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Set up quality profiles

This guide explains Cinephage's quality system and how to configure quality profiles and Custom Formats for intelligent release selection.

Goal​

Configure how Cinephage scores and selects releases, including upgrade behavior and custom format rules.

Prerequisites​

  • Cinephage installed and running
  • Basic understanding of video formats (resolution, codecs, sources)

Understanding Quality in Cinephage​

Cinephage uses a scoring-based quality system rather than simple quality levels. Each release is scored based on multiple factors:

Scoring factors​

Cinephage considers 50+ factors when scoring releases:

Resolution (Base Score):

  • 2160p (4K): 100 points
  • 1080p: 80 points
  • 720p: 50 points
  • 480p: 20 points

Source Quality:

  • BluRay: +40 points
  • WEB-DL: +30 points
  • HDTV: +10 points
  • DVD: +5 points

Codec Efficiency:

  • H.265/HEVC: +20 points
  • AV1: +25 points
  • H.264: +0 points
  • MPEG-2: -10 points

HDR Formats:

  • Dolby Vision: +30 points
  • HDR10+: +20 points
  • HDR10: +15 points
  • SDR: +0 points

Audio Quality:

  • Dolby Atmos: +25 points
  • DTS-HD MA: +20 points
  • TrueHD: +15 points
  • AAC: +5 points

Release Group Reputation:

  • Trusted groups: +10 to +20 points
  • Unknown groups: +0 points
  • Avoided groups: -20 points

Part 1: Understanding Built-in Profiles​

Cinephage includes four default quality profiles:

Quality profile​

Goal: Maximum quality regardless of size

Behavior:

  • Prefers 4K with HDR
  • Upgrades until reaching cutoff
  • Cutoff: 2160p BluRay with Dolby Vision

Best for: Users with unlimited storage and high-bandwidth displays

Balanced profile​

Goal: Good quality with reasonable file sizes

Behavior:

  • Prefers 1080p WEB-DL
  • Balances quality and size
  • Cutoff: 1080p BluRay

Best for: Most users with average storage and bandwidth

Compact profile​

Goal: Smallest acceptable quality

Behavior:

  • Prefers 720p HDTV
  • Avoids large file sizes
  • Cutoff: 720p WEB-DL

Best for: Limited storage or bandwidth

Streamer profile​

Goal: Streaming-optimized quality

Behavior:

  • Prefers 1080p HEVC
  • Efficient codecs for streaming
  • Cutoff: 1080p HEVC WEB-DL

Best for: Users who primarily stream content

Part 2: Configure Default Profiles​

Step 1: set default movie profile​

  1. Go to Settings > Profiles
  2. Under Default Movie Profile, select a profile:
    • Quality
    • Balanced
    • Compact
    • Streamer
  3. Click Save

Step 2: set default TV profile​

  1. Under Default TV Profile, select a profile
  2. Click Save

Step 3: apply to existing items​

To apply the new default to existing library items:

  1. Go to Library > Movies (or TV)
  2. Select items to update (or select all)
  3. Click Edit button
  4. Change Quality Profile to desired profile
  5. Click Save

Part 3: Understanding Upgrade Behavior​

Cutoff quality​

The cutoff is the quality threshold where upgrades stop:

  • Cinephage downloads the best available release
  • If a better release appears, it upgrades
  • Upgrades continue until reaching the cutoff
  • Once cutoff is reached, no more upgrades

Example with Balanced profile:

  1. First download: 720p HDTV (score: 60)
  2. Upgrade found: 1080p WEB-DL (score: 110)
  3. Upgrade found: 1080p BluRay (score: 120) - CUTOFF REACHED
  4. No more upgrades even if 4K available

Upgrade until​

Configure cutoff in profile settings:

  1. Go to Settings > Profiles
  2. Click Edit on a profile
  3. Under Cutoff, select the quality to stop at:
    • Any - Never stop upgrading
    • 1080p BluRay - Stop at 1080p BluRay
    • 2160p WEB-DL - Stop at 4K WEB-DL
    • Custom selection

Prevent resolution downgrades​

When enabled, Prevent Resolution Downgrades stops Cinephage from replacing an existing file with one at a lower resolution, even if the lower-resolution release scores higher overall due to custom format bonuses.

Enabled by default

All built-in profiles and newly created custom profiles have this option enabled by default.

Example:

  • You have a 1080p file
  • A 720p release appears with a high custom format score
  • With prevent downgrades on - the 720p release is skipped
  • With prevent downgrades off - the 720p release could replace your 1080p file

To configure:

  1. Go to Settings > Profiles
  2. Click Edit on a profile
  3. Toggle Prevent Resolution Downgrades
  4. Click Save

Part 4: Create Custom Formats​

Custom formats let you define rules for specific release characteristics.

Example 1: prefer x265/hevc​

Create a format that boosts HEVC releases:

  1. Go to Settings > Quality
  2. Click Add Custom Format
  3. Configure:
    • Name: x265 Boost
    • Score: +20
    • Conditions:
      • Contains: x265 OR HEVC OR H.265
      • Does NOT contain: HDR (optional)
  4. Click Save

Example 2: avoid cam releases​

Block CAM and TS releases:

  1. Click Add Custom Format
  2. Configure:
    • Name: Block CAM
    • Score: -1000 (negative = block)
    • Conditions:
      • Contains: CAM OR TS OR TC OR SCR
  3. Click Save

Example 3: prefer specific groups​

Boost trusted release groups:

  1. Click Add Custom Format
  2. Configure:
    • Name: Trusted Groups
    • Score: +15
    • Conditions:
      • Contains: -SPARKS OR -DON OR -NTb
  3. Click Save

Example 4: require HDR​

Only accept HDR content:

  1. Click Add Custom Format
  2. Configure:
    • Name: Require HDR
    • Score: -1000
    • Conditions:
      • Does NOT contain: HDR OR DV OR DoVi
  3. Click Save

Part 5: Apply Custom Formats to Profiles​

After creating Custom Formats, apply them to quality profiles:

  1. Go to Settings > Profiles
  2. Click Edit on a profile
  3. Scroll to Custom Formats
  4. Check formats to apply:
    • Positive scores boost matching releases
    • Negative scores penalize or block releases
  5. Click Save

Part 6: Test Custom Formats​

Test your formats against real release names:

  1. Go to Settings > Quality
  2. Click Test on a custom format
  3. Enter a release name: 
    Inception.2010.2160p.UHD.BluRay.x265.DTS-HD.MA.5.1-SPARKS
  4. See score breakdown:
    • Base score: 100 (2160p)
    • Source: +40 (BluRay)
    • Codec: +20 (x265)
    • Audio: +20 (DTS-HD MA)
    • Custom: +15 (SPARKS group)
    • Total: 195

Part 7: Advanced Custom Format Conditions​

Condition types​

Contains:

Matches if release name contains text
Example: Contains "x265"
Matches: "Movie.2023.1080p.x265.mkv"

Does Not Contain:

Matches if release name does NOT contain text
Example: Does NOT contain "CAM"
Matches: "Movie.2023.1080p.BluRay.mkv"
Does NOT match: "Movie.2023.CAM.mkv"

Matches Regex:

Advanced pattern matching
Example: Matches regex "\d{4}" (4 digits)
Matches: "Movie.2023.1080p.mkv"

Size Constraints:

Min/Max file size
Example: Min 2GB, Max 10GB

Combining conditions​

Use AND and OR logic:

AND Example (All must match):

  • Contains "x265"
  • Contains "HDR"
  • Does NOT contain "CAM"

OR Example (Any can match):

  • Contains "x265" OR
  • Contains "HEVC" OR
  • Contains "H.265"

Troubleshooting​

Upgrades not happening​

Problem: Better releases available but not upgrading

Solutions:

  • Check cutoff is not already reached
  • Verify monitoring is enabled
  • Check upgrade monitoring task is running
  • Ensure better release has higher score

Wrong quality downloaded​

Problem: Lower quality downloaded when better available

Solutions:

  • Check indexer priority
  • Verify custom format scores
  • Check if better release was filtered out
  • Review blocklist for the better release

Custom format not matching​

Problem: Format should match but does not

Solutions:

  • Test format with actual release name
  • Check for case sensitivity
  • Verify condition logic (AND vs OR)
  • Use regex for complex patterns

Releases being blocked​

Problem: Releases you want are being rejected

Solutions:

  • Check Custom Formats with negative scores
  • Review quality profile minimums
  • Check blocklist for entries
  • Verify indexer categories

Release rejected due to unknown size​

Problem: A release is rejected with "Release size unknown; cannot verify against configured size limits"

Cause: Your quality profile has minimum or maximum file size limits configured, but the indexer did not report a file size for this release. Cinephage rejects it rather than downloading blindly.

Solutions:

  • If the release is trustworthy, temporarily remove the size limits from your profile, grab it manually, then restore the limits
  • Use an indexer that reports file sizes in search results
  • Remove size limits from the profile if you no longer need them

Same item downloaded multiple times​

Problem: Cinephage keeps re-grabbing the same media after a failed download

Cause: A 1-hour cooldown is applied to failed downloads, so re-grab attempts are held off for 60 minutes. If downloads are still looping after an hour, check the Activity log for the specific failure reason - it is usually a download client misconfiguration or a bad release.

Best Practices​

Start simple​

Begin with built-in profiles:

  • Use them as-is for initial setup
  • Modify gradually as you learn the system

Document your rules​

Keep notes on what each custom format does:

  • Name formats descriptively
  • Add comments if supported
  • Document why scores are set certain ways

Test before applying​

Always test Custom Formats:

  • Use real release names
  • Check score calculations
  • Verify logic works as expected

Monitor performance​

Watch how your profiles perform:

  • Check what qualities are being downloaded
  • Review upgrade patterns
  • Adjust scores based on results

Next Steps​

Now that quality profiles are configured:

See Also​