An optimized encoding profile may be determined for each encoded segment (322a-322n). As described in connection with at least FIGS. 4A and 4B, the optimized encoding profile, which may be the optimized set of encoder parameter settings, for a particular trial video segment may be selected (322a-322n) using a cost function to minimize the distances above selected profiles (e.g., as described in connection with FIG. 4A) or to minimize the area or volume above selected profiles (e.g., as described in connection with FIG. 4B). When identifying an optimized encoding profile in a multi-dimensional data space of three (or more) dimensions, the optimized encoding profile for a particular trial video segment may be selecting using a cost function to minimize the volume (or a higher dimensional equivalent) above the selected profiles (and below the performance boundary curve). In other words, the optimized encoding profile may be the encoding profile with a performance curve most closely approximating the performance boundary curve (e.g., the profile with the small area or volume below the performance boundary curve, or “above” the performance boundary curve if the data space is configured such that “above” is representative of a lower quality). In a class of implementations, the optimized encoding profile is optimized for a segment of a video, while in another class of implementations the optimized encoding profile is optimized for an entire video.