Handbrake question

GeeBax wrote on 2/17/2016, 3:52 PM

In Handbrake, when you select 'Video Codec', one of the choices is marked as 'H.264 (x264)'. Which one does it use?

Comments

NormanPCN wrote on 2/17/2016, 7:46 PM

They are the same thing.

x264 is an encoder that encodes AVC/H.264 codec video.

AVC is an MPEG and ISO name for the codec. Advanced Video coding.
H.264 is the ITU name (standard number) for the codec.
So AVC = H.264

musicvid10 wrote on 2/17/2016, 8:24 PM

Simple.
H.264 is commercially licensed by MPEG-LA.
x264 is open-source, GNU/GPL standard license.
Handbrake, of course, uses the latter, but the names are more-or-less interchangeable.
They both do the same thing.

GeeBax wrote on 2/17/2016, 8:34 PM

Thank you both for the explanation.

musicvid10 wrote on 2/17/2016, 9:22 PM

If you will be encoding HD below 12Mbps, I suggest x264 in Handbrake as giving you the best bang for your bits. They are both great at higher bitrates, but Mainconcept H.264 falls apart at lower average bitrates.