitrate. This will be in 2160p (4K) quality.

• WEBRip-480p - In a WEB-Rip (P2P), the file is often extracted using the HLS or RTMP/E protocols and remuxed from a TS, MP4 or FLV container to MKV. This will be in 480p (SD) quality.

• WEBRip-720p - In a WEB-Rip (P2P), the file is often extracted using the HLS or RTMP/E protocols and remuxed from a TS, MP4 or FLV container to MKV. This will be in 720p quality.

• WEBRip-1080p - In a WEB-Rip (P2P), the file is often extracted using the HLS or RTMP/E protocols and remuxed from a TS, MP4 or FLV container to MKV. This will be in 1080p quality.

• WEBRip-2160p - In a WEB-Rip (P2P), the file is often extracted using the HLS or RTMP/E protocols and remuxed from a TS, MP4 or FLV container to MKV. This will be in 2160p (4k) quality.

• WORKPRINT - A workprint of a film generally contains timecode and usually has watermarks from the studio involved in the production of the film. These "proxy" copies of a film often go between the editorial and visual effects departments of the film crew. A workprint may be of any resolution, but are generally lower quality versions of the film used to show progress on the editorial or post-production process. Therefore, these may not be at all the same as a theatrical version of the film, and may be missing many of the visual effects or audio that end up making it to the theatrical release.

Audio Qualities

• AAC-192 - An AAC file with a 192 kbps bitrate
• AAC-256 - An AAC file with a 256 kbps bitrate
• AAC-320 - An AAC file with a 320 kbps bitrate
• AAC-VBR - An AAC file with a variable bitrate
• ALAC - Audio file created with the Apple Lossless Audio Codec (ALAC); used for storing digital music losslessly without losing any sound quality from the original audio data; differs from lossy audio codecs such as AAC.
• APE - Audio file compressed using Monkey's Audio lossless compression algorithm; includes error detection and support for tags that store information about audio files; sometimes created with .CUE files to comprise an audio CD image.
• FLAC - A FLAC file is an audio file compressed in the Free Lossless Audio Codec (FLAC) format, which is an open source lossless audio compression format. It is similar to a .MP3 file, but is compressed without any loss in quality or loss of any original audio data.
• FLAC 24bit - A FLAC file with 24-bit encoding, allowing a much wider dynamic range than CD, and sampling rates all the way up to 192kHz
• MP3-8 - A MP3 file with a 8 kbps bitrate
• MP3-16 - A MP3 file with a 16 kbps bitrate
• MP3-24 - A MP3 file with a 24 kbps bitrate
• MP3-32 - A MP3 file with a 32 kbps bitrate
• MP3-40 - A MP3 file with a 40 kbps bitrate
• MP3-48 - A MP3 file with a 48 kbps bitrate
• MP3-56 - A MP3 file with a 56 kbps bitrate
• MP3-64 - A MP3 file with a 64 kbps bitrate
• MP3-80 - A MP3 file with a 80 kbps bitrate
• MP3-96 - A MP3 file with a 96 kbps bitrate
• MP3-112 - A MP3 file with a 112 kbps bitrate
• MP3-128 - A MP3 file with a 128 kbps bitrate
• MP3-160 - A MP3 file with a 160 kbps bitrate
• MP3-192 - A MP3 file with a 192 kbps bitrate
• MP3-224 - A MP3 file with a 224 kbps bitrate
• MP3-256 - A MP3 file with a 256 kbps bitrate
• MP3-320 - An MP3 file with a 320 kbps bitrate
• MP3-VBR-V0 - An MP3 file with a variable bitrate (version 0)
• MP3-VBR-V2 - An MP3 file with a variable bitrate (version 2)
• OGG Vorbis Q5 - An OOG file with an 160 kbps bitrate
• OGG Vorbis Q6 - An OOG file with a 192 kbps bitrate
• OGG Vorbis Q7 - An OOG file with a 224 kbps bitrate
• OGG Vorbis Q8 - An OOG file with a 256 kbps bitrate
• OGG Vorbis Q9 - An OOG file with a 320 kbps bitrate
• OGG Vorbis Q10 - An OOG file with a 500 kbps bitrate
• Unknown - Self Explanatory
• WavPack - WavPack compresses high-quality audio to between thirty and seventy percent and supports both mono and stereo audio ranging from 8 to 32 bits. Typically these are audio files in an .WV container
• WAV - A WAV file is an audio file saved in the WAVE format, which is a standard digital audio file format utilized for storing waveform data. WAV files may contain audio recordings with different sampling rates and bitrates but are often saved in a 44.1 KHz, 16-bit, stereo format, which is the standard format used for CD audio.
• WMA - A WMA file is an audio file saved in the Advanced Systems Format (ASF) proprietary format developed by Microsoft. It contains Windows Media Audio and metadata objects such as the title, artist, album, and genre of the track. WMA files are similar to .MP3 files and primarily used for streaming music from the web.

eBook Qualities

• Unknown - Self Explanatory
• PDF - A PDF file is a multi-platform document created by Adobe Acrobat or another PDF application. The PDF format is commonly used for saving documents and publications in a standard format that can be viewed on multiple platforms. In many cases, PDF files are created from existing documents instead of from scratch. With that being said PDF isn't a book format it is originally designed as a printing format so a lot of features you'll find with other formats will not be available.
• MOBI - A MOBI file is an eBook saved in the MOBI format, a format originally used by the Mobipocket Reader but now supported by several different readers. It contains an eBook and may incorporate DRM copyright protection to prevent copying or unauthorized viewing. MOBI files are supported by various eReaders, tablets, PDAs, and desktop computer applications.
• EPUB - An EPUB file is a digital ebook saved in the EPUB format, an open XML-based format for digital books and publications. It provides a standard digital publication format for publishers and consumers. EPUB files can be viewed with supporting software programs and hardware devices, such as the Amazon Kindle and Barnes & Noble NOOK.
• AZW3 - An AZW3 file is an eBook created in the Kindle Format 8 (KF8), Amazon's successor to the .AZW format. It supports newer features such as HTML5 and CSS3 support as well as many other formatting capabilities. AZW3 files often include DRM protection and are used as the download format for many Amazon eBooks.