Video Encoding, Codec & Transcoding News

Harmonic Inc. announced a tier-1 broadcaster successfully migrated its video distribution from satellite to Harmonic's SRT-based IP solution, achieving a 68% reduction in bandwidth costs. The solution incorporates HEVC compression, software-based edge devices for customization, and remote management through DMS X and VOS360 Media SaaS. This modernization enables flexible content delivery to 150 affiliates and supports advanced features like local ad insertion and branding.

The article details how Harmonic's VOS Media Software, a comprehensive video platform for workflows from playout to origin, is optimized to run on Red Hat OpenShift, a leading Kubernetes-based container orchestration platform. This integration aims to create a cloud-native foundation for service providers, tackling challenges like data deluge, live event traffic spikes, and sustainability commitments in video delivery. The collaboration focuses on delivering scalable, secure, and efficient video operations for the telecommunications industry.

Harmonic successfully delivered flawless live streaming for major Q1 2026 sports events including the Super Bowl and March Madness, achieving 100% uptime targets. The company detailed its multi-cloud platform leveraging VOS®360 Media SaaS and MSL5 across AWS, Azure, GCP, and Akamai Cloud, combined with a global DevOps team and 'monitor by anticipation' methodology. This highlights advanced operational practices for high-stakes live sports, emphasizing reliability and scalability.

The article demonstrates high-performance VR streaming technology, running DCS Warbirds in 4K at 60fps using an AV1 stream on a Meta Quest 3 headset, powered by an Nvidia RTX 4090 GPU. This highlights the capabilities of modern encoding standards and hardware for demanding streaming applications.

Users on Level1Techs Forums are discussing GPU recommendations for Linux systems, specifically focusing on low-power, multi-output cards with modern codec decoding capabilities like AV1. Intel Arc A-series and AMD Radeon 6000/7000 series GPUs are frequently mentioned for their Linux support and hardware decoding features. The discussion highlights the challenge of finding low-power, current-generation GPUs suitable for tasks primarily involving video decoding rather than gaming or AI.

Google Cloud has released details and pricing for its new g2-standard-16 instance, featuring an NVIDIA L4 GPU, 16 vCPUs, and 64GB RAM. This new instance, available in 18 regions, is designed for graphics-intensive workloads, video streaming, and transcoding, with pricing starting at $834.72 monthly. The article also highlights its suitability for running AI models alongside streaming tasks.

This article from Hostinger introduces Tdarr, an open-source, distributed media transcoding system for automating video and audio library conversion, compression, and health-checking. It highlights Tdarr's ability to efficiently process large media libraries using FFmpeg or HandBrake and its benefits when self-hosted on a VPS, including control over encoding profiles and hardware acceleration. Hostinger positions its VPS service as an optimal platform for running Tdarr, offering one-click deployment, security features, and a built-in Docker manager.

Limecraft has released version 2026.4 of its platform, introducing account-level Teams for cross-workspace access control and beta GPU-accelerated video encoding/decoding on Apple Silicon Macs. This update aims to streamline media workflows for large organizations by improving access management and processing performance. Additionally, it features refinements to AAF export functionality and new translation optimization settings.

A critical security vulnerability, CVE-2026-46230, was discovered in AMDGPU's VCN3 driver via static analysis, affecting RDNA2 GPUs and APUs. The flaw, a missing bounds check in the video decoder engine, has been patched in the Linux kernel. This discovery is part of a series of similar bugs found across multiple VCN generations, highlighting persistent driver code weaknesses.

ITU and ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 29 are organizing a workshop in January 2025 to develop the next generation of video coding standards beyond VVC, with a strong focus on the role of Artificial Intelligence and advanced signal processing. This collaboration aims to shape future video codec standards for streaming professionals and may lead to formal Calls for Evidence and Proposals in 2025.

At its 149th meeting, MPEG promoted three key standards to Final Draft International Standard (FDIS) status: MPEG-I Immersive Audio, MPEG Immersive Video (Second Edition), and MPEG-DASH (Sixth Edition). These advancements bring significant improvements to immersive content coding, adaptive streaming, and low-latency delivery. Additionally, MPEG issued a Call for Proposals for Lenslet Video Coding and reached a Committee Draft for Avatar representation format, alongside adding new SEI Messages to HEVC.

An online forum discusses optimal settings and codecs within the Hybrid tool for deinterlacing analog video captures, particularly for family "watch copies." Users explore efficient workflows and codec choices like H.264, Huffyuv, FFvHuff, and ProRes, for handling legacy video formats.

AWS Elemental's documentation details various video encoding rate control modes, including CBR, VBR, ABR, and CQ, highlighting QVBR as providing the best video quality per bit. The article explains how each mode functions and offers recommendations for their use in video encoding for streaming professionals. This provides essential technical guidance for optimizing video quality and bitrate in professional streaming workflows.

This article provides an in-depth technical overview of High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), detailing its advancements over AVC, including improved compression, support for resolutions up to 16K, and enhanced color spaces. It discusses HEVC's performance factors, feature advancements like Coding Tree Units, and various profiles, tiers, and levels, as well as its market penetration and relation to ISO standards. The Apple Vision Pro headset's adoption of 3D-HEVC is noted as a significant boost to its credibility.

Inkrypt Videos published a guide detailing optimal bitrates for 1080p video across recording, live streaming, and uploading, highlighting the importance of matching bitrate to use case and platform constraints. The guide explains the differences between CBR and VBR encoding and the implications of codec choice (H.264, H.265, AV1) for video quality and compatibility. It also emphasizes the combined importance of bitrate and secure, performant delivery, promoting Inkrypt Videos' DRM and CDN services.

GStreamer 1.28.4, a maintenance update to the open-source multimedia framework, has been released, adding support for FLAC decoding on Android and new codec profile mappings for various formats including WMV, VC1, AC3/EAC3/AC4, AAC, and H.265. The update also improves the RTSP client plugin with better error handling, authentication, HTTP tunneling, and SRTP support, alongside enhancements for WebRTC and D3D12 decoder performance on Qualcomm GPUs.

VeriSilicon has announced that its VC9800D Video Processing Unit (VPU) IP now supports AV2 decoding, expanding its advanced video codec portfolio. This development enables next-generation video technologies in consumer and multimedia devices, supporting high-quality video at lower bitrates and is based on the AV2 V1.0 specification from AOMedia.

A guide demonstrates how to significantly reduce video file size for YouTube uploads using H.265 (HEVC) in Adobe Premiere Pro, achieving an almost eight-fold reduction compared to H.264 while maintaining visual quality. The tutorial explains that H.265's efficient compression allows for much lower bitrates, benefiting upload times and storage for content creators. It highlights specific settings within Premiere Pro needed to leverage H.265 for optimal compression.

NETINT Technologies outlines a new operating model called VPU-as-a-Service for cloud video processing, which uses purpose-built Video Processing Units (VPUs) to enhance efficiency for complex and high-volume transcoding workloads. This approach aims to improve codec economics and facilitate practical AV1 adoption by separating the execution layer from the main workflow logic, offering specialized hardware acceleration via a cloud-style deployment. The article positions VPU-as-a-Service as a balance between flexible CPU-based transcoding and fully managed services, allowing engineering teams to retain workflow control while benefiting from dedicated video hardware.

The Media Coding Industry Forum (MC-IF) is accelerating the adoption and deployment of Versatile Video Coding (VVC) in 2026, focusing on implementation and interoperability to address growing video traffic demands. This initiative aims to reduce bandwidth strain and infrastructure costs for streaming providers by moving VVC from standards work into production environments. MC-IF is also expanding participation and supporting multi-codec strategies for efficient video delivery.

V-Nova details how MPEG-5 LCEVC enables scalable, two-layer video encoding directly on sender devices for video messaging, improving quality without requiring cloud transcoding. This approach allows services to deliver a universal baseline while offering higher quality to recipients with LCEVC-enabled apps. The technology can be deployed via app updates on iOS and Android, working with existing AVC/HEVC hardware encoders.

Globo has launched DTV+ services in Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, and Brasília, deploying VVC and MPEG-5 LCEVC for next-generation television in Brazil. This marks the commercial implementation of these advanced compression technologies in one of the world's largest TV markets, providing a real-world benchmark for broadcasters and regulators globally. The new services deliver 4Kp60 HDR television efficiently over existing terrestrial broadcast infrastructure.

The Media Coding Industry Forum (MC-IF) is focusing its 2026 agenda on accelerating the adoption and deployment of Versatile Video Coding (VVC). According to Justin Ridge, VVC is seeing growing platform-level support in mobile ecosystems, driven by network efficiency and potential cost savings, and MC-IF is enhancing implementation support and interoperability to reduce adoption barriers.

Hikvision has introduced Guanlan Encoding, a technology that integrates its Guanlan Large-Scale AI Model into H.265 encoding to reduce video storage costs by 30-50%. This innovation preserves HD details for key objects through precision Region of Interest (ROI) segmentation while maintaining compatibility with existing H.265 decoders. The technology is being rolled out across various Hikvision products including cameras and DVRs.

Fuma Kimishima and Jinjia Zhou have developed a new method using few-step generative models (like Rectified Flow and Consistency Trajectory Models) for lossy compression, aiming to replace traditional diffusion-based codecs. This approach significantly reduces encoding and decoding times while enhancing image realism at low bit rates. The research demonstrates how existing pre-trained generative models can be used as codecs without retraining, showing improved performance on benchmarks like CIFAR10 and ImageNet.

AWS Elemental MediaConvert now integrates with Amazon CloudWatch, offering streaming professionals real-time insights into transcoding performance and resource utilization. This integration provides new metrics to monitor encoding jobs, enhancing operational visibility for users of the service.

Chips&Media has licensed its latest-generation 8K video codec IP to Ambarella, expanding their strategic collaboration. This partnership aims to optimize power, performance, bandwidth, and area (PPBA) for Ambarella's next-generation Edge and Physical AI SoCs. The technology will be applied across sectors including autonomous driving, IoT, industrial automation, and robotics.

Elysia Tools has launched a new free online converter and API allowing users to convert MKV video files to MP4 format. The service supports H.264/AAC transcoding and container-only swaps, aiming to address playback compatibility and file size optimization across various devices and web platforms. It offers features like custom CRF quality settings and the option to remove subtitles, and provides an API for integration into other systems.

AWS MediaLive automatically configures and manages encoder and as-run logs within CloudWatch Logs for streaming channels. These logs are provided in JSON format, capturing details like pipeline, severity, and channel ARN, with customizable log levels for granular monitoring. The documentation outlines the structure of these logs and how to manage their storage.

Amazon Science has developed a Dynamic Resolution Switching (DRS) framework for live streaming that enhances existing adaptive bitrate (ABR) systems. This method utilizes a lightweight, bitstream-based video quality metric (VQM) to dynamically construct ladders and achieve approximately 9% Bjøntegaard Delta rate reduction. The framework is designed for compatibility with current streaming protocols.

This article explains HEVC (H.265) video compression, its technical advantages over H.264 for 4K/8K video through features like Coding Tree Units and motion compensation, and its challenges related to fragmented patent licensing and uneven browser support. It compares HEVC to AV1 and H.266, advising on when to use each codec based on efficiency, compatibility, and licensing concerns. The article also highlights the importance of content protection alongside efficient compression, especially for premium content, making it relevant for those delivering efficient and secure HEVC streams.

Chips&Media has completed development of its next-generation AV2 hardware IP, aiming for a 20-30% improvement in compression efficiency over AV1. This technology will be integrated into their 'WAVE' series multi-codec lineup and is targeted at major North American OTT platforms like YouTube and Netflix, with hardware RTL available in May.

Signalwire's FreeSWITCH documentation provides a comprehensive reference of 20 audio and 7 video codecs, detailing their modules, supported sample rates, and default loading status. The article outlines external library dependencies, patent-encumbered codecs like G.729 and AMR, and configuration parameters for various modules such as Opus and H.264.

This article details FFplay, a media player built using FFmpeg and SDL libraries, outlining its command-line options and functionalities. It serves as a testbed for FFmpeg APIs, providing crucial specifications for developers and engineers working with media handling and testing. The documentation covers aspects like stream specifiers, generic options, AVOptions, and operational commands while playing.

OTNet has launched a new desktop video encoder that supports HLS, DASH, and DRM packaging using FFmpeg and Shaka Packager. The software enables local control over transcoding, packaging, and DRM, allowing direct upload of processed content to AWS S3 or Cloudflare R2 instead of using cloud transcoding vendors. This provides a solution for teams seeking to manage their streaming media workflows on-premises.

The AWS Elemental Live documentation details the comprehensive range of supported live media input types, protocols, and upstream systems for its encoding appliances. This includes various network inputs like HLS, RTMP, RTP, UDP, and SRT, as well as uncompressed SDI and SMPTE 2110/2022-6 inputs. The update is crucial for broadcast engineers and integrators to ensure compatibility and plan live streaming workflows.

Veo is seeking a software engineer to develop and maintain real-time video processing pipelines for their AI-based sports camera technology. The role involves using GStreamer, GPU acceleration with CUDA and Vulkan, and will directly impact Veo's video quality and AI capabilities, affecting over 40,000 clubs globally.

VideoLAN's dav2d project is actively developing an open-source reference decoder for the AV2 video codec. This initiative aims to accelerate the adoption and implementation of the next-generation AV2 codec within streaming platforms.

VeriSilicon announced that its VC9800D Video Processing Unit (VPU) IP now supports AV2 decoding, expanding its advanced video codec portfolio. This development enables the flexible deployment of AV2 across next-generation intelligent consumer and multimedia devices, with VeriSilicon already supplying the updated IP to multiple global customers based on the AV2 V1.0 specification. The company is actively driving the industry adoption of AV2, working closely with customers to integrate these decoding solutions into their products for high-quality, bandwidth-efficient video experiences.

Ateme's TITAN and NEA product lines now support Apple Immersive Video workflows, a capability referenced by Apple at WWDC26. This solution enables the full immersive signal chain, including MV-HEVC compression and HLS packaging for delivery, along with Apple Spatial Audio integration and ad insertion features. The company also collaborated with NVIDIA to address pixel processing requirements for this workflow.

This article, presented as an AI-generated song, describes Statistical Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) as a more efficient method than synchronous TDM for bandwidth allocation, dynamically assigning slots based on data demand rather than fixed reservations. It explains how this approach addresses variable loads and bursty traffic, making it fundamental to the internet's design despite potential tradeoffs like increased jitter and buffering under congestion. The song highlights the core principle of 'earning your slot' for data transmission, in contrast to the fixed nature of synchronous TDM.

Joey Lu's patch series aims to integrate Nuvoton's MA35D1 DCUltra-Lite display controller into the mainline Linux kernel via the Verisilicon DRM driver. This development, while not for current-day hardware, is crucial for long-term maintainability of embedded HMI systems, encompassing video applications. The integration process is undergoing review, addressing technical differences and potential issues in IRQ handling and Devicetree bindings.

FFmpeg has released documentation for ffplay, a simple media player built using FFmpeg libraries and SDL. Primarily used as a testbed for FFmpeg APIs, the guide offers detailed information on options, stream specifiers, and advanced playback features. This resource is crucial for developers and engineers working with FFmpeg tools.

This article profiles Fabrice Bellard, the independent engineer recognized for creating FFmpeg, an open-source multimedia framework that is foundational to online video platforms like YouTube and Netflix. It also highlights his other significant contributions, including QEMU for cloud computing virtualization and various other software projects, emphasizing his influence on core internet infrastructure.

Security firm Depthfirst discovered 21 zero-day vulnerabilities in FFmpeg, the widely used media processing library, including a critical RCE-capable heap buffer overflow in its AV1 RTP depacketizer. These flaws can be exploited with a single 183-byte RTP packet and impact media ingest pipelines, CCTV, and cloud transcoding services that process untrusted RTSP or RTP streams. Patches are advised for system administrators.

VeriSilicon announced that its VC9800D Video Processing Unit (VPU) IP now supports AV2 decoding, expanding its video codec portfolio for next-generation streaming applications. This development enables the flexible deployment of AV2 decoding in intelligent consumer and multimedia devices, leveraging the enhanced compression efficiency of the AV2 standard. VeriSilicon is working with global customers and AOMedia to accelerate AV2 adoption.

VideoLAN announced dav2d, an open-source, cross-platform AV2 decoder aimed at speed and correctness, building on the dav1d decoder. Partially funded by AOM members like Google, Meta, and Netflix, dav2d seeks to address the current lack of AV2 hardware decoding and promises up to 30% better compression than AV1. It targets various architectures, including modern desktops and mobile devices, and intends to provide a usable API for developers.