OK I've downloaded GOM Encoder and given it a shot. Here are my comments in order of discovery:

- It is only a Beta, and a Demo [puts a watermark on the first 10 seconds of video]
- It uses the term "Keyframe" under the AVC encoder. AVC video doesn't have keyframes, only ASP video does [DivX, XviD, etc] which is the predecessor to AVC. AVC takes the IBP frames and GOP length to make psuedo keyframes
- The AAC encoder is confusing, what the hell is Quality 30 @ 192kbps compared to Quality 100 @ 192kbps???
- "Create an MP4 file that's playable on the PSP" option worries me. Only pre-2.80 firmwares needed a special container, after that they were 100% compatible with the AVC ISO standard [with some restrictions of course due to the portable/low power nature of the PSP eg max level 3, etc]. I unticked that because then it wouldnt be playable on 360, Quicktime/Apple devices, etc.
- Doesn't support 640x480 with a pixel ratio of 16:9 which is what I REALLY LIKE TO USE. Why? It's a good high resolution, and even though its a 4:3 resolution any display that has a 16:9 screen will draw it properly without having to press "screen mode" or "zoom" on the TV/console, and anything that Isn't 4:3 will still draw in letterbox [the black bars]. It's extremely handy.
- Doesn't support changing of quantizations or reference frame count. I assume it does all this for you according to the "Keyframe" so im going to set Keyframe to "1 second".
- Has nowhere near the power of TMPGEnc in regards to subtitle burning, filters, plugins, etc. BUT the Winamp DSP support is actually pretty cool on the audio side of things.

I encoded the same video as I have been in my tests and with all settings as close as I could between the two. Here were the results:
- Encoding actually took about 30 seconds longer for me. But its Beta so i guess that's not an issue. And of course that's not much difference - im sure it varies from computer to computer dramatically.
- Fastforwarding and rewinding with my player and decoder [Media Player Classic Homecinema, Cyberlink H.264 decoder with nVidia PureVideo SD/HD GPU Acceleration] didn't work. I've experienced this with other MP4 encoders when trying to play them on the PC.
- The quality was, yes, actually pretty good. But it was ~700kb bigger than the file TMPGEnc produced? The Audio and Video were the same quality so I'm a little confused. It handled motion a little better, but dark scenes a little worse. [Less blocking in the super fast shooting scene, but more blocking on the sneaking in the dark scene].

AFTER ANALYSING with AVInaptic i found that the GOM Encoder outputs an "Apple QuickTime movie" container as opposed to "MP4/MOV" container. Odd.


Regardless, thanks a lot for your suggestion blessedhands. Even though I'll pass on GOM Encoder as I don't want to pay for it, you have made me realize that the MainConcept/TMPGEnc encoder might not be the best after all! I am going to spend a few more days researching this ;) peace