X264
x264 is an open source software library for encoding H.264/MPEG-4 AVC video streams. It is free, fast, and produces high quality H.264 video while maintaining good compression. x264 is used in many applications from web streaming to Blu-Ray encoding.
h264
mpeg4
avc
video-encoding
open-source
x264: Open Source Library for H.264/MPEG-4 AVC Video Encoding
Free, fast, and high-quality H.264 video encoder library with good compression, used in web streaming to Blu-Ray encoding applications.
What is X264?
x264 is an open source H.264/MPEG-4 AVC encoder software library. It is one of the most popular H.264 encoders and is used in a wide range of applications due to being free, fast, and producing high quality video.
Some key features and benefits of x264 include:
- Open source and free - x264 is offered under the GNU GPL, so there are no licenses fees or restrictions on its use.
- High performance and fast - Hardware accelerated encoding gives excellent speeds on modern CPUs.
- Excellent compression - Complex algorithms give high quality video at low bitrates, close to H.264 limits.
- Compatible and portable - x264 works on Linux, Mac, and Windows and with most H.264 applications.
- Extensive tuning options - Many advanced parameters to optimize encoding speed, quality, and file size.
- Multi-threading - Parallel encoding leverages multi-core systems for improved speeds.
x264 is used in software and products for web video encoding, optical media authoring, video editing, broadcasting, video conferencing and more. Its speed and efficiency have made it popular for H.264 encoding across many platforms and applications.
X264 Features
Features
- Open source
- Free
- Fast H.264/AVC video encoding
- High compression
- Multi-threaded encoding
- Wide platform support
Pricing
- Open Source
Pros
Free and open source
Very fast encoding speed
High compression efficiency
High video quality
Multi-platform support
Cons
Command line interface only
Steep learning curve
Requires technical knowledge to use
The Best X264 Alternatives
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