MainProfile@HighLevel, also referred to as MP@HL is the standard profile used to encode high definition MPEG-2 video. It's also the highest profile supported by most consumer grade hardware and software. MP@HL is commonly used for HDTV signals in formats ranging from cable and satellite television to Over The Air (OTA) broadcasts. Early Blu-ray movie releases were also commonly encoded with this profile, although more recent Blu-ray releases, as well as a growing number of HDTV broadcasts have dropped MPEG-2 encoding entirely in favor of MPEG-4 AVC's higher compression and generally higher quality at high resolutions.
MP@HL supports progressive video with resolutions up to 1280x720 and framerates up to 60fps. Interlaced video is also supported, with resolutions up to 1920x1080 and framrates up to 30fps.
The maximum bitrate allowed is 80Mbps (80 million bits per second).
Not all MPEG-2 encoders support MP@HL. In particular, those designed specifically for DVD encoding may not support it.
Related guides:
Digital Video Fundamentals - MPEG-2 Encoding
Digital Video Fundamentals - Lossy Video Compression
How to Play MPG and MPEG files
TMPGEnc 4 - MPEG-2 and MPEG-1 Video Settings
HC Encoder Settings
MainProfile@HighLevel
Related glossary terms
