The community-standard TRaSH Guides have a specific opinion on x265 usage, which they've termed the "Golden Rule":
Enter (also known as HEVC or High Efficiency Video Coding). This video compression standard offers the same visual quality as x264 but at roughly half the file size.
Since x265 files are typically smaller than x264 files at the same quality, you may need to lower your Size Limits in Settings > Quality . If your limits are too high, Sonarr might reject valid, high-quality x265 releases because they are "too small". Key Considerations Collection of Custom Formats for Sonarr - TRaSH Guides sonarr prefer x265
: Assign a positive value (e.g., +100 ) to your x265 format.
Sonarr adds up all the scores. A release tagged x265 gets +100. A release tagged x264 gets 0. An x265 release with DTS-HD (which you might score at +50) gets 150. The community-standard TRaSH Guides have a specific opinion
In the world of automated media management, balancing high-quality video with storage efficiency is a constant struggle. As libraries grow, the demand for better compression without sacrificing visual fidelity becomes paramount. This is where —the popular automated TV show downloader—comes into play, particularly when using Custom Formats (CF) to prefer x265 (HEVC) encoded files over the older x264 standard.
To achieve a true workflow, you must respect Sonarr's quality hierarchy. Here are two effective strategies: If your limits are too high, Sonarr might
If you already have a massive library of x264 files and don't want to re-download everything, is your best friend. It's a cross-platform tool that can automatically scan and transcode your entire library from x264 to x265 , shrinking your storage footprint automatically.
Older streaming devices (like old smart TVs or budget streaming sticks) cannot decode x265 hardware-side.
Sonarr prioritizes Quality (e.g., Bluray-1080p vs. WEB-DL 1080p) before checking Custom Format scores. If you want x265 regardless of quality, you may need to group your qualities together in the profile.
A common issue encountered when prioritizing x265 is the structural quality hierarchy within Sonarr. By default, Sonarr values source quality tags (like Bluray-1080p , WEBDL-1080p , and WebRip-1080p ) over codec choices.