The final five minutes. Skip it if: You dislike split timelines (but you wouldn’t be here if you did).
The less-good news: during two high-motion battle skirmishes, the codec shows its age. OpenH264, while efficient and royalty-free, isn’t as advanced as modern codecs like H.265 (HEVC) or AV1. There’s slight pixelation around musket smoke and fast-moving horses—nothing ruinous, but noticeable on a large 4K screen. However, for the vast majority of viewers streaming on laptops, tablets, or phones, the quality is more than serviceable. "Unfinished Business" is a triumphant return. It weaves together romance, violence, and time-travel logic without losing sight of the characters’ emotional cores. The script gives every member of the ensemble a moment to shine, and the production design remains top-tier. Yes, the OpenH264 compression shows minor flaws in peak action sequences, but the sheer narrative momentum and acting firepower make this an easy recommendation. outlander s07e09 openh264
In Episode 9, the benefits and limits of OpenH264 are on full display. The good news: the encoding handles the show’s rich color palette beautifully. The lush greens of the Carolina backcountry and the warm, flickering candlelight of Fraser’s Ridge render with impressive clarity and no noticeable macroblocking. Skin tones look natural, and the dark, rain-soaked nighttime scenes avoid the dreaded "crushed black" effect. The final five minutes
Rating: 8.5/10