FFmpeg

I recently consulted with a company that was running capped CRF-type encoding across four codecs simultaneously: x264, VP9, NVIDIA H.264, and NVIDIA AV1. The first two were VOD encoding, the second two live. I was genuinely impressed by the sophistication and practicality of this video engineering setup, so I asked the client if I could share what they were doing. …

When a codec researcher declares that a newer codec is up to 40% more efficient than the baseline codec, they are making a highly accurate, well-defined claim. However, much like the EPA fuel economy ratings on a new car’s window sticker, these white papers should include a disclaimer stating, “actual bandwidth savings almost certainly will vary.” Given that bandwidth savings …

Before comparing your existing H.264 encodes to HEVC, AV1, or any other advanced codec, you need a baseline you can trust. In practice, many codec efficiency claims collapse once you examine how inefficient the underlying H.264 ladder actually is. This article focuses on fixing that baseline before any codec comparison begins. Let’s take a step back. This is the second …

I recently tested the Deep Render AI codec and issued a report, which you can read here. The bottom line was that in the tested low-latency use case, the Deep Render AI codec substantially outperformed SVT-AV1 quality-wise and was only slightly behind VVenC. While the codec lacks features like bitrate control that are necessary for most deployments, it offers outstanding integration …

At Mile High Video 2025, I sat down with Jean-Baptiste Kempf (JB), founder of Kyber and lead developer of VLC, to discuss his latest innovations in ultra-low latency video control. JB is well-known in the open-source community for his work on VLC Player and FFmpeg, and now, with Kyber, he’s pushing the boundaries of real-time machine control. You can watch …

AI-based video compression has been discussed in research for years, but practical implementations are virtually nonexistent. In a recent conversation with Arsalan Zafar, CTO and co-founder of Deep Render, and Sebastjan Cizel, Head of Engineering, we explored the real-world performance of Deep Render’s AI codec real-world encoding and decoding performance, how its quality compares to HEVC, AV1, and VP9, and …

I’m running some 1-pass vs. 2-pass comparison testing with x265. Unlike with x264 (see tests here), there’s a substantial performance penalty for running 2-pass with minimal quality benefit. I tried the no-slow-firstpass=1 setting, which only accelerated two-pass by about 14%. Here are the results from a single test file. I don’t want to process them all if there’s a magic …

Learn how thread count impacts video quality, encoding speed, and costs in FFmpeg workflows. Master configurations for optimal production and testing results.

I’m pleased to announce a new free course, MA35D & FFmpeg Quick Start: Essential Skills and Expert Tips. As the title suggests, the course will get you up and running quickly and help you configure the MA35D for optimal throughput and quality for your application. The first few lessons describe how to access the MA35D’s hardware options for decoding, encoding, …

In a recent interview available on YouTube, Jan Ozer sat down with Fred Dawson, an industry journalist and principal at Dawson Communications, to discuss his whitepaper for Motion Spell titled “GPAC: Ultra Media Technology Breaks Barriers to Next Gen Streaming.” Released in conjunction with GPAC’s 21st anniversary, the whitepaper illuminates how GPAC UltraMedia technology is setting new benchmarks for cost …