H.264/AVC (Advanced Video Coding) - also known as MPEG-4 Part 10 - is poised to be a major video standard because it can replace several popular formats while offering significant advantages over them.
The MainConcept H.264/AVC Codec Package offers fast encoding and decoding speeds in all profiles and levels supported by the standard. The Codec Package encodes and decodes H.264/AVC video, making it easy to add support for this exciting new format to existing applications.
The corresponding H.264/AVC Decoder offers real-time decoding speeds in various profiles and levels supported by the standard. In addition, it features an extraordinary quality improvement over other similar solutions. The H.264/AVC Decoder enables the user to decode every DVB-S2 channel which broadcasts H.264/AVC. AvailabilityFor Windows, Mac and Linux, the codec package consists of a Low Level API (in the C programming language). Under Windows, it additionally includes DirectShow filters for decoding and encoding. The decoder filter can be used by any DirectShow® application (e.g. Windows® Media Player).
The H.264 Codec Package is available as a Professional and Consumer version. The consumer version of the AVC/H.264 encoder has limited functionalities in comparison with the Pro version. Please refer to the table below to for a comparison of these two versions.
With MainConcept Reference, the professional transcoder application by MainConcept, H.264 is also available for seamless codec conversion from and to various formats. Click here for details.
Consumer vs. Professional Version
| H.264/AVC Encoder Standard | H.264/AVC Encoder Professional | Instances | Single instance at the time | Multiple instances at the time | CPU Usage | Only one physical CPU (e.g. on systems with 2 Dual Cores, encoder will run only on one Dual Core thus utilizing 2 cores from 4 available in system) | Multiple CPU support | Bit Rate Control | Only ConstQ and VBR rate control modes (thus no CBR) | CBR, VBR, ConstQ, multipass encoding is enabled | Available Bit Rates | Max bit-rate 20 Mbps | Up to Level 5.1 restriction | | H.264/AVC Decoder Standard | H.264/AVC Decoder Professional | Supported Streams | AVC-Intra streams and H.264/AVC 4:2:2 as well as 10-bit streams are not supported | Also support for AVC-Intra and H.264/ AVC 4:2:2 as well as 10-bit streams |
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The above codec is also available within MainConcept ShowCase, providing simple and seamless decoder access via DirectShow filters (for Microsoft operating systems). MainConcept ShowCase frees developers from integrating MainConcept Codec SDK decoding components into their own development for just testing the features, performance and quality. Click here to switch to MainConcept ShowCase details. MainConcept ShowCase is currently available for Windows (32bit) only.
