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# How to setup Custom Formats

So what's the best way to setup the Custom Profiles and which one to use with which scores?

There isn't a best setup, being that everyone has their own personal preferences. Some prefer high quality audio, others high quality video. Many prefer both.

Here I will try to explain with some personal used examples how to make the most use of Custom Formats that you can use to get an idea how to setup yours.

Attention

All the used scores and combination of Custom Formats in this Guide are tested to get the desired results and prevent download loops as much as possible.

From experience most of the time when people change scores or leave out certain CF that work together they end up with undesired results.

If you're unsure or have questions do not hesitate to ask for help on Discord

## Basics

After you've added the Custom Formats, as explained in How to import Custom Formats. You will need to set it up in the quality Profile you want to use/prefer to make use of the Custom Formats.

`Settings` => `Profiles`

Sonarr Custom Formats can be set per profile and isn't global

Select the profile that you want to use/prefer.

1. Profile name.
2. Allow upgrades. Sonarr will stop upgrading quality once (3) is met.
3. Upgrade until the selected quality.
4. The `Minimum Custom Format Score` allowed to download. More Info
5. Keep upgrading Custom Format until this score is reached. (setting this to `0` means no upgrades will happen based on Custom Formats)

At the bottom in your chosen profile you will see the added Custom Formats where you can start setting up the scores.

Screenshot example - [CLICK TO EXPAND]

Attention

These screenshots are just examples to show you how it should look and where you need to place the data that you need to add, they aren't always a 100% reflection of the actual data and not always 100% up to date with the actual data you need to add.

- Always follow the data described in the guide.
- If you got any questions or aren't sure just click the chat badge to join the Discord Channel where you can ask your questions directly.

Keep in mind Custom Formats are made to fine tune your Quality Profile.
Generally, quality trumps all

Custom formats are controlled by Quality Profiles.

- The Upgrade Until score prevents upgrading once a release with this desired score has been downloaded.
- A score of 0 results in the custom format being informational only.
- The Minimum score requires releases to reach this threshold otherwise they will be rejected.
- Custom formats that match with undesirable attributes should be given a negative score to lower their appeal.
- Outright rejections should be given a negative score low enough that even if all of the other formats with positive scores were added, the score would still fall below the minimum.

### Sonarr current logic

Sonarr current logic - [CLICK TO EXPAND]

As of 2021-11-06 the logic is as follows:

The Current logic on how downloads are compared is Quality Trumps All

1. Quality
2. Language
3. Preferred Word Score
4. Protocol
5. Episode Count
6. Episode Number
7. Indexer Priority
8. Seeds/Peers (If Torrent)
9. Age (If Usenet)
10. Size

Source: Wiki Servarr

REPACKS and PROPERs are v2 of Qualities and thus rank above a non-repack of the same quality.

`Settings` => `Media Management` => `File Management` => `Proper & Repacks` Change to `Do Not Prefer` and use a preferred word regex of `/\b(repack|proper)\b/i`

## Examples

Here I will explain how to make the most use of Custom Formats and show you some personal examples that I'm using. You can use these to get an idea on how to setup your own.

All these examples make use of the Collection of Custom Formats

Attention

All the used scores and combination of Custom Formats in this Guide are tested to get the desired results and prevent download loops as much as possible.

From experience most of the time when people change scores or leave out certain CF that work together they end up with undesired results.

If you're unsure or have questions do not hesitate to ask for help on Discord

### Releases you should avoid

This is a must have for every Quality Profile you use in my opinion. All these Custom Formats make sure you don't get Low Quality Releases.

Unwanted - [CLICK TO EXPAND]

Custom Format | Score | Trash ID
--- | --- | ---
BR-DISK | -10000 | 85c61753df5da1fb2aab6f2a47426b09
LQ | -10000 | 9c11cd3f07101cdba90a2d81cf0e56b4
x265 (HD) | -10000 | 47435ece6b99a0b477caf360e79ba0bb
x265 (no HDR/DV) | -10000 | 9b64dff695c2115facf1b6ea59c9bd07
No-RlsGroup | -10000 | 82d40da2bc6923f41e14394075dd4b03
Obfuscated | -10000 | e1a997ddb54e3ecbfe06341ad323c458
Retags | -10000 | 06d66ab109d4d2eddb2794d21526d140
Bad Dual Groups | -10000 | 32b367365729d530ca1c124a0b180c64
DV (WEBDL) | ?????? | 9b27ab6498ec0f31a3353992e19434ca

Breakdown and Why

- BR-DISK : This is a custom format to help Sonarr recognize & ignore BR-DISK (ISO's and Blu-ray folder structure) in addition to the standard BR-DISK quality.
- LQ: A collection of known Low Quality groups that are often banned from the the top trackers because the lack of quality or other reasons.

- x265 (HD): This blocks/ignores 720/1080p (HD) releases that are encoded in x265. - More info HERE.

  Don't use this together with the following Custom Format x265 (no HDR/DV)

- x265 (no HDR/DV): This blocks/ignores 720/1080p (HD) releases that are encoded in x265. - More info HERE.

  but it will allow to exclude/bypass if it has HDR and/or DV

  Being that some NF releases won't be released as 4k, but you want to have DV/HDR releases.

  In your quality profile use the following score for this Custom Format: `-10000`

  Don't use this together with the following Custom Format x265 (HD)

- No-RlsGroup: [Optional] Some indexers strip out the release group what could result in LQ groups getting a higher score. For example a lot of EVO releases end up stripping the group name, so they appear as "upgrades", and they end up getting a decent score if other things match.

- Obfuscated: [Optional] (use these only if you dislike renamed releases)
- Retags: [Optional] (use these only if you dislike retagged releases)
- Bad Dual Groups: [Optional] These groups take the original release, then they add their own preferred language (ex. Portuguese) as the main audio track (AAC 2.0), What results after renaming and FFprobe that the media file will be recognized as Portuguese AAC audio. It's a common rule that you add the best audio as first. Also they often even rename the release name in to Portuguese.

- DV (WEBDL): This is a special Custom Format that Block WEBDL with Dolby Vision but without HDR10 fallback.

  This Custom Format works together with the normal DV Custom Format that you can use to prefer Dolby Vision.

  Most WEBDL from Streaming Services don't have the fallback to HDR10, What can results in playback issues like weird colors if you want to play it on a not Dolby Vision compatible setup.

  Remuxes and Bluray have a fallback to HDR10.

  Hint

  `[DV WEBDL]` = This custom format you need to score depending of your personal use and setup.

  - If you only watch your movies on a setup that completely supports Dolby Vision from start to end then give it a score of `0` or just don't add it.
  - If you (or family members you share your collection with) have a setup that doesn't support Dolby Vision then you should add this with a score of `-10000`.

#### Prefer HDR Metadata

Lets say you prefer HDR metadata (HDR or Dolby Vision or Both)

Then we would use the following order:

HDR Metadata - [CLICK TO EXPAND]

Custom Format | Score | Trash ID
--- | --- | ---
DV HDR10 | 1500 | 7878c33f1963fefb3d6c8657d46c2f0a
DV | 1500 | 6d0d8de7b57e35518ac0308b0ddf404e
DV HLG | 1500 | 1f733af03141f068a540eec352589a89
DV SDR | 1500 | 27954b0a80aab882522a88a4d9eae1cd
HDR10+ | 600 | a3d82cbef5039f8d295478d28a887159
HDR10 | 500 | 3497799d29a085e2ac2df9d468413c94
HDR | 500 | 3e2c4e748b64a1a1118e0ea3f4cf6875
HDR (undefined) | 500 | bb019e1cd00f304f80971c965de064dc
PQ | 500 | 2a7e3be05d3861d6df7171ec74cad727
HLG | 500 | 17e889ce13117940092308f48b48b45b

Hint

If you (or family members you share your collection with) have a setup that doesn't support Dolby Vision then it's best to add ALL the HDR Metadata even the ones with DV in it, and then make sure you make use of the DV (WEBDL) Custom Format with a score of -10000

Attention

I also suggest to change the Propers and Repacks settings in Sonarr

Instructions can be found HERE

#### WEBDL-1080p

If you prefer 720p/1080p WEBDL (WEB-1080p)

I suggest to first follow the Quality Settings (File Size) If you think the sizes are too big to your preference then stop reading and see if the other tutorials are helpful to you.

For this Quality Profile we're going to make use of the following Custom Formats

Unwanted - [CLICK TO EXPAND]

Custom Format | Score | Trash ID
--- | --- | ---
BR-DISK | -10000 | 85c61753df5da1fb2aab6f2a47426b09
LQ | -10000 | 9c11cd3f07101cdba90a2d81cf0e56b4
x265 (HD) | -10000 | 47435ece6b99a0b477caf360e79ba0bb
x265 (no HDR/DV) | -10000 | 9b64dff695c2115facf1b6ea59c9bd07
No-RlsGroup | -10000 | 82d40da2bc6923f41e14394075dd4b03
Obfuscated | -10000 | e1a997ddb54e3ecbfe06341ad323c458
Retags | -10000 | 06d66ab109d4d2eddb2794d21526d140
Bad Dual Groups | -10000 | 32b367365729d530ca1c124a0b180c64
DV (WEBDL) | ?????? | 9b27ab6498ec0f31a3353992e19434ca

Breakdown and Why

- BR-DISK : This is a custom format to help Sonarr recognize & ignore BR-DISK (ISO's and Blu-ray folder structure) in addition to the standard BR-DISK quality.
- LQ: A collection of known Low Quality groups that are often banned from the the top trackers because the lack of quality or other reasons.

- x265 (HD): This blocks/ignores 720/1080p (HD) releases that are encoded in x265. - More info HERE.

  Don't use this together with the following Custom Format x265 (no HDR/DV)

- x265 (no HDR/DV): This blocks/ignores 720/1080p (HD) releases that are encoded in x265. - More info HERE.

  but it will allow to exclude/bypass if it has HDR and/or DV

  Being that some NF releases won't be released as 4k, but you want to have DV/HDR releases.

  In your quality profile use the following score for this Custom Format: `-10000`

  Don't use this together with the following Custom Format x265 (HD)

- No-RlsGroup: [Optional] Some indexers strip out the release group what could result in LQ groups getting a higher score. For example a lot of EVO releases end up stripping the group name, so they appear as "upgrades", and they end up getting a decent score if other things match.

- Obfuscated: [Optional] (use these only if you dislike renamed releases)
- Retags: [Optional] (use these only if you dislike retagged releases)
- Bad Dual Groups: [Optional] These groups take the original release, then they add their own preferred language (ex. Portuguese) as the main audio track (AAC 2.0), What results after renaming and FFprobe that the media file will be recognized as Portuguese AAC audio. It's a common rule that you add the best audio as first. Also they often even rename the release name in to Portuguese.

- DV (WEBDL): This is a special Custom Format that Block WEBDL with Dolby Vision but without HDR10 fallback.

  This Custom Format works together with the normal DV Custom Format that you can use to prefer Dolby Vision.

  Most WEBDL from Streaming Services don't have the fallback to HDR10, What can results in playback issues like weird colors if you want to play it on a not Dolby Vision compatible setup.

  Remuxes and Bluray have a fallback to HDR10.

  Hint

  `[DV WEBDL]` = This custom format you need to score depending of your personal use and setup.

  - If you only watch your movies on a setup that completely supports Dolby Vision from start to end then give it a score of `0` or just don't add it.
  - If you (or family members you share your collection with) have a setup that doesn't support Dolby Vision then you should add this with a score of `-10000`.

Misc - [CLICK TO EXPAND]

Custom Format | Score | Trash ID
--- | --- | ---
Repack/Proper | 11 | ec8fa7296b64e8cd390a1600981f3923
Repack v2 | 12 | eb3d5cc0a2be0db205fb823640db6a3c
Repack v3 | 13 | 44e7c4de10ae50265753082e5dc76047

Proper and Repacks - [CLICK TO EXPAND]

I also suggest to change the Propers and Repacks settings in Sonarr

`Media Management` => `File Management` to `Do Not Prefer` and use the Repack/Proper Custom Format.

This way you make sure the Custom Formats preferences will be used and not ignored.

Streaming Services - [CLICK TO EXPAND]

Custom Format | Score | Trash ID
--- | --- | ---
AMZN | 100 | d660701077794679fd59e8bdf4ce3a29
APTV | 100 | 7ea9e9c0fb7cfe4247ad8c915d289cfc
SHO | 95 | ae58039e1319178e6be73caab5c42166
DSNP | 90 | 89358767a60cc28783cdc3d0be9388a4
NF | 90 | d34870697c9db575f17700212167be23
QIBI | 90 | 3ac5d84fce98bab1b531393e9c82f467
HMAX | 90 | 17e889ce13117940092308f48b48b45b
HULU | 85 | f6cce30f1733d5c8194222a7507909bb
PCOK | 85 | 1656adc6d7bb2c8cca6acfb6592db421
DCU | 75 | 36b72f59f4ea20aad9316f475f2d9fbb
HBO | 75 | 7a235133c87f7da4c8cccceca7e3c7a6
RED | 75 | c30d2958827d1867c73318a5a2957eb1
iT | 75 | 0ac24a2a68a9700bcb7eeca8e5cd644c
PMTP | 75 | c67a75ae4a1715f2bb4d492755ba4195

HQ Source Groups - [CLICK TO EXPAND]

Custom Format | Score | Trash ID
--- | --- | ---
WEB Tier 01 | 1700 | e6258996055b9fbab7e9cb2f75819294
WEB Tier 02 | 1650 | 58790d4e2fdcd9733aa7ae68ba2bb503
WEB Tier 03 | 1600 | d84935abd3f8556dcd51d4f27e22d0a6
WEB Scene | 1800 | d0c516558625b04b363fa6c5c2c7cfd4

Use the following main settings in your profile.

For some older shows you might want to enable the `WEB 720p` or even the `HDTV 1080p`.

The following workflow will be applied:

- It will download WEB-DL 1080p. (If you also enabled `WEB 720p` and/or `HDTV 1080p` it will upgrade till `Upgrade Until`)
- The downloaded media will be upgraded to any of the added Custom Formats until a score of 10000.

So why such a ridiculously high `Upgrade Until Custom` and not a score of `500`?

Because I'm too lazy to calculate the maximum for every Quality Profile I use, and I want it to upgrade to the highest possible score anyway.

#### WEBDL-2160p

If you prefer 2160p WEBDL (WEB-2160p)

I suggest to first follow the Quality Settings (File Size) If you think the sizes are too big to your preference then stop reading and see if the other tutorials are helpful to you.

For this Quality Profile we're going to make use of the following Custom Formats

HDR Metadata - [CLICK TO EXPAND]

Custom Format | Score | Trash ID
--- | --- | ---
DV HDR10 | 1500 | 7878c33f1963fefb3d6c8657d46c2f0a
DV | 1500 | 6d0d8de7b57e35518ac0308b0ddf404e
DV HLG | 1500 | 1f733af03141f068a540eec352589a89
DV SDR | 1500 | 27954b0a80aab882522a88a4d9eae1cd
HDR10+ | 600 | a3d82cbef5039f8d295478d28a887159
HDR10 | 500 | 3497799d29a085e2ac2df9d468413c94
HDR | 500 | 3e2c4e748b64a1a1118e0ea3f4cf6875
HDR (undefined) | 500 | bb019e1cd00f304f80971c965de064dc
PQ | 500 | 2a7e3be05d3861d6df7171ec74cad727
HLG | 500 | 17e889ce13117940092308f48b48b45b

Hint

If you (or family members you share your collection with) have a setup that doesn't support Dolby Vision then it's best to add ALL the HDR Metadata even the ones with DV in it, and then make sure you make use of the DV (WEBDL) Custom Format with a score of -10000

Unwanted - [CLICK TO EXPAND]

Custom Format | Score | Trash ID
--- | --- | ---
BR-DISK | -10000 | 85c61753df5da1fb2aab6f2a47426b09
LQ | -10000 | 9c11cd3f07101cdba90a2d81cf0e56b4
x265 (HD) | -10000 | 47435ece6b99a0b477caf360e79ba0bb
x265 (no HDR/DV) | -10000 | 9b64dff695c2115facf1b6ea59c9bd07
No-RlsGroup | -10000 | 82d40da2bc6923f41e14394075dd4b03
Obfuscated | -10000 | e1a997ddb54e3ecbfe06341ad323c458
Retags | -10000 | 06d66ab109d4d2eddb2794d21526d140
Bad Dual Groups | -10000 | 32b367365729d530ca1c124a0b180c64
DV (WEBDL) | ?????? | 9b27ab6498ec0f31a3353992e19434ca

Breakdown and Why

- BR-DISK : This is a custom format to help Sonarr recognize & ignore BR-DISK (ISO's and Blu-ray folder structure) in addition to the standard BR-DISK quality.
- LQ: A collection of known Low Quality groups that are often banned from the the top trackers because the lack of quality or other reasons.

- x265 (HD): This blocks/ignores 720/1080p (HD) releases that are encoded in x265. - More info HERE.

  Don't use this together with the following Custom Format x265 (no HDR/DV)

- x265 (no HDR/DV): This blocks/ignores 720/1080p (HD) releases that are encoded in x265. - More info HERE.

  but it will allow to exclude/bypass if it has HDR and/or DV

  Being that some NF releases won't be released as 4k, but you want to have DV/HDR releases.

  In your quality profile use the following score for this Custom Format: `-10000`

  Don't use this together with the following Custom Format x265 (HD)

- No-RlsGroup: [Optional] Some indexers strip out the release group what could result in LQ groups getting a higher score. For example a lot of EVO releases end up stripping the group name, so they appear as "upgrades", and they end up getting a decent score if other things match.

- Obfuscated: [Optional] (use these only if you dislike renamed releases)
- Retags: [Optional] (use these only if you dislike retagged releases)
- Bad Dual Groups: [Optional] These groups take the original release, then they add their own preferred language (ex. Portuguese) as the main audio track (AAC 2.0), What results after renaming and FFprobe that the media file will be recognized as Portuguese AAC audio. It's a common rule that you add the best audio as first. Also they often even rename the release name in to Portuguese.

- DV (WEBDL): This is a special Custom Format that Block WEBDL with Dolby Vision but without HDR10 fallback.

  This Custom Format works together with the normal DV Custom Format that you can use to prefer Dolby Vision.

  Most WEBDL from Streaming Services don't have the fallback to HDR10, What can results in playback issues like weird colors if you want to play it on a not Dolby Vision compatible setup.

  Remuxes and Bluray have a fallback to HDR10.

  Hint

  `[DV WEBDL]` = This custom format you need to score depending of your personal use and setup.

  - If you only watch your movies on a setup that completely supports Dolby Vision from start to end then give it a score of `0` or just don't add it.
  - If you (or family members you share your collection with) have a setup that doesn't support Dolby Vision then you should add this with a score of `-10000`.

Misc - [CLICK TO EXPAND]

Custom Format | Score | Trash ID
--- | --- | ---
Repack/Proper | 11 | ec8fa7296b64e8cd390a1600981f3923
Repack v2 | 12 | eb3d5cc0a2be0db205fb823640db6a3c
Repack v3 | 13 | 44e7c4de10ae50265753082e5dc76047

Proper and Repacks - [CLICK TO EXPAND]

I also suggest to change the Propers and Repacks settings in Sonarr

`Media Management` => `File Management` to `Do Not Prefer` and use the Repack/Proper Custom Format.

This way you make sure the Custom Formats preferences will be used and not ignored.

Streaming Services - [CLICK TO EXPAND]

Custom Format | Score | Trash ID
--- | --- | ---
AMZN | 100 | d660701077794679fd59e8bdf4ce3a29
APTV | 100 | 7ea9e9c0fb7cfe4247ad8c915d289cfc
SHO | 95 | ae58039e1319178e6be73caab5c42166
DSNP | 90 | 89358767a60cc28783cdc3d0be9388a4
NF | 90 | d34870697c9db575f17700212167be23
QIBI | 90 | 3ac5d84fce98bab1b531393e9c82f467
HMAX | 90 | 17e889ce13117940092308f48b48b45b
HULU | 85 | f6cce30f1733d5c8194222a7507909bb
PCOK | 85 | 1656adc6d7bb2c8cca6acfb6592db421
DCU | 75 | 36b72f59f4ea20aad9316f475f2d9fbb
HBO | 75 | 7a235133c87f7da4c8cccceca7e3c7a6
RED | 75 | c30d2958827d1867c73318a5a2957eb1
iT | 75 | 0ac24a2a68a9700bcb7eeca8e5cd644c
PMTP | 75 | c67a75ae4a1715f2bb4d492755ba4195

HQ Source Groups - [CLICK TO EXPAND]

Custom Format | Score | Trash ID
--- | --- | ---
WEB Tier 01 | 1700 | e6258996055b9fbab7e9cb2f75819294
WEB Tier 02 | 1650 | 58790d4e2fdcd9733aa7ae68ba2bb503
WEB Tier 03 | 1600 | d84935abd3f8556dcd51d4f27e22d0a6
WEB Scene | 1800 | d0c516558625b04b363fa6c5c2c7cfd4

Use the following main settings in your profile.

The reason why I have WEB 1080p merged with the 2160p is because some NF releases won't be released as 4k, but I still want to have DV/HDR releases. If you want to do the same make sure you replace x265 (HD) with x265 (no HDR/DV).

The following workflow will be applied:

- It will download WEB-1080p with HDR/DV.
- It will upgrade to WEB-2160p when available.
- The downloaded media will be upgraded to any of the added Custom Formats until a score of 10000.

So why such a ridiculously high `Upgrade Until Custom` and not a score of `500`?

Because I'm too lazy to calculate the maxim

## FAQ & INFO

### Proper and Repacks

Proper and Repacks - [CLICK TO EXPAND]

I also suggest to change the Propers and Repacks settings in Sonarr

`Media Management` => `File Management` to `Do Not Prefer` and use the Repack/Proper Custom Format.

This way you make sure the Custom Format preferences will be used instead.

### Custom Formats to avoid certain releases

How to use a Custom Format to avoid certain releases? - [CLICK TO EXPAND]

For Custom Formats you really want to avoid, set it to something really low like `-10000` and not something like `-10`. Being when you add a Custom Format what you prefer and you set it to something like `+10` it could happen that for example the `BR-DISK` will be downloaded (-10)+(+10)=0 and if your `Minimum Custom Format Score` is set at `0`.

### Custom Formats with a score of 0

What do Custom Formats with a score of 0 do? - [CLICK TO EXPAND]

All Custom Formats with a score of 0 are pure informational and don't do anything.

### Minimum Custom Format Score

Minimum Custom Format Score - [CLICK TO EXPAND]

Some people suggest not to use negative scores for your Custom Formats and set this option to a higher score then 0.

The reason why I don't prefer/use this is because you could limit yourself when some new groups or whatever will be released.

Also it makes it much more clear what you prefer and what you want to avoid.

### Audio Channels

Audio Channels - [CLICK TO EXPAND]

Personally I wouldn't add the audio channels Custom Formats being you could limit yourself in the amount of releases you're able to get. Only use this if you got specific reasons that you need them.

Using it with any kind of Remuxes Quality Profile is useless in my opinion being that 99% of all remuxes are multi audio anyway. You can get better scores using the `Audio Advanced` Custom Formats.

### Avoid using the x264/x265 Custom Format

Avoid using the x264/x265 Custom Format - [CLICK TO EXPAND]

Avoid using the x264/x265 Custom Format with a score if possible, it's smarter to use the x265 (HD) Custom Format.

Something like 95% of video files are x264 and have much better direct play support. If you have more than a of couple users, you will notice much more transcoding.

Use x265 only for 4k releases and the x265 (HD) makes sure you still get the x265 releases.

## Thanks

Special thanks to everyone that helped testing and creating these Custom Formats.

Questions or Suggestions?

If you have questions or suggestions click the chat badge to join the Discord Support Channel where you can ask your questions directly and get live support.

Last update: August 26, 2022 21:06:39
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