X264
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- The correct title of this article is x264. The initial letter is shown capitalized due to technical restrictions.
| x264 | |
| Developer: | x264 team |
|---|---|
| OS: | Cross-platform |
| Use: | Multimedia framework |
| License: | GPL |
| Website: | http://www.videolan.org/developers/x264.html |
x264 is a free software library for encoding H.264/MPEG-4 AVC video streams. The code is written from scratch by Loren Merritt, Laurent Aimar, Eric Petit, Min Chen, Justin Clay, Måns Rullgård, Radek Czyz, Alex Izvorski, Alex Wright, and Christian Heine. It is released under the terms of the GNU General Public License, however this license may be incompatible with the MPEG-LA patent licenses in jurisdictions that recognize software patents.
Several graphical user interfaces have been made for the command line version, including MeGUI, AutoAC and a .NET (1.1) based x264CLI GUI.
Contents |
[edit] Capabilities
As of February 2007, it is one of the most advanced publicly available AVC encoders. It is also one of the few publicly available High Profile AVC encoders. It supports:
- Context-based Adaptive Binary Arithmetic Coding (CABAC) and Context-based Adaptive Variable Length Coding (CAVLC)
- Multiple reference frames
- All intra-predicted macroblock types (16x16, 8x8 and 4x4 -- 8x8 is part of AVC High Profile)
- All P-frame inter-predicted macroblock types
- B-Inter-predicted macroblock types from 16x16 down to 8x8
- Rate Distortion Optimization
- Multiple ratecontrol modes: constant quantizer, constant quality, single or multipass ABR with the option of VBV
- Scene cut detection
- Adaptive B-frame placement, with the option of keeping B-frames as references / arbitrary frame order
- 8x8 and 4x4 adaptive spatial transform (High Profile)
- Lossless mode (High 4:4:4 Profile)
- Custom quantization matrices (High Profile)
- Parallel encoding on multiple CPUs
- Interlace support
[edit] Comparison with other codecs
x264 has won awards in the following codec comparisons:
See also the Software encoder feature comparison in the H.264/MPEG-4 AVC article.
[edit] Creating x264 encoded files
- Avidemux
- ffmpeg
- Gordian Knot: discontinued
- VLC media player: a cross-platform media player and streaming program
- MeGUI
- MediaCoder
- MEncoder
- VirtualDub
- x264farm: a distributed video encoder
- StaxRip
- SUPER : Simplified Universal Player Encoder & Renderer.
- HandBrake :HandBrake is a GPL'd multiplatform, multithreaded DVD to H.264 ripper/converter. For MacOSX, Linux and Windows
- AutoMKV : Technically still beta, but it works.
[edit] Playing x264 encoded files
- CoreAVC
- ffdshow
- ffmpeg
- MPlayer
- VLC media player: a cross-platform media player and streaming program
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- x264 Home Page
- x264 Options Explained Guide @ Digital Digest
