What file type and codec to convert captures?
 

I have done some tapes for myself and family members, and I am trying to get the best quality but also best compatibility, since the files will be viewed on Macs, windows PCs, iPhones and Straight into TVs via USB. I have been using FFMPEG and using the x264 codec and converting the files to MP4 which I know is widely compatible with pretty much anything, however the downside is I need to go from 4:2:2 chroma subsampling to 4:2:0 as a lot of devices don't seem to want to play x264 with 4:2:2. Would x265 be a better choice? I don't know too much about it or how compatible it is with todays standards.

The files are .avs files which are very basic Avisynth scripts where I trim and Deinterlace the original lossles AVI files.

4:2:2 is not widely supported regardless the codec, so your options are still limited. 4:2:0 is not that bad if the capture is done in lossless, followed by a high quality de-interlacing and a high quality upscaling to 1440x1080 while still in 4:2:2, then encode to a higher bitrate into 4:2:0, at this point 4:2:0 won't hurt much as opposed to if you encode the 480 or 576 into 4:2:0, Plus modern devices don't handle SD materials that well. Whatever you do keep the original SD files if you can.

Oh okay, when you mention high quality upscaling, I presume an Avisynth Spine64Resize wouldn't be good enough? Im already using QTGMC so the high quality Deinterlacing is sorted. Also when you say encode to higher bitrate, I currently use FFMPEG and use CRF level 15. Is that high enough?

QTGMC is good, As to bitrate and CRF, I can't suggest a number because at the end of the day compression is dependent on the type of material being encoded, fast motion scenes like sports require higher bitrate, scenery and other type of slow or still scenes require less, your eyes are always the judge.

4:2:2 H.264 is rarely a problem. Interlacing and poor encoding (GOP, bitrate) is the usual issue.

I think the OP already expressed the incompatibility problem of 4:2:2 with a lot of devices.

I did a test of the exact same file with the same encoding settings and it would play fine on my PC with VLC however would not play on iPhone files app or directly on my TV, however when I put ConvertToYV12() into the Avisynth script and exported with the same settings, the file played no trouble on all devices.