Doubts about using VBR and the graphic hardware

[Cyberian]

Hi to all ...

First of all, i want to apologize for my badly written, because i'm not from an English country.
And my written is rusty.

Now... who can enlighten me in a big doubt about media "VIDEO" files, with BITRATE in VBR.

I'm in a great debate with some ppl...

That i say a VIDEO File with a BITRATE in VBR, the encoder changes the amount of BITRATE necessary,
that the encoder will analyze the maximum BITRATE capability that the hardware can handle,
depending on the characteristics of the graphic hardware, that the specific equipment uses.
Of course, taking into account the maximum and minimum BITRATE (VBR).

And everyone else says that i'm wrong, is the encoder how does that from himself.
Without having to analyze absolutely no hardware at all.

And then i counter argued that it's ridiculous, because otherwise i would get the same quality with a weak graphics card (500mb DDR)
compared to another more reasonable graphics card (1GB or 2GB DDR).
And the ENCODER it will not use the same amount of BITRATE in VBR, in different graphic cards.

Now i need your help with this, am i right or wrong?

I do not want to offend anyone, but please guys i need a concrete answer, rather than personal explanations. Please.

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[NOTE: Re-Edit by changing the sentence "theoretical explanations" to "personal explanations"]

[Lotesdelere]

the encoder will analyze the maximum BITRATE capability that the hardware can handle, depending on the characteristics of the graphic hardware, that the specific equipment uses.

The encoder has no way to know on which kind of hardware the video will be played back.
However you can force the encoder to stay within some specifications limits (e.g.: Certified DivX device for MPEG-4 ASP, DVD for MPEG-2, Blu-ray for H.264) but the encoder won't do that on its own, you have to tell it what the limits are, if any.

When encoding using VBR you specify a level of quality and the encoder will do its best according to this level, ignoring the hardware the video is being encoded on. And, of course, as said before, the hardware used for playback which is unknown at this stage.
At the end, the video will have a variable bitrate which won't change depending on the playback hardware. So some hardware may struggle to playback the video (for instance an older PC in software mode) whilst it will be easy for some other hardware (recent PC using DXVA).

[Cyberian]

Thanks... Lotesdelere

That was exactly what i need to now.
So if i play the same video file, in different P.C., different graphic cards,...

Exp.
File Format: MKV
File Size: 5 Gb
File RunTime: 2hours
File Overall BitRate: 6000 kbps VBR
File Resolution: 1920x800
File Codec: AVC - H264
File Audio: DTS 6ch 1509 Kbps

This file will have the same quality??
Whatever the limitations of the Graphic Card?

I'm screwed, i'll have to take the plunge to all the ppl

[Lotesdelere]

File Overall BitRate: 6000 kbps VBR
File Resolution: 1920x800
File Codec: AVC - H264

The quality of the file is there. If proper encoder settings have been used then it should be a high quality file. And this will not change.

The playback depends on the hardware, not only the graphics card but also the speed of the CPU, the quality of the motherboard, of the RAM modules, of the screen, etc. But the file itself will remain the same in any case.

[Cyberian]

Yes... That's what i've being trying to tell to the ppl...

But they say... That's not true because the hardware does not have any importance when the video file is being processed
while it's being played, regardless the capacity of the machine specifications.

That's all about the debate i'm into.

And i also stated that if the machine is from poor hardware specifications.
The program/encoder can lower the BITRATE VBR to compensate the VIDEO processing in the Graphic card.

I'm wrong??!

[Lotesdelere]

And i also stated that if the machine is from poor hardware specifications.
The program/encoder can lower the BITRATE VBR to compensate the VIDEO processing in the Graphic card.

I already answered that: NO.

[Cyberian]

Thanks, Lotesdelere...

And i am sorry for not having caught your first explanation.

Once again Thanks.