VLC Player

x264 Video Codec rev

VLC Player 

Encoder features:

• CAVLC/CABAC
• Multi-references
• Intra: all macroblock types (16x16, 8x8, and 4x4 with all predictions)
• Inter P: all partitions (from 16x16 down to 4x4)
• Inter B: partitions from 16x16 down to 8x8 (including skip/direct)
• Ratecontrol: constant quantizer, single or multipass ABR, optional VBV
• Scene cut detection
• Adaptive B-frame placement
• B-frames as references / arbitrary frame order
• 8x8 and 4x4 adaptive spatial transform
• Lossless mode
• Custom quantization matrices
• Parallel encoding of multiple slices

Advanced settings:

• Enabling Cabac: approximately 10% bitrate reduction without loss in quality, but is slow.
• Enabling De-blocking Filter: smooths out visible blocks during an encode (rather than by using post processing to smooth out blocks while decoding). Is a good idea to enable for low bitrate encodes.

x264 limitations:

• "x264 doesn't support the error-resilience features of baseline and extended profile, not the alternative colorspaces of high profile. Properly dealing with adaptive interlacing in all cases takes lots of code.
• x264 doesn't support interlacing.

What's New:

• Prevent VBV from lowering quantizer too much
• This code seemed to act up unexpectedly sometimes, creating a situation where in 1-pass VBV mode, a frame's quantizer would drop all the way to qpmin and then shoot back upwards to qpmax, causing serious visual issues.
• This change may decrease bitrate in VBV mode, but that is preferable to the artifacting produced by this code.
• Improve subme7 at low QPs and add subme7 support in lossless mode.