Software characteristics

Codecs list

General video codec information – creator/company, license, etc.
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) Google 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

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.

Encoder Operating System Support
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 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