Software characteristics
Codecs list
| Codec | Creator/Maintainer | First public release date | Latest stable version | License | Patented compression formats | Compression method | Basic algorithm | OpenCL support | nVidia CUDA support | Intel SSE Support | Intel AVX support | Intel Quick Sync Video support |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TRUDEF VDK3 | Total Multimedia Incorporated | TBA | 3.0 | Proprietary | Originally Patented by Iterated Systems Inc. | Lossy | Fractal | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown |
| AOM Video 1 (AV1) | Alliance for Open Media | 2018-06-25 | 1.0.0 | 2-clause BSD | Patented, but freely licensed | Lossy / Lossless | DCT | Unknown | Unknown | Yes | Yes | Unknown |
| OpenH264 | Cisco Systems | 2014-05 | 2.0.0[12] | 2-clause BSD | MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 | Lossy | DCT | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| x265 | x265 team | 2013 | 2.8 (2018)[8] | GNU GPL | HEVC/H.265 | Lossy / Lossless | DCT | No | No | Yes | Yes | Unknown |
| libvpx (VP9) | 2013 | BSD-style | Patented, but freely licensed | Lossy / Lossless | DCT | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | ||
| FFavs (libavcodec) | FFavs team | 2009 | 0.0.3[11] | GNU LGPL | MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4 ASP, etc. | Lossy / Lossless | DCT | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown |
| dirac-research (Dirac) | BBC Research Department | 2008-09-17 | 1.0.2 (2009)[5] | MPL 1.1, GNU GPL 2, GNU LGPL 2.1 | none | Lossy / Lossless | DWT | Unknown | Unknown | Yes | Yes | Unknown |
| Schrödinger (Dirac) | David Schleef | 2008-02-22 | 1.0.11 (2012)[5] | MPL 1.1, GNU GPL 2, GNU LGPL 2, MIT License | none | Lossy / Lossless | DWT | Yes | Yes | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown |
| libvpx (VP8) | On2 Technologies (now owned by Google) | 2008 | 1.1.0 (2012) | BSD-style | Patented, but freely licensed | Lossy | DCT | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown |
| Elecard | Elecard | 2008 | G4 (2010)[30] | Proprietary | MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, AVC | Lossy | DCT | No | Yes[30] | No | Yes[30] | Yes[30] |
| ProRes 422 / ProRes 4444 | Apple Inc. | 2007 | Proprietary | Unknown | Lossy | DCT | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | |
| Blackbird | Forbidden Technologies plc | 2006-01 | 2 | Proprietary | Blackbird | Lossy | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown |
| VP7 | On2 Technologies | 2005 | Proprietary | VP7 | Lossy | DCT | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | |
| Lagarith | Ben Greenwood | 2004-10-04 | 1.3.27 (2011-12-08)[25] | GNU GPL 2 | none | Lossless | Huffman | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown |
| DNxHD | Avid Technology | 2004 | Proprietary | VC-3 | Lossy | DCT | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | |
| x264 | x264 team | 2003 | 2638(2015)[7] | GNU GPL | MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 | Lossy / Lossless | DCT | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Unknown |
| Nero Digital | Nero AG | 2003 | Unknown | Proprietary | MPEG-4 ASP, H.264[19] | Lossy | DCT | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown |
| VP6 | On2 Technologies | 2003 | Proprietary | VP6 | Lossy | DCT | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | |
| libtheora (Theora) | Xiph.org | 2002-09-25 | 1.1.1 (2009)[3] | BSD-style[4] | Patented, but freely licensed[*] | Lossy | DCT | Unknown | Unknown | Yes | Yes | Unknown |
| Sorenson Spark | Sorenson Media | 2002 | Proprietary | Sorenson Spark | Lossy | DCT | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | |
| VP5 | On2 Technologies | 2002 | Proprietary | VP5 | Lossy | DCT | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | |
| CineForm | GoPro | 2001 | 10.0.2a (2019)[6] | Apache License 2.0, MIT License | none | Lossy | DWT | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| Xvid | Xvid team | 2001 | 1.3.5 (2017)[9] | GNU GPL | MPEG-4 ASP | Lossy | DCT | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown |
| DivX | DivX, Inc. | 2001 | DivX Plus (2010)[13] | Proprietary | MPEG-4 ASP, H.264 | Lossy | DCT | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Yes[14] |
| 3ivx | 3ivx Technologies Pty. Ltd. | 2001 | 5.0.5 (2012)[18] | Proprietary | MPEG-4 ASP | Lossy | DCT | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown |
| VP4 | On2 Technologies | 2001 | Proprietary | VP4 | Lossy | DCT | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | |
| TMPGEnc Free Version | Pegasys Inc. | 2001 | 2.525.64.184 (2008)[21] | Proprietary | MPEG-1, MPEG-2 | Lossy | DCT | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown |
| FFmpeg (libavcodec) | FFmpeg team | 2000 | 3.4.0 (2017 Oct 15)[10] | GNU LGPL | MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4 ASP, H.261, H.263, VC-3, WMV7, WMV8, MJPEG, MS-MPEG-4v3, DV, Sorenson codec, etc. | Lossy / Lossless | DCT | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| VP3 | On2 Technologies | 2000 | BSD-style[4] | Patented, but freely licensed[*] | Lossy | DCT | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | |
| Cinema Craft Encoder SP2 | Custom Technology Corporation | 2000 | 1.00.01.09 (2009)[20] | Proprietary | MPEG-1, MPEG-2 | Lossy | DCT | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown |
| Huffyuv | Ben Rudiak-Gould | 2000 | 2.1.1 (2003)[24] | GNU GPL 2 | none | Lossless | Huffman | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown |
| Windows Media Encoder | Microsoft | 1999 | 9 (2003) (WMV3 in FourCC) | Proprietary | WMV, VC-1, (in early versions MPEG-4 Part 2 and not MPEG-4 compliant MPEG-4v3, MPEG-4v2) | Lossy | DCT | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown |
| DivX ;-) | a hack of Microsoft's MPEG-4v3 codec[15][16] | 1998 | 3.20 alpha[17] (2000) | Proprietary | Microsoft's MPEG-4v3 (not MPEG-4 compliant) | Lossy | DCT | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown |
| Sorenson Video | Sorenson Media | 1998 | Proprietary | Sorenson Video | Lossy | DCT | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | |
| RealVideo | RealNetworks | 1997 | RealVideo 10[23] | Proprietary | H.263, RealVideo | Lossy | DCT | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown |
| TrueMotion S | The Duck Corporation | 1995 | Proprietary | TrueMotion S | Lossy | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | |
| MainConcept | MainConcept GmbH | 1993 | 8.8.0 (2011) | Proprietary | MPEG-1, MPEG-2, H.264/AVC, H.263, VC-3, MPEG-4 Part 2, DV, MJPEG etc. | Lossy | DCT | Yes[26] | Yes[27][28] | Unknown | Unknown | Yes[29] |
| Indeo Video | Intel Corporation, currently offered by Ligos Corporation | 1992 | 5.2 | Proprietary | Indeo Video | Lossy | DCT | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown |
| TMM SoftVideo | Total Multimedia, Inc. based on Iterated Systems Inc. VDK1.0-1.4 | 1992 | 1.4 | Proprietary | Patented by Iterated Systems Inc. | Lossy | Fractal | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Cinepak | Created by SuperMac, Inc.
Currently maintained by Compression Technologies, Inc.[22] |
1991 | 1.10.0.26 (1999) | Proprietary | Unknown | Lossy | VQ | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown |
| TMM SoftVideo | Total Multimedia, Inc. | 1991 | 1.1 | Proprietary | none | Lossy / Lossless | RLE | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown |
| Codec | Creator/Maintainer | First public release date | Latest stable version | License | Patented compression formats | Compression method | Basic algorithm | OpenCL support | nVidia CUDA support | Intel SSE Support | Intel AVX support | Intel Quick Sync Video support |
- The Xiph.Org Foundation has negotiated an irrevocable free license to Theora and other VP3-derived codecs for everyone, for any purpose.[31]
Native operating system support[edit]
Note that operating system support does not mean whether video encoded with the codec can be played back on the particular operating system – for example, video encoded with the DivX codec is playable on Unix-like systems using free MPEG-4 ASP decoders (FFmpeg MPEG-4 or Xvid), but the DivX codec (which is a software product) is only available for Windows and macOS.
| Codec | macOS | other Unix & Unix-like | Windows |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3ivx | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Blackbird | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Cinepak | Yes | No | Yes |
| DivX | Yes | No | Yes |
| FFmpeg | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| RealVideo | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Schrödinger (Dirac) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Sorenson Video 3 | Yes | No | Yes |
| Theora | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| x264 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Xvid | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Elecard | Yes | No | Yes |
Technical details[edit]
| Codec | Compression type | Basic algorithm | Highest supported bitrate | Highest supported resolution | Variable frame rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blackbird | Lossy compression | Unknown | Unknown | 384×288 (PAL), 320×240 (NTSC) | Yes |
| Cinepak | Lossy compression | Vector quantization[32] | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown |
| Dirac | Lossy / Lossless compression | Wavelet compression | Unlimited[33] | Unlimited[33] | Yes |
| Sorenson 3 | Lossy compression | Discrete cosine transform | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown |
| Theora | Lossy compression | Discrete cosine transform | 2 Gibit/s | 1,048,560×1,048,560[34][35] | Via chaining[*] |
| RealVideo | Lossy compression | Discrete cosine transform | Unknown | Unknown | Yes |
| Elecard | Lossy compression | Unknown | Unlimited | 16k | Yes |
- Theora streams with different frame rates can be chained in the same file, but each stream has a fixed frame rate.[34]