No metric tells the complete story. Frame Viewer lets you see your encodes directly -- navigate to any frame, zoom in on detail areas, and switch between files instantly using keyboard shortcuts or the dropdown. Hit play and switch between encodes during live playback. The mini chart below shows bitrate, frame type, or quality metrics in sync with the current position so you always know what you're looking at and why it looks that way. Set in and out points to loop a specific section while switching between files. The visual check no metric replaces.

SLC Bitrate Explorer: Encode Verification for Professionals

Jan Ozer April 1, 2026 Articles Leave a comment 297 Views

Note To Previous Downloaders

Bad news. Good news.

Bad news: we screwed up. The download link included with the first beta pointed to a test-mode checkout, which meant you couldn’t make a purchase. Real cards get rejected, and nothing happens. Sorry. That’s on me.

Good news: v1.0.1 is available and much more functional than the first beta. If you download and install v1.0.1, you get a fresh 14-day trial of all Pro features. Your clock resets. No keys to re-enter, no data lost. Just download, launch, and you’re back in business for 14 more days (of course, if you want to buy right away, you can. Just download the new version, install it, click Buy Pro on the bottom right, and complete the purchase).  See links below.

Once you have the new version installed, check the bottom of the app window to confirm you’re on v1.0.1. If you see anything earlier (or no version at all), you’re still on the broken build. The product will expire retaining all features in the free version, but you can’t upgrade to the full version. To do that, you’ll have to download version 1.1.

Questions or problems: jan.ozer@streaminglearningcenter.com

About SLC Bitrate Explorer

SLC Bitrate Explorer gives encoding engineers and QA teams a complete picture of their video files in one place. Load any file encoded with H.264, HEVC, VP9, or AV1 and instantly see codec parameters, bitrate behavior, frame structure, and quality metrics; everything you need to verify a test encode before it goes to production. Available for Windows and Mac.

Trial note — Full access is free for 14 days, then a free tier which includes the File Intelligence, File Compare, Bitrate Charts, and Frame Viewer (Still Image only; no video playback). 

Feature List:

File Intelligence Tab

MediaInfo goes deep on container and codec details. SLC Bitrate Explorer goes further — detecting the encoding preset, GOP structure, scene cut settings, B-frames, reference frames, and rate control parameters. For x264 and x265 files encoded with FFmpeg, it identifies exactly what the encoder did and shows only the parameters that differ from defaults.

 File Compare Tab

Identifying differences between encodes normally means opening multiple MediaInfo windows and scanning back and forth. File Compare puts all files side by side in a single view. Check Show Deltas Only and every parameter that matches disappears — leaving only what actually changed. Drag in up to eight files, export the comparison to CSV.

Here’s a video that explores this feature.

Bitrate Chart

The original Bitrate Viewer is abandoned and H.264-only. SLC Bitrate Explorer supports every FFmpeg-compatible codec — H.264, HEVC, VP9, AV1, and more. Load multiple files and overlay their bitrate curves on the same chart. Switch between per-second, GOP, and per-frame views. Hover for instantaneous bitrate at the cursor. Average bitrate reference lines keep the comparison honest. Load as many files as you need — check and uncheck to control what’s displayed.

Frame Type Tab


See exactly what your encoder did at the frame level. Frame Type visualizes I, P, and B-frame distribution across the entire file, with average bitrate and VMAF overlaid on the same chart. Verify your GOP structure is correct, confirm scene cut I-frames are landing where expected, and see how bitrate and quality track together frame by frame. Load multiple files and compare frame structure side by side — each file gets its own chart with synchronized scrolling.

Metrics Tab

Objective quality measurement without the workflow friction. Load a reference file, drag in your encodes, and run VMAF, PSNR, and SSIM simultaneously across all files in one pass. Results display as per-frame curves with average reference lines — switch between metrics instantly without re-running. Export to human-readable markdown for reporting or CSV for further analysis. Save stills or a comparison movie at any frame. Results verified to within 0.01% of MSU VQMT.

BD-Rate Tab

Bjøntegaard Delta Rate is the definitive measure of codec efficiency — how much bitrate does one codec need to deliver the same quality as another across a full encode ladder. Building it manually in Excel is tedious enough that most practitioners skip it. SLC Bitrate Explorer automates the entire workflow. Load your reference, drag in your encode ladder, and the tool groups files by codec automatically. Press Calculate and get Rate Distortion curves and a BD-Rate matrix in minutes. Export to Excel for further analysis or markdown for reporting. Results verified against the standard Excel plugin implementation.

Here’s a video exploring the BD-Rate Function

Breakeven Tab

BD-Rate tells you a codec is 11% more efficient. But is it worth the higher encoding cost? Breakeven answers that question in dollars. Enter your CDN cost per GB, your encoding cost per minute, and your projected viewing hours. Breakeven calculates how many viewing hours it takes for the bandwidth savings to pay back the extra encoding cost — and what the net savings look like at your scale. The business case for a codec migration, built directly from your BD-Rate results.

Frame Viewer

No metric tells the complete story. Frame Viewer lets you see your encodes directly — navigate to any frame, zoom in on detail areas, and switch between files instantly using keyboard shortcuts or the dropdown. Hit play and switch between encodes during live playback. The mini chart below shows bitrate, frame type, or quality metrics in sync with the current position, so you always know what you’re looking at and why it looks that way. Set in- and out-points to loop a specific section while switching between files. The visual check no metric replaces.

Note To Previous Downloaders

Bad news. Good news.

Bad news: we screwed up. The download link included with the first beta pointed to a test-mode checkout, which meant you couldn’t make a purchase. Real cards get rejected, and nothing happens. Sorry. That’s on me.

Good news: v1.0.1 is available and much more functional than the first beta. If you download and install v1.0.1, you get a fresh 14-day trial of all Pro features. Your clock resets. No keys to re-enter, no data lost. Just download, launch, and you’re back in business for 14 more days (of course, if you want to buy right away, you can – download the new version, click Buy Pro on the bottom right, and complete the purchase).  See links below.

Check the bottom of the app window to confirm you’re on v1.0.1. If you see anything earlier (or no version at all), you’re still on the broken build.

Questions or problems: jan.ozer@streaminglearningcenter.com

Versions Available – Download/Installation Instructions

Getting Started - All Versions (334 downloads )

Windows x64 – Download

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SLC Bitrate Explorer - Windows Download

1 file(s) 130.24 MB
Download

MacOS Intel – Download

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SLC Explorer - Intel (x264) Mac Download

1 file(s) 0.00 KB
Download

MacOS Apple Silicon – Download

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SLC Explorer - ARM (Apple CPU) Mac - Download

1 file(s) 0.00 KB
Download

System Requirements

All platforms:
– ffprobe + ffmpeg must be on PATH (not bundled)
– ~130 MB disk space for the app itself

Windows x64 (win-x64)
– Windows 10 or later, 64-bit
– .NET runtime bundled (self-contained)
– LibVLC bundled via NuGet — no separate VLC install needed

macOS Intel (osx-x64)
– macOS 10.15 (Catalina) or later, Intel
– .NET runtime bundled (self-contained)
– VLC 3.x must be installed (app loads from VLC.app at runtime — the NuGet x64 dylib is stripped in the build)

macOS Apple Silicon (osx-arm64)
– macOS 11 (Big Sur) or later, Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3/M4)
– .NET runtime bundled (self-contained)
– VLC 3.x must be installed (same reason as Intel Mac)

About Jan Ozer

Avatar photo
I help companies train new technical hires in streaming media-related positions; I also help companies optimize their codec selections and encoding stacks and evaluate new encoders and codecs. I am a contributing editor to Streaming Media Magazine, writing about codecs and encoding tools. I have written multiple authoritative books on video encoding, including Video Encoding by the Numbers: Eliminate the Guesswork from your Streaming Video (https://amzn.to/3kV6R1j) and Learn to Produce Video with FFmpeg: In Thirty Minutes or Less (https://amzn.to/3ZJih7e). I have multiple courses relating to streaming media production, all available at https://bit.ly/slc_courses. I currently work as www.netint.com as a Senior Director in Marketing.

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