H.263

On this page, we explore what H.263 is, how this compression standard works, its supported container formats, and ways to play H.263 videos.

H.263 is a video compression standard developed by the ITU-T Video Coding Experts Group (VCEG) in a project that ended in 1995/1996. It belongs to the H.26x family of video coding standards, which includes other video compression technologies designed under the ITU-T for various applications.

H.263 is a revolutionary improvement over its predecessor, H.261, and draws on lessons learned from H.261 as well as the MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 standards. It was developed to provide better video compression efficiency for low-bitrate communication applications such as video conferencing and video telephony.

The first version of H.263 was completed in 1995 and served as a replacement for H.261, offering better compression at all bitrates. It became a cornerstone technology for low-bitrate applications, such as video conferencing and early video streaming.

It was further enhanced in the following versions:

📍 H.263v2, also known as H.263+, or H.263 1998: Introduced new features such as scalability and improved motion compensation to this version

📍 H.263v3, also known as H.263++, or as the 2000 version of H.263: Added more advanced tools like custom quantization matrices and better error resilience.

📍 MPEG-4 Part 2: Incorporated H.263 technology to ensure that basic H.263 bitstreams could be correctly decoded by MPEG-4 video decoders for backward compatibility.

(Source from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.263)

In countries where software patents do not apply, H.263 video can be legally encoded and decoded using the free LGPL-licensed libavcodec library, which is a core component of the widely recognized FFmpeg project. This open-source library has become a cornerstone for multimedia processing, powering popular applications such as ffdshow, VLC media player, and MPlayer.

H.263 can be used within several file formats, primarily those designed for video conferencing, streaming, and low-bitrate applications. They are:

• 3GP (.3gp, .3gp2)
• AVI (.avi)
• MP4 (.mp4)
• FLV (.flv)
• MPEG-4 Part 2 (.mp4, .m4v)
• RealMedia (.rm, .rmvb)

You can use applications like ffdshow, VLC Media Player, or MPlayer to directly open and play H.263-encoded files. These tools come with built-in support for the LGPL-licensed libavcodec library, which is a core component of the widely recognized FFmpeg project.

However, H.263 has largely faded from use and is only supported by a limited number of applications. If you have a collection of video files in this format, converting H.263 videos to a more modern format like H.264 can provide better compatibility and quality on modern devices and platforms. This is where WonderFox HD Video Converter Factory Pro steps in to make the process easy and seamless.

It features a beginner-friendly interface and offers over 600 hot formats and device presets, enabling you to convert MP4 H.263 or any video and audio to a needed format. Batch mode and hardware acceleration are also supported, ensuring a fast and seamless conversion experience.

Download, install, and launch the powerful H.263 converter to play and convert your H.263 collections easily!

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• Enter ‘Converter’. Drag and drop your H.263 videos into the software.
• Play H.263 with the built-in player. To play H.263 files, click the play icon on the video thumbnail to watch it.
• Expand the format library. Select the target playback device or a supported format like H.264 (MP4).
• Set an output folder and click 'Run' to start the conversion.