1. A method for determining at least one threshold used for encoding a video signal having a plurality of frames, each frame having a plurality of blocks, the method comprising: identifying a test sequence of frames, the frames in the test sequence of frames having an original resolution; calculating a variance for at least one frame in the test sequence; calculating a first PSNR for the at least one frame using the original resolution; calculating a second PSNR for the at least one frame using a lower resolution that is less than the original resolution; and determining the at least one threshold using the variances, first PSNRs, and second PSNRs by identifying a first series comprising the variances and the first PSNRs, identifying a second series comprising the variances and the second PSNRs, determining an intersection between the first series and the second series, and determining the threshold using the intersection.