H.264/AVC

📚 Key Takeaways:

📌 What is H.264? H.264, which is also referred as AVC (Advanced Video Coding) or MPEG-4 Part 10, is the most widely used video compression standard in use today.

📌 What is H.264 used for? The H.264 or AVC compression standard can deliver high-quality video at low bit rates, making it ideal for streaming and recording. You can also see H.264/AVC in a wide range of applications and devices like DVD discs, digital television, mobile devices, video conferencing, security cameras, drones, and more.

📌 What file formats support H.264? H.264/AVC is a codec that can work with multiple container formats and the most common container format is MP4. Other wrappers include MKV, F4V, MOV, TS, 3GP, etc.

To learn more details about H.264/AVC, check out the table below. It gives you a thorough overview of the most popular compression standard.

Overview Table of H.264/AVC

Category	Details
File Format	H.264, or Advanced Video Coding (AVC), or MPEG-4 Part 10
Media Type	Video
Format Type	Codec
File Extension	.mp4, .f4v, .mov, .mkv, .3gp, .ts, and more
License Fee	Not royalty-free. The licensing and royalty structure for H.264 (AVC) is managed by MPEG LA
Developed by	Joint Video Team (JVT), a collaborative group formed by the ITU-T’s Video Coding Experts Group (VCEG) and ISO/IEC’s Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG)
Initial Release	Standardized in May 2003
Advantages	▪ Require low bandwidth ▪ High-resolution monitoring ▪ Compression efficiency ▪ Lower bitrate than other Motion JPEG video ▪ Use less video storage ▪ Strike balance between quality and file size ▪ Wide compatibility
Use Cases	▪ Streaming services ▪ Broadcast ▪ Blu-ray discs ▪ Video conferencing ▪ Surveillance and security cameras ▪ Mobile video recording and playback ▪ Video editing and production ▪ Gaming and game streaming
VS H.265(HEVC)	H.265, also referred as HEVC (High Efficiency Video Coding), is an upgrade to H.264, offering better compression efficiency at lower bitrates but with comparable quality to H.264. It supports higher resolutions, like 4K, but requires more processing power for encoding and decoding.

Applications to Convert Videos to or from H.264

H.264 is great for compatibility, but sometimes you still need to convert it, like converting to H.265 to get higher compression efficiency for smaller size —or maybe you want to convert other videos to H.264 for easier sharing or streaming.

For free and open-source tools, you can try:

FFmpeg: A command line-based conversion tool
HandBrake: Process copy-free discs and digital files to MP4, MKV, or WebM
VLC Media Player: Well-known for its ability to play various types of media

But to get safe, reliable, and efficient conversion experience, try:

👉 WonderFox DVD Ripper Pro: Support copy-free and encrypted DVDs, VIDEO_TS folder, ISO image files

👉 WonderFox HD Video Converter Factory Pro: All-in-one multimedia processing solution to convert, record, download, edit, compress any types of videos and audio, including H.264 encoded files

👉 WonderFox DVD Video Converter: Prefer a one-stop solution to deal with both Discs and digital files