The Four Major Video Codecs
H.264 (AVC)
The workhorse of video compression. Works everywhere — every browser, every device, every platform. Excellent quality-to-file-size ratio. Best choice for general use.
H.265 (HEVC)
About 40-50% better compression than H.264 at the same quality. Widely supported on modern devices. Some older browsers and devices can't play it. Best for storage efficiency when you control the playback environment.
VP9
Google's open-source codec. Similar compression to H.265. Used on YouTube. Good browser support (Chrome, Firefox). Not as hardware-accelerated as H.265 on mobile.
AV1
The newest standard. 30-50% better compression than H.265. Completely free and open-source (no licensing fees). Slower to encode. Growing hardware support. Best for future-proofing.
Which Codec to Choose?
- Maximum compatibility: H.264 in MP4
- Smaller files, modern devices: H.265 in MP4 or MKV
- Web streaming: VP9 in WebM or AV1
For most users, H.264 MP4 output from Video Compressor is the right choice.