Sorry to stray from the current topic of encoding, and especially sorry to bring the issue of video quality for ANH back up (especially because I'm the only one seemingly of this opinion), but...
<flogging a dead horse>
I was reviewing the tweaked pics and vids from a few pages back, and I can't help but feel the tweaked images are too dark. Aside from feeling that the overall image looks a bit "off," I find there's a loss of detail from the darkened image (see circled portions below):
I've looked at these on at least 3 different monitors now, and I keep seeing the same thing. If I'm alone in thinking this, I'll gladly shut up and trust in everyone else's judgement, but I just wanted to throw it out there again for consideration.
That said, I'd just like to reiterate that I still think the image quality is leaps and bounds over any other GOUT version. And, seeing as how you're the one actually doing all the work DJ, I realize it's your opinion and no one else's that matters at the end of the day.
</flogging a dead horse>