This is the professional way to handle x265. It allows you to score x265 releases positively while penalizing low-quality releases. Note: This requires the "Custom Formats" feature, which is available in newer versions of Sonarr (v3/v4).
To make Sonarr prefer x265 (HEVC) releases without strictly requiring them, you should use (in v4) or Release Profiles (in v3) to assign a positive "score" to those terms . How to set up x265 preference
: Smaller files download faster and reduce data usage on capped internet connections. sonarr prefer x265
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Purpose: Identify releases whose release title contains encoder/codec hints (x265, HEVC, 10bit, HDR terms). Sonarr can match custom formats to release titles for scoring. This is the professional way to handle x265
If you are running Sonarr v3, media preferences are handled via . This system applies global tags and scores to specific text strings found in release titles. Step-by-Step Setup Open Sonarr and go to Settings > Profiles . Scroll down to the Release Profiles section. Click the + (Add New) button. Name the profile Prefer x265 .
If your server lacks hardware transcoding and your playback devices are old, sticking with x264 might be safer. However, if your clients are modern, x265 is the clear winner. How to Configure Sonarr to Prefer x265 To make Sonarr prefer x265 (HEVC) releases without
If two files have the same Quality (e.g., both are Bluray-1080p), Sonarr will now choose the one with the higher Custom Format score. Alternative: Release Profiles (Sonarr v3)
Add a specification to identify the video codec. The easiest way is to add a condition: Condition: Release Title Value: (?i)x265|hevc Click Save .
The excellent TRaSH Guides has a "Golden Rule" for codec selection: 720/1080p => x264 and 2160p/4k => x265 . The reasoning is that poorly encoded x265 files from low-quality sources (like a re-encode of an x264 file) can look terrible, nullifying any potential benefits. While many casual users love x265 for its size, aiming for high-quality rips from reliable release groups is the path to an optimized media server.