Video Codecs
A video codec is software or hardware that compresses and decompresses digital video. In the context of video compression, codec is a portmanteau of encoder and decoder.
Formats
Proprietary
| Format | When introduced | Major developers | Used for |
|---|---|---|---|
| H.261 | November 1988 | Hitachi, PictureTel, NTT, BT, Toshiba | |
| MPEG-1 | December 1991 | Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) | VHS, CD |
| MPEG-2/H.262 | November 1994 | Video Coding Experts Group (VCEG), MPEG | DVD, SDTV |
| MPEG-4/H.263 | March 1996 | VCEG | 3GP, Flash Video, RealVideo |
| MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 | May 2003 | Joint Video Team (JVT): VCEG, MPEG | Blu-ray Discs, YouTube, Netflix, Adobe Flash Player, HDTV |
| HEVC/H.265 | June 2013 | Joint Collaborative Team on Video Coding (JCT-VC): MPEG, VCEG | The adoption of HEVC has been hampered by its complex licensing structure. |
| VVC | July 2020 | Joint Video Experts Team (JVET): VCEG, MPEG |
Open and Free
| Format | When introduced | Major developers | Used for |
|---|---|---|---|
| VP8 | May 2010 | On2 Technologies (acquired by Google) | WebRTC, WebM, WebP, YouTube |
| VP9 | June 2013 | WebM, YouTube, Netflix, Google TV | |
| AV1 | March 2018 | Alliance for Open Media (AOMedia) | AVIF, Netflix, YouTube, Twitch |
| AV2 | May 2026 | Alliance for Open Media (AOMedia) |
Hardware Acceleration
DXVA
DirectX Video Acceleration (DXVA) is an API and a corresponding DDI for using hardware acceleration to speed up video processing on Windows. Software codecs and software video processors can use DXVA to offload certain CPU-intensive operations to the GPU.
Decoder device support status:
注意
- Only for
Windows - Only support video decoding
Example
PotPlayer uses DXVA as primary Windows hardware decode.
Support by GPU’s Manufacturers
Example
Adobe Premiere can use your system’s GPU to speed up export and playback of H.264/H.265 videos.