In a class of implementations, pruning based on constraints can be applied to ensure a minimum separation along a particular dimension of the data space for different encoding profiles within an optimized encoding ladder. For example, the vertical dashed line corresponding to statistical measure 420 represents an average bit rate for the circle marks, and the vertical solid line corresponding to threshold 425 represents a bit rate that is 20% higher than the average bit rate of statistical measure 420. Triangle marks with an actual bit rate to the left of threshold 425 are excluded as input points for determining an adaptive encoding profile for the triangle marks (i.e., 5000 kbps maximum bit rate setting). In other words, for this example, threshold 425 is calculated using the trial encoding outputs for encoding profiles that include a value of 1950 for the maximum bit rate encoder parameter setting, and threshold 425 is being used to prune trial encoding outputs for encoding profiles that include a value of 5000 kbps for the maximum bit rate encoder parameter setting. Similarly, threshold 435 is set to 20% above the average bit rate for the triangle marks (i.e., 5000 kbps maximum bit rate setting), and threshold 435 is being used to prune trial encoding outputs for encoding profiles that include a value of 9000 kbps for the maximum bit rate encoder parameter setting. It should be appreciated that these examples of constraints (e.g., a margin of 20% greater than average bit rates) causes the set of encoding profiles in the adaptive encoding ladder to cover a wider range for a particular dimension (e.g., a wider range of bit rates) of the data space.