This blog includes the video and handout from my talk on “How to Produce x264 and x265 Video at Maximum Quality and Maximum Efficiency” at NAB 2023 (thanks to Dan Rayburn). Here’s the description. This research-based session explores configuration options like presets, threads, color depth, and others that impact output quality and encoding efficiency. Balancing encoding cost and streaming bandwidth, …

You can download the presentation handout here (download). I’ll add the video once it becomes available.  I’m thrilled to speak at Mile-High Video in Denver, which runs from May 7 – 10 2023. My presentation is on Sunday, May 7, entitled, “Encoding and Packaging x265/HDR with FFmpeg, Bento4 and mp4box.” The description is, “this introductory session will cover the basics …

This post presents a return on investment view of choosing an x265 preset that delivers the optimal blend of encoding cost and storage and bandwidth savings. The first chart, x265 Encoding Time/Quality Tradeoff, is from a lesson in my course Streaming Media 101: Technical Onboarding for Streaming Media Professionals.  Given the bandwidth and storage savings that higher-quality x265 presets deliver, …

AV1 encoding on Windows is now only 2x slower than x265. With a properly compiled version of FFmpeg, encoding performance is slightly faster than the Alliance for Open Media’s encoder, though output quality is very slightly lower. Congrats to AOM for delivering on their promise to get encoding times down. Thanks for all the help I got from multiple sources, …

This week, Telestream announced the availability of an open source H.265 (HEVC) encoder, co-founded and managed by MulticoreWare Inc. I had a chance to speak with Telestream CTO Shawn Carnahan about the venture.

I was reminded of this recently as I prepared for a talk on AV1 readiness at the upcoming United Cloud Tech Talk. Though quality is only a single factor, I wanted to nail the quality comparisons for the talk, but didn’t have time to produce all the iterations myself. It’s been a while since I benchmarked H.264, HEVC, AV1, and …

Announcing session 2 of Streaming Summer Bootcamp: Learn to Produce H.264 Video. Thu, Jul 11, 2024, 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM. The session is to be produced on LinkedIn Live: Click to register. The free webinar will cover: • What H.264 is and its origins • What x264 is and why it’s important • How x264 compares to other H.264 …

Creating batch files with variables is one of the more efficient ways to run FFmpeg. However, most producers build their batch files with variables inserted directly into the batch file, which means that you have to customize each batch file for different source files or encoding parameters. This is particularly inefficient when you’re encoding multiple files to different encoding parameters; …

While low-latency transcoding sounds desirable, low-latency transcode settings can reduce quality and may not noticeably impact latency. Reducing latency has been a major focus for many live producers, and appropriately so, particularly for events that viewers can watch via other media, like sporting events available through satellite or cable TV. However, it’s important to understand that transcoding latency contributes minimally …

The mandate for streaming producers hasn’t changed since we delivered RealVideo streams targeted at 28.8 modems; that is, we must produce the absolute best quality video at the lowest possible bandwidth. With cost control top of mind for many streaming producers, let’s explore five codec-related options to cut bandwidth costs while maintaining quality. For each, I’ll consider the factors summarized …