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Encoding Filters Pack - Codecs Reference

Overview

This document provides a comprehensive reference for all video and audio codecs supported by the DirectShow Encoding Filters Pack. The pack includes both software and hardware-accelerated encoders for professional media encoding.

Video Codecs

H.264/AVC (MPEG-4 Part 10)

The most widely used video codec for streaming, broadcasting, and file storage.

Encoder Options

Encoder Type Description Hardware Support Performance Quality
Software (x264) CPU-based H.264 encoder None Moderate Excellent
NVENC NVIDIA GPU encoder NVIDIA GPUs (Kepler+) Very Fast Good-Excellent
QuickSync Intel integrated graphics Intel CPUs (2nd gen+) Fast Good
AMD AMF AMD GPU encoder AMD GPUs (GCN+) Fast Good
Media Foundation Windows MF encoder Various (OS-dependent) Moderate Good
#### Profiles and Levels
Profiles:
- Baseline - Basic features, mobile devices
- Main - Standard features, most applications
- High - Advanced features, HD content, Blu-ray
Common Levels:
- Level 3.0 - SD (720x480 @ 30 fps)
- Level 3.1 - 720p (1280x720 @ 30 fps)
- Level 4.0 - 1080p (1920x1080 @ 30 fps)
- Level 4.1 - 1080p @ 60 fps
- Level 5.0 - 4K (3840x2160 @ 30 fps)
- Level 5.1 - 4K @ 60 fps
#### Rate Control Modes
Mode Description Use Case Bitrate Behavior
------ ------------- ---------- ------------------
CBR Constant Bitrate Streaming, broadcasting Fixed bitrate
VBR Variable Bitrate File storage Varies based on complexity
CQP Constant Quantization High quality archival Varies significantly
#### Recommended Settings
Streaming (1080p @ 30fps):
- Bitrate: 4-6 Mbps
- Profile: High
- Level: 4.0
- GOP Size: 60 (2 seconds)
- B-frames: 2
Recording (1080p @ 60fps):
- Bitrate: 8-12 Mbps
- Profile: High
- Level: 4.1
- GOP Size: 120 (2 seconds)
- B-frames: 3
Low Latency Streaming:
- Bitrate: 2-4 Mbps
- Profile: Main
- Level: 3.1
- GOP Size: 30 (1 second)
- B-frames: 0
---

H.265/HEVC (High Efficiency Video Coding)

Next-generation codec offering 40-50% better compression than H.264.

Encoder Options

Encoder Type Description Hardware Support Performance Quality
Software (x265) CPU-based HEVC encoder None Slow Excellent
NVENC NVIDIA GPU encoder NVIDIA GPUs (Maxwell+) Fast Good-Excellent
QuickSync Intel integrated graphics Intel CPUs (6th gen+) Fast Good
AMD AMF AMD GPU encoder AMD GPUs (Fiji+) Fast Good

Profiles and Tiers

Profiles: - Main - 8-bit, 4:2:0, standard use - Main 10 - 10-bit, HDR support - Main Still Picture - Single images

Tiers: - Main Tier - Standard applications - High Tier - Professional/broadcast

Common Levels: - Level 3.1 - 720p @ 30 fps - Level 4.0 - 1080p @ 30 fps - Level 4.1 - 1080p @ 60 fps - Level 5.0 - 4K @ 30 fps - Level 5.1 - 4K @ 60 fps

4K Streaming (2160p @ 30fps): - Bitrate: 15-20 Mbps - Profile: Main - Level: 5.0 - GOP Size: 60 - Tile Encoding: Enabled

1080p High Quality: - Bitrate: 3-5 Mbps - Profile: Main or Main 10 - Level: 4.0 - GOP Size: 90

VP8

Google's open-source video codec, primarily for WebM containers.

Features

  • License: Royalty-free, open source
  • Container: WebM (preferred), MKV
  • Hardware Support: Limited
  • Quality: Good at medium-high bitrates
  • Complexity: Moderate encoding time

WebM Streaming (720p): - Bitrate: 1-2 Mbps - GOP Size: 120 - Quality: Good (0-63 scale, lower is better) - Threads: Auto

VP9

Successor to VP8 with significantly improved compression efficiency.

Features

  • License: Royalty-free, open source
  • Container: WebM (primary), MKV
  • Hardware Support: Recent GPUs (Intel, NVIDIA, AMD)
  • Quality: Comparable to H.265
  • Complexity: Very high (software), moderate (hardware)

Profiles

  • Profile 0 - 8-bit, 4:2:0 (most common)
  • Profile 1 - 8-bit, 4:2:2/4:4:4
  • Profile 2 - 10/12-bit, 4:2:0
  • Profile 3 - 10/12-bit, 4:2:2/4:4:4

YouTube/WebM (1080p @ 30fps): - Bitrate: 2-4 Mbps - Quality/Speed: 1 (fastest), 0 (slowest/best) - GOP Size: 60 - Tile Columns: 2

MPEG-2

Legacy codec still used for DVDs and broadcasting.

Features

  • License: Requires license
  • Container: MPEG-PS, MPEG-TS, VOB
  • Hardware Support: Universal
  • Quality: Good but requires higher bitrates
  • Use Cases: DVD authoring, broadcasting

Common Variants

  • MPEG-2 DVD - 4-8 Mbps, 720x480/720x576
  • MPEG-2 SVCD - 2.5 Mbps, 480x480/480x576
  • MPEG-2 HD - 15-25 Mbps, 1920x1080

DVD Video (NTSC): - Resolution: 720x480 - Bitrate: 6 Mbps - GOP Size: 15 (NTSC) or 12 (PAL) - Aspect Ratio: 16:9 or 4:3

MPEG-4 Part 2

Older MPEG-4 Visual codec (DivX/Xvid era).

Features

  • License: Requires license
  • Container: AVI, MP4, MKV
  • Quality: Moderate
  • Use Cases: Legacy content, low-power devices

Standard Definition: - Resolution: 640x480 - Bitrate: 1-2 Mbps - GOP Size: 250

Audio Codecs

AAC (Advanced Audio Coding)

Industry-standard audio codec for most applications.

Encoder Options

Encoder Type Description Quality Performance
FFmpeg AAC Software encoder Good Fast
Media Foundation AAC Windows built-in Good Fast
FAAC Open-source encoder Moderate Fast
#### Profiles
- AAC-LC (Low Complexity) - Standard, most compatible
- HE-AAC (High Efficiency) - Better at low bitrates
- HE-AAC v2 - Even better for very low bitrates
#### Recommended Bitrates
Quality Stereo 5.1 Surround
--------- -------- --------------
Low 64-96 kbps 192 kbps
Medium 128 kbps 256 kbps
High 192 kbps 384 kbps
Very High 256-320 kbps 448-640 kbps
#### Sample Rates
- 44.1 kHz - CD quality, music
- 48 kHz - Professional audio, video
- 32 kHz - Lower quality (voice)
---

MP3 (MPEG-1/2 Audio Layer III)

Legacy but still widely used audio codec.

Encoder Options

  • LAME - Excellent quality open-source encoder
  • FFmpeg MP3 - Built-in encoder

Bitrate Modes

Mode Description File Size Quality
CBR Constant Bitrate Predictable Consistent
VBR Variable Bitrate Smaller Better
ABR Average Bitrate Balanced Good

Music (High Quality): - Mode: VBR - Quality: V0-V2 (LAME scale) - Approximate Bitrate: 190-245 kbps - Sample Rate: 44.1 kHz

Podcast/Speech: - Mode: CBR - Bitrate: 96-128 kbps - Sample Rate: 44.1 kHz

Low Bandwidth: - Mode: VBR - Quality: V5-V6 - Approximate Bitrate: 120-150 kbps

Vorbis

Open-source alternative to MP3 and AAC.

Features

  • License: Completely free, no patents
  • Container: OGG (primary), WebM, MKV
  • Quality: Excellent, especially at low-mid bitrates
  • Compatibility: Good but not universal

Music (High Quality): - Quality: 6-8 (0-10 scale) - Approximate Bitrate: 192-256 kbps - Sample Rate: 44.1 kHz or 48 kHz Streaming: - Quality: 4-5 - Approximate Bitrate: 128-160 kbps

Opus

Modern, highly efficient codec for both speech and music.

Features

  • License: Royalty-free, standardized (RFC 6716)
  • Container: WebM, MKV, OGG
  • Latency: Extremely low (5-66.5 ms)
  • Bitrate Range: 6-510 kbps
  • Quality: Superior to MP3, AAC, Vorbis

Applications

  • VoIP/Voice Chat: 8-24 kbps
  • Music Streaming: 64-128 kbps
  • High Fidelity: 128-256 kbps

Voice Chat: - Bitrate: 16-24 kbps - Sample Rate: 16 kHz or 48 kHz - Application: VoIP

Music: - Bitrate: 96-160 kbps - Sample Rate: 48 kHz - Application: Audio

FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec)

Lossless audio compression.

Features

  • License: Open source, royalty-free
  • Compression: Typically 40-60% of original
  • Quality: Bit-perfect lossless
  • Compatibility: Good and improving

Compression Levels

  • Level 0 - Fastest, ~50% compression
  • Level 5 - Default, ~55% compression
  • Level 8 - Slowest, ~60% compression

Archival: - Compression Level: 5-8 - Sample Rate: Original (typically 44.1 or 48 kHz) - Bit Depth: Original (16 or 24-bit) Streaming: - Compression Level: 0-3 - Sample Rate: 44.1 or 48 kHz

Speex

Specialized codec for voice compression.

Features

  • License: Open source (BSD)
  • Purpose: Speech compression (not music)
  • Bitrate: 2-44 kbps
  • Quality: Optimized for voice

Modes

  • Narrowband (8 kHz) - Phone quality, 2.15-24.6 kbps
  • Wideband (16 kHz) - Better clarity, 4-44 kbps
  • Ultra-wideband (32 kHz) - Full speech spectrum

VoIP: - Mode: Wideband - Quality: 6-8 (0-10 scale) - Bitrate: ~15-20 kbps

Hardware Acceleration Overview

NVIDIA NVENC

Supported Codecs: - H.264/AVC (all NVIDIA GPUs from Kepler generation) - H.265/HEVC (Maxwell generation and newer) Generations: - Kepler (GTX 600/700) - 1st gen, basic H.264 - Maxwell (GTX 900) - 2nd gen, HEVC support - Pascal (GTX 10XX) - 3rd gen, improved quality - Turing/Ampere (RTX 20XX/30XX) - 7th/8th gen, excellent quality Performance: Up to 8K @ 30 fps (GPU dependent) Quality Settings: - Preset: P1 (fastest) to P7 (slowest, best quality) - Recommended: P4-P6 for balanced quality/speed

Intel QuickSync

Supported Codecs: - H.264/AVC (2nd gen Core and newer) - H.265/HEVC (6th gen Core and newer) - VP9 (9th gen Core and newer)

Generations: - Sandy Bridge (2nd gen) - H.264 support - Skylake (6th gen) - HEVC support - Ice Lake (10th gen mobile) - Improved quality - Rocket Lake (11th gen) - Enhanced features

Performance: Up to 4K @ 60 fps

Quality: Good, improving with each generation

AMD AMF (Advanced Media Framework)

Supported Codecs: - H.264/AVC (GCN 1.0 and newer) - H.265/HEVC (Fiji/Polaris and newer) Generations: - GCN 1-4 (R7/R9, RX 400/500) - H.264 only - Vega (RX Vega) - HEVC support - RDNA (RX 5000/6000) - Improved quality Performance: Up to 4K @ 60 fps Quality: Good, competitive with QuickSync

Codec Selection Guide

For Streaming (Live)

Recommended: H.264 (NVENC/QuickSync) - Reason: Universal compatibility, low latency, hardware acceleration - Fallback: H.264 (software)

Settings: - 1080p @ 30fps: 4-6 Mbps - 720p @ 30fps: 2.5-4 Mbps - Low latency: Disable B-frames

For Recording (High Quality)

Recommended: H.265 (NVENC/QuickSync) or H.264 (software) - Reason: Best quality-to-size ratio - Alternative: HEVC software for maximum quality Settings: - 4K @ 30fps: 15-25 Mbps (HEVC) or 35-50 Mbps (H.264) - 1080p @ 60fps: 8-15 Mbps (HEVC) or 15-25 Mbps (H.264)

For Web Delivery

Recommended: VP9 or H.264 - Reason: Browser compatibility, royalty-free (VP9)

Settings: - VP9: 1080p @ 2-4 Mbps - H.264: 1080p @ 4-6 Mbps

For Audio

Music: AAC (128-192 kbps) or Opus (96-160 kbps) Voice: Opus (16-32 kbps) or Speex (15-20 kbps) Archival: FLAC (lossless) Podcast: MP3 VBR (V4-V2, ~130-190 kbps) or AAC (128 kbps)

Compatibility Matrix

Codec MP4 MKV AVI WebM OGG MPEG-TS
H.264 ✓ ✓ ✓ ✗ ✗ ✓
H.265 ✓ ✓ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✓
VP8 ✗ ✓ ✗ ✓ ✗ ✗
VP9 ✗ ✓ ✗ ✓ ✗ ✗
MPEG-2 ✓ ✓ ✓ ✗ ✗ ✓
AAC ✓ ✓ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✓
MP3 ✓ ✓ ✓ ✗ ✗ ✓
Vorbis ✗ ✓ ✗ ✓ ✓ ✗
Opus ✗ ✓ ✗ ✓ ✓ ✗
FLAC ✓ ✓ ✗ ✓ ✓ ✗

See Also