# General Documentation

## Table of Contents

- 1 External libraries
  - 1.1 Alliance for Open Media (AOM)
  - 1.2 AMD AMF/VCE
  - 1.3 AviSynth
  - 1.4 Chromaprint
  - 1.5 codec2
  - 1.6 dav1d
  - 1.7 davs2
  - 1.8 Game Music Emu
  - 1.9 Intel QuickSync Video
  - 1.10 Kvazaar
  - 1.11 LAME
  - 1.12 libilbc
  - 1.13 libvpx
  - 1.14 ModPlug
  - 1.15 OpenCORE, VisualOn, and Fraunhofer libraries
    - 1.15.1 OpenCORE AMR
    - 1.15.2 VisualOn AMR-WB encoder library
    - 1.15.3 Fraunhofer AAC library
  - 1.16 OpenH264
  - 1.17 OpenJPEG
  - 1.18 TwoLAME
  - 1.19 VapourSynth
  - 1.20 WavPack
  - 1.21 x264
  - 1.22 x265
  - 1.23 xavs
  - 1.24 xavs2
  - 1.25 ZVBI
- 2 Supported File Formats, Codecs or Features
  - 2.1 File Formats
  - 2.2 Image Formats
  - 2.3 Video Codecs
  - 2.4 Audio Codecs
  - 2.5 Subtitle Formats
  - 2.6 Network Protocols
  - 2.7 Input/Output Devices
  - 2.8 Timecode

## 1 External libraries# TOC

FFmpeg can be hooked up with a number of external libraries to add support for more formats. None of them are used by default, their use has to be explicitly requested by passing the appropriate flags to `./configure`.

### 1.1 Alliance for Open Media (AOM)# TOC

FFmpeg can make use of the AOM library for AV1 decoding and encoding.

Go to http://aomedia.org/ and follow the instructions for installing the library. Then pass `--enable-libaom` to configure to enable it.

### 1.2 AMD AMF/VCE# TOC

FFmpeg can use the AMD Advanced Media Framework library under Windows for accelerated H.264 and HEVC encoding on hardware with Video Coding Engine (VCE).

To enable support you must obtain the AMF framework header files from https://github.com/GPUOpen-LibrariesAndSDKs/AMF.git.

Create an `AMF/` directory in the system include path. Copy the contents of `AMF/amf/public/include/` into that directory. Then configure FFmpeg with `--enable-amf`.

### 1.3 AviSynth# TOC

FFmpeg can read AviSynth scripts as input. To enable support, pass `--enable-avisynth` to configure. The correct headers are included in compat/avisynth/, which allows the user to enable support without needing to search for these headers themselves.

For Windows, supported AviSynth variants are AviSynth 2.6 RC1 or higher for 32-bit builds and AviSynth+ r1718 or higher for 32-bit and 64-bit builds.

For Linux and OS X, the supported AviSynth variant is AvxSynth.

In 2016, AviSynth+ added support for building with GCC. However, due to the eccentricities of Windows’ calling conventions, 32-bit GCC builds of AviSynth+ are not compatible with typical 32-bit builds of FFmpeg.

By default, FFmpeg assumes compatibility with 32-bit MSVC builds of AviSynth+ since that is the most widely-used and entrenched build configuration. Users can override this and enable support for 32-bit GCC builds of AviSynth+ by passing `-DAVSC_WIN32_GCC32` to `--extra-cflags` when configuring FFmpeg.

64-bit builds of FFmpeg are not affected, and can use either MSVC or GCC builds of AviSynth+ without any special flags.

AviSynth and AvxSynth are loaded dynamically. Distributors can build FFmpeg with `--enable-avisynth`, and the binaries will work regardless of the end user having AviSynth or AvxSynth installed - they’ll only need to be installed to use AviSynth scripts (obviously).

### 1.4 Chromaprint# TOC

FFmpeg can make use of the Chromaprint library for generating audio fingerprints. Pass `--enable-chromaprint` to configure to enable it. See https://acoustid.org/chromaprint.

### 1.5 codec2# TOC

FFmpeg can make use of the codec2 library for codec2 decoding and encoding. There is currently no native decoder, so libcodec2 must be used for decoding.

Go to http://freedv.org/, download "Codec 2 source archive". Build and install using CMake. Debian users can install the libcodec2-dev package instead. Once libcodec2 is installed you can pass `--enable-libcodec2` to configure to enable it.

The easiest way to use codec2 is with .c2 files, since they contain the mode information required for decoding. To encode such a file, use a .c2 file extension and give the libcodec2 encoder the -mode option: `ffmpeg -i input.wav -mode 700C output.c2`. Playback is as simple as `ffplay output.c2`. For a list of supported modes, run `ffmpeg -h encoder=libcodec2`. Raw codec2 files are also supported. To make sense of them the mode in use needs to be specified as a format option: `ffmpeg -f codec2raw -mode 1300 -i input.raw output.wav`.

### 1.6 dav1d# TOC

FFmpeg can make use of the dav1d library for AV1 video decoding.

Go to https://code.videolan.org/videolan/dav1d and follow the instructions for installing the library. Then pass `--enable-libdav1d` to configure to enable it.

### 1.7 davs2# TOC

FFmpeg can make use of the davs2 library for AVS2-P2/IEEE1857.4 video decoding.

Go to https://github.com/pkuvcl/davs2 and follow the instructions for installing the library. Then pass `--enable-libdavs2` to configure to enable it.

libdavs2 is under the GNU Public License Version 2 or later (see http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/gpl-2.0.html for details), you must upgrade FFmpeg’s license to GPL in order to use it.

### 1.8 Game Music Emu# TOC

FFmpeg can make use of the Game Music Emu library to read audio from supported video game music file formats. Pass `--enable-libgme` to configure to enable it. See https://bitbucket.org/mpyne/game-music-emu/overview.

### 1.9 Intel QuickSync Video# TOC

FFmpeg can use Intel QuickSync Video (QSV) for accelerated decoding and encoding of multiple codecs. To use QSV, FFmpeg must be linked against the `libmfx` dispatcher, which loads the actual decoding libraries.

The dispatcher is open source and can be downloaded from https://github.com/lu-zero/mfx_dispatch.git. FFmpeg needs to be configured with the `--enable-libmfx` option and `pkg-config` needs to be able to locate the dispatcher’s `.pc` files.

### 1.10 Kvazaar# TOC

FFmpeg can make use of the Kvazaar library for HEVC encoding.

Go to https://github.com/ultravideo/kvazaar and follow the instructions for installing the library. Then pass `--enable-libkvazaar` to configure to enable it.

### 1.11 LAME# TOC

FFmpeg can make use of the LAME library for MP3 encoding.

Go to http://lame.sourceforge.net/ and follow the instructions for installing the library. Then pass `--enable-libmp3lame` to configure to enable it.

### 1.12 libilbc# TOC

iLBC is a narrowband speech codec that has been made freely available by Google as part of the WebRTC project. libilbc is a packaging friendly copy of the iLBC codec. FFmpeg can make use of the libilbc library for iLBC decoding and encoding.

Go to https://github.com/TimothyGu/libilbc and follow the instructions for installing the library. Then pass `--enable-libilbc` to configure to enable it.

### 1.13 libvpx# TOC

FFmpeg can make use of the libvpx library for VP8/VP9 decoding and encoding.

Go to http://www.webmproject.org/ and follow the instructions for installing the library. Then pass `--enable-libvpx` to configure to enable it.

### 1.14 ModPlug# TOC

FFmpeg can make use of this library, originating in Modplug-XMMS, to read from MOD-like music files. See https://github.com/Konstanty/libmodplug. Pass `--enable-libmodplug` to configure to enable it.

### 1.15 OpenCORE, VisualOn, and Fraunhofer libraries# TOC

Spun off Google Android sources, OpenCore, VisualOn and Fraunhofer libraries provide encoders for a number of audio codecs.

OpenCORE and VisualOn libraries are under the Apache License 2.0 (see http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0 for details), which is incompatible to the LGPL version 2.1 and GPL version 2. You have to upgrade FFmpeg’s license to LGPL version 3 (or if you have enabled GPL components, GPL version 3) by passing `--enable-version3` to configure in order to use it.

The license of the Fraunhofer AAC library is incompatible with the GPL. Therefore, for GPL builds, you have to pass `--enable-nonfree` to configure in order to use it. To the best of our knowledge, it is compatible with the LGPL.

#### 1.15.1 OpenCORE AMR# TOC

FFmpeg can make use of the OpenCORE libraries for AMR-NB decoding/encoding and AMR-WB decoding.

Go to http://sourceforge.net/projects/opencore-amr/ and follow the instructions for installing the libraries. Then pass `--enable-libopencore-amrnb` and/or `--enable-libopencore-amrwb` to configure to enable them.

#### 1.15.2 VisualOn AMR-WB encoder library# TOC

FFmpeg can make use of the VisualOn AMR-WBenc library for AMR-WB encoding.

Go to http://sourceforge.net/projects/opencore-amr/ and follow the instructions for installing the library. Then pass `--enable-libvo-amrwbenc` to configure to enable it.

#### 1.15.3 Fraunhofer AAC library# TOC

FFmpeg can make use of the Fraunhofer AAC library for AAC decoding & encoding.

Go to http://sourceforge.net/projects/opencore-amr/ and follow the instructions for installing the library. Then pass `--enable-libfdk-aac` to configure to enable it.

### 1.16 OpenH264# TOC

FFmpeg can make use of the OpenH264 library for H.264 decoding and encoding.

Go to http://www.openh264.org/ and follow the instructions for installing the library. Then pass `--enable-libopenh264` to configure to enable it.

For decoding, this library is much more limited than the built-in decoder in libavcodec; currently, this library lacks support for decoding B-frames and some other main/high profile features. (It currently only supports constrained baseline profile and CABAC.) Using it is mostly useful for testing and for taking advantage of Cisco’s patent portfolio license (http://www.openh264.org/BINARY_LICENSE.txt).

### 1.17 OpenJPEG# TOC

FFmpeg can use the OpenJPEG libraries for decoding/encoding J2K videos. Go to http://www.openjpeg.org/ to get the libraries and follow the installation instructions. To enable using OpenJPEG in FFmpeg, pass `--enable-libopenjpeg` to `./configure`.

### 1.18 TwoLAME# TOC

FFmpeg can make use of the TwoLAME library for MP2 encoding.

Go to http://www.twolame.org/ and follow the instructions for installing the library. Then pass `--enable-libtwolame` to configure to enable it.

### 1.19 VapourSynth# TOC

FFmpeg can read VapourSynth scripts as input. To enable support, pass `--enable-vapoursynth` to configure. Vapoursynth is detected via `pkg-config`. Versions 42 or greater supported. See http://www.vapoursynth.com/.

Due to security concerns, Vapoursynth scripts will not be autodetected so the input format has to be forced. For ff* CLI tools, add `-f vapoursynth` before the input `-i yourscript.vpy`.

### 1.20 WavPack# TOC

FFmpeg can make use of the libwavpack library for WavPack encoding.

Go to http://www.wavpack.com/ and follow the instructions for installing the library. Then pass `--enable-libwavpack` to configure to enable it.

### 1.21 x264# TOC

FFmpeg can make use of the x264 library for H.264 encoding.

Go to http://www.videolan.org/developers/x264.html and follow the instructions for installing the library. Then pass `--enable-libx264` to configure to enable it.

x264 is under the GNU Public License Version 2 or later (see http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/gpl-2.0.html for details), you must upgrade FFmpeg’s license to GPL in order to use it.

### 1.22 x265# TOC

FFmpeg can make use of the x265 library for HEVC encoding.

Go to http://x265.org/developers.html and follow the instructions for installing the library. Then pass `--enable-libx265` to configure to enable it.

x265 is under the GNU Public License Version 2 or later (see http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/gpl-2.0.html for details), you must upgrade FFmpeg’s license to GPL in order to use it.

### 1.23 xavs# TOC

FFmpeg can make use of the xavs library for AVS encoding.

Go to http://xavs.sf.net/ and follow the instructions for installing the library. Then pass `--enable-libxavs` to configure to enable it.

### 1.24 xavs2# TOC

FFmpeg can make use of the xavs2 library for AVS2-P2/IEEE1857.4 video encoding.

Go to https://github.com/pkuvcl/xavs2 and follow the instructions for installing the library. Then pass `--enable-libxavs2` to configure to enable it.

libxavs2 is under the GNU Public License Version 2 or later (see http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/gpl-2.0.html for details), you must upgrade FFmpeg’s license to GPL in order to use it.

### 1.25 ZVBI# TOC

ZVBI is a VBI decoding library which can be used by FFmpeg to decode DVB teletext pages and DVB teletext subtitles.

Go to http://sourceforge.net/projects/zapping/ and follow the instructions for installing the library. Then pass `--enable-libzvbi` to configure to enable it.

## 2 Supported File Formats, Codecs or Features# TOC

You can use the `-formats` and `-codecs` options to have an exhaustive list.

### 2.1 File Formats# TOC

FFmpeg supports the following file formats through the `libavformat` library:

Name | Encoding | Decoding | Comments
3dostr |  | X
4xm |  | X | 4X Technologies format, used in some games.
8088flex TMV |  | X
AAX |  | X | Audible Enhanced Audio format, used in audiobooks.
AA |  | X | Audible Format 2, 3, and 4, used in audiobooks.
ACT Voice |  | X | contains G.729 audio
Adobe Filmstrip | X | X
Audio IFF (AIFF) | X | X
American Laser Games MM |  | X | Multimedia format used in games like Mad Dog McCree.
3GPP AMR | X | X
Amazing Studio Packed Animation File |  | X | Multimedia format used in game Heart Of Darkness.
Apple HTTP Live Streaming |  | X
Artworx Data Format |  | X
Interplay ACM |  | X | Audio only format used in some Interplay games.
ADP |  | X | Audio format used on the Nintendo Gamecube.
AFC |  | X | Audio format used on the Nintendo Gamecube.
ADS/SS2 |  | X | Audio format used on the PS2.
APNG | X | X
ASF | X | X
AST | X | X | Audio format used on the Nintendo Wii.
AVI | X | X
AviSynth |  | X
AVR |  | X | Audio format used on Mac.
AVS |  | X | Multimedia format used by the Creature Shock game.
Beam Software SIFF |  | X | Audio and video format used in some games by Beam Software.
Bethesda Softworks VID |  | X | Used in some games from Bethesda Softworks.
Binary text |  | X
Bink |  | X | Multimedia format used by many games.
Bitmap Brothers JV |  | X | Used in Z and Z95 games.
Brute Force & Ignorance |  | X | Used in the game Flash Traffic: City of Angels.
BFSTM |  | X | Audio format used on the Nintendo WiiU (based on BRSTM).
BRSTM |  | X | Audio format used on the Nintendo Wii.
BWF | X | X
codec2 (raw) | X | X | Must be given -mode format option to decode correctly.
codec2 (.c2 files) | X | X | Contains header with version and mode info, simplifying playback.
CRI ADX | X | X | Audio-only format used in console video games.
Discworld II BMV |  | X
Interplay C93 |  | X | Used in the game Cyberia from Interplay.
Delphine Software International CIN |  | X | Multimedia format used by Delphine Software games.
Digital Speech Standard (DSS) |  | X
Canopus HQ |  | X
Canopus HQA |  | X
Canopus HQX |  | X
CD+G |  | X | Video format used by CD+G karaoke disks
Phantom Cine |  | X
Cineform HD |  | X
Commodore CDXL |  | X | Amiga CD video format
Core Audio Format | X | X | Apple Core Audio Format
CRC testing format | X |
Creative Voice | X | X | Created for the Sound Blaster Pro.
CRYO APC |  | X | Audio format used in some games by CRYO Interactive Entertainment.
D-Cinema audio | X | X
Deluxe Paint Animation |  | X
DCSTR |  | X
DFA |  | X | This format is used in Chronomaster game
DirectDraw Surface |  | X
DSD Stream File (DSF) |  | X
DV video | X | X
DXA |  | X | This format is used in the non-Windows version of the Feeble Files game and different game cutscenes repacked for use with ScummVM.
Electronic Arts cdata |  | X
Electronic Arts Multimedia |  | X | Used in various EA games; files have extensions like WVE and UV2.
Ensoniq Paris Audio File |  | X
FFM (FFserver live feed) | X | X
Flash (SWF) | X | X
Flash 9 (AVM2) | X | X | Only embedded audio is decoded.
FLI/FLC/FLX animation |  | X | .fli/.flc files
Flash Video (FLV) | X | X | Macromedia Flash video files
framecrc testing format | X |
FunCom ISS |  | X | Audio format used in various games from FunCom like The Longest Journey.
G.723.1 | X | X
G.726 |  | X | Both left- and right-justified.
G.729 BIT | X | X
G.729 raw |  | X
GENH |  | X | Audio format for various games.
GIF Animation | X | X
GXF | X | X | General eXchange Format SMPTE 360M, used by Thomson Grass Valley playout servers.
HNM |  | X | Only version 4 supported, used in some games from Cryo Interactive
iCEDraw File |  | X
ICO | X | X | Microsoft Windows ICO
id Quake II CIN video |  | X
id RoQ | X | X | Used in Quake III, Jedi Knight 2 and other computer games.
IEC61937 encapsulation | X | X
IFF |  | X | Interchange File Format
IFV |  | X | A format used by some old CCTV DVRs.
iLBC | X | X
Interplay MVE |  | X | Format used in various Interplay computer games.
Iterated Systems ClearVideo |  | X | I-frames only
IV8 |  | X | A format generated by IndigoVision 8000 video server.
IVF (On2) | X | X | A format used by libvpx
Internet Video Recording |  | X
IRCAM | X | X
LATM | X | X
LMLM4 |  | X | Used by Linux Media Labs MPEG-4 PCI boards
LOAS |  | X | contains LATM multiplexed AAC audio
LRC | X | X
LVF |  | X
LXF |  | X | VR native stream format, used by Leitch/Harris’ video servers.
Magic Lantern Video (MLV) |  | X
Matroska | X | X
Matroska audio | X |
FFmpeg metadata | X | X | Metadata in text format.
MAXIS XA |  | X | Used in Sim City 3000; file extension .xa.
MD Studio |  | X
Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes |  | X
Megalux Frame |  | X | Used by Megalux Ultimate Paint
Mobotix .mxg |  | X
Monkey’s Audio |  | X
Motion Pixels MVI |  | X
MOV/QuickTime/MP4 | X | X | 3GP, 3GP2, PSP, iPod variants supported
MP2 | X | X
MP3 | X | X
MPEG-1 System | X | X | muxed audio and video, VCD format supported
MPEG-PS (program stream) | X | X | also known as `VOB` file, SVCD and DVD format supported
MPEG-TS (transport stream) | X | X | also known as DVB Transport Stream
MPEG-4 | X | X | MPEG-4 is a variant of QuickTime.
MSF |  | X | Audio format used on the PS3.
Mirillis FIC video |  | X | No cursor rendering.
MIDI Sample Dump Standard |  | X
MIME multipart JPEG | X |
MSN TCP webcam |  | X | Used by MSN Messenger webcam streams.
MTV |  | X
Musepack |  | X
Musepack SV8 |  | X
Material eXchange Format (MXF) | X | X | SMPTE 377M, used by D-Cinema, broadcast industry.
Material eXchange Format (MXF), D-10 Mapping | X | X | SMPTE 386M, D-10/IMX Mapping.
NC camera feed |  | X | NC (AVIP NC4600) camera streams
NIST SPeech HEader REsources |  | X
Computerized Speech Lab NSP |  | X
NTT TwinVQ (VQF) |  | X | Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation TwinVQ.
Nullsoft Streaming Video |  | X
NuppelVideo |  | X
NUT | X | X | NUT Open Container Format
Ogg | X | X
Playstation Portable PMP |  | X
Portable Voice Format |  | X
TechnoTrend PVA |  | X | Used by TechnoTrend DVB PCI boards.
QCP |  | X
raw ADTS (AAC) | X | X
raw AC-3 | X | X
raw AMR-NB |  | X
raw AMR-WB |  | X
raw aptX | X | X
raw aptX HD | X | X
raw Chinese AVS video | X | X
raw CRI ADX | X | X
raw Dirac | X | X
raw DNxHD | X | X
raw DTS | X | X
raw DTS-HD |  | X
raw E-AC-3 | X | X
raw FLAC | X | X
raw GSM |  | X
raw H.261 | X | X
raw H.263 | X | X
raw H.264 | X | X
raw HEVC | X | X
raw Ingenient MJPEG |  | X
raw MJPEG | X | X
raw MLP |  | X
raw MPEG |  | X
raw MPEG-1 |  | X
raw MPEG-2 |  | X
raw MPEG-4 | X | X
raw NULL | X |
raw video | X | X
raw id RoQ | X |
raw SBC | X | X
raw Shorten |  | X
raw TAK |  | X
raw TrueHD | X | X
raw VC-1 | X | X
raw PCM A-law | X | X
raw PCM mu-law | X | X
raw PCM Archimedes VIDC | X | X
raw PCM signed 8 bit | X | X
raw PCM signed 16 bit big-endian | X | X
raw PCM signed 16 bit little-endian | X | X
raw PCM signed 24 bit big-endian | X | X
raw PCM signed 24 bit little-endian | X | X
raw PCM signed 32 bit big-endian | X | X
raw PCM signed 32 bit little-endian | X | X
raw PCM signed 64 bit big-endian | X | X
raw PCM signed 64 bit little-endian | X | X
raw PCM unsigned 8 bit | X | X
raw PCM unsigned 16 bit big-endian | X | X
raw PCM unsigned 16 bit little-endian | X | X
raw PCM unsigned 24 bit big-endian | X | X
raw PCM unsigned 24 bit little-endian | X | X
raw PCM unsigned 32 bit big-endian | X | X
raw PCM unsigned 32 bit little-endian | X | X
raw PCM 16.8 floating point little-endian |  | X
raw PCM 24.0 floating point little-endian |  | X
raw PCM floating-point 32 bit big-endian | X | X
raw PCM floating-point 32 bit little-endian | X | X
raw PCM floating-point 64 bit big-endian | X | X
raw PCM floating-point 64 bit little-endian | X | X
RDT |  | X
REDCODE R3D |  | X | File format used by RED Digital cameras, contains JPEG 2000 frames and PCM audio.
RealMedia | X | X
Redirector |  | X
RedSpark |  | X
Renderware TeXture Dictionary |  | X
Resolume DXV |  | X
RL2 |  | X | Audio and video format used in some games by Entertainment Software Partners.
RPL/ARMovie |  | X
Lego Mindstorms RSO | X | X
RSD |  | X
RTMP | X | X | Output is performed by publishing stream to RTMP server
RTP | X | X
RTSP | X | X
Sample Dump eXchange |  | X
SAP | X | X
SBG |  | X
SDP |  | X
SER |  | X
Sega FILM/CPK | X | X | Used in many Sega Saturn console games.
Silicon Graphics Movie |  | X
Sierra SOL |  | X | .sol files used in Sierra Online games.
Sierra VMD |  | X | Used in Sierra CD-ROM games.
Smacker |  | X | Multimedia format used by many games.
SMJPEG | X | X | Used in certain Loki game ports.
SMPTE 337M encapsulation |  | X
Smush |  | X | Multimedia format used in some LucasArts games.
Sony OpenMG (OMA) | X | X | Audio format used in Sony Sonic Stage and Sony Vegas.
Sony PlayStation STR |  | X
Sony Wave64 (W64) | X | X
SoX native format | X | X
SUN AU format | X | X
SUP raw PGS subtitles | X | X
SVAG |  | X | Audio format used in Konami PS2 games.
TDSC |  | X
Text files |  | X
THP |  | X | Used on the Nintendo GameCube.
Tiertex Limited SEQ |  | X | Tiertex .seq files used in the DOS CD-ROM version of the game Flashback.
True Audio | X | X
VAG |  | X | Audio format used in many Sony PS2 games.
VC-1 test bitstream | X | X
Vidvox Hap | X | X
Vivo |  | X
VPK |  | X | Audio format used in Sony PS games.
WAV | X | X
WavPack | X | X
WebM | X | X
Windows Televison (WTV) | X | X
Wing Commander III movie |  | X | Multimedia format used in Origin’s Wing Commander III computer game.
Westwood Studios audio |  | X | Multimedia format used in Westwood Studios games.
Westwood Studios VQA |  | X | Multimedia format used in Westwood Studios games.
Wideband Single-bit Data (WSD) |  | X
WVE |  | X
XMV |  | X | Microsoft video container used in Xbox games.
XVAG |  | X | Audio format used on the PS3.
xWMA |  | X | Microsoft audio container used by XAudio 2.
eXtended BINary text (XBIN) |  | X
YUV4MPEG pipe | X | X
Psygnosis YOP |  | X

`X` means that the feature in that column (encoding / decoding) is supported.

### 2.2 Image Formats# TOC

FFmpeg can read and write images for each frame of a video sequence. The following image formats are supported:

Name | Encoding | Decoding | Comments
.Y.U.V | X | X | one raw file per component
Alias PIX | X | X | Alias/Wavefront PIX image format
animated GIF | X | X
APNG | X | X
BMP | X | X | Microsoft BMP image
BRender PIX |  | X | Argonaut BRender 3D engine image format.
DPX | X | X | Digital Picture Exchange
EXR |  | X | OpenEXR
FITS | X | X | Flexible Image Transport System
JPEG | X | X | Progressive JPEG is not supported.
JPEG 2000 | X | X
JPEG-LS | X | X
LJPEG | X |  | Lossless JPEG
PAM | X | X | PAM is a PNM extension with alpha support.
PBM | X | X | Portable BitMap image
PCX | X | X | PC Paintbrush
PGM | X | X | Portable GrayMap image
PGMYUV | X | X | PGM with U and V components in YUV 4:2:0
PIC |  | X | Pictor/PC Paint
PNG | X | X
PPM | X | X | Portable PixelMap image
PSD |  | X | Photoshop
PTX |  | X | V.Flash PTX format
SGI | X | X | SGI RGB image format
Sun Rasterfile | X | X | Sun RAS image format
TIFF | X | X | YUV, JPEG and some extension is not supported yet.
Truevision Targa | X | X | Targa (.TGA) image format
WebP | E | X | WebP image format, encoding supported through external library libwebp
XBM | X | X | X BitMap image format
XFace | X | X | X-Face image format
XPM |  | X | X PixMap image format
XWD | X | X | X Window Dump image format

`X` means that the feature in that column (encoding / decoding) is supported.

`E` means that support is provided through an external library.

### 2.3 Video Codecs# TOC

Name | Encoding | Decoding | Comments
4X Movie |  | X | Used in certain computer games.
8088flex TMV |  | X
A64 multicolor | X |  | Creates video suitable to be played on a commodore 64 (multicolor mode).
Amazing Studio PAF Video |  | X
American Laser Games MM |  | X | Used in games like Mad Dog McCree.
AMV Video | X | X | Used in Chinese MP3 players.
ANSI/ASCII art |  | X
Apple Intermediate Codec |  | X
Apple MJPEG-B |  | X
Apple Pixlet |  | X
Apple ProRes | X | X
Apple QuickDraw |  | X | fourcc: qdrw
Asus v1 | X | X | fourcc: ASV1
Asus v2 | X | X | fourcc: ASV2
ATI VCR1 |  | X | fourcc: VCR1
ATI VCR2 |  | X | fourcc: VCR2
Auravision Aura |  | X
Auravision Aura 2 |  | X
Autodesk Animator Flic video |  | X
Autodesk RLE |  | X | fourcc: AASC
AV1 | E | E | Supported through external libraries libaom and libdav1d
Avid 1:1 10-bit RGB Packer | X | X | fourcc: AVrp
AVS (Audio Video Standard) video |  | X | Video encoding used by the Creature Shock game.
AYUV | X | X | Microsoft uncompressed packed 4:4:4:4
Beam Software VB |  | X
Bethesda VID video |  | X | Used in some games from Bethesda Softworks.
Bink Video |  | X
BitJazz SheerVideo |  | X
Bitmap Brothers JV video |  | X
y41p Brooktree uncompressed 4:1:1 12-bit | X | X
Brute Force & Ignorance |  | X | Used in the game Flash Traffic: City of Angels.
C93 video |  | X | Codec used in Cyberia game.
CamStudio |  | X | fourcc: CSCD
CD+G |  | X | Video codec for CD+G karaoke disks
CDXL |  | X | Amiga CD video codec
Chinese AVS video | E | X | AVS1-P2, JiZhun profile, encoding through external library libxavs
Delphine Software International CIN video |  | X | Codec used in Delphine Software International games.
Discworld II BMV Video |  | X
Canopus Lossless Codec |  | X
Cinepak |  | X
Cirrus Logic AccuPak | X | X | fourcc: CLJR
CPiA Video Format |  | X
Creative YUV (CYUV) |  | X
DFA |  | X | Codec used in Chronomaster game.
Dirac | E | X | supported though the native vc2 (Dirac Pro) encoder
Deluxe Paint Animation |  | X
DNxHD | X | X | aka SMPTE VC3
Duck TrueMotion 1.0 |  | X | fourcc: DUCK
Duck TrueMotion 2.0 |  | X | fourcc: TM20
Duck TrueMotion 2.0 RT |  | X | fourcc: TR20
DV (Digital Video) | X | X
Dxtory capture format |  | X
Feeble Files/ScummVM DXA |  | X | Codec originally used in Feeble Files game.
Electronic Arts CMV video |  | X | Used in NHL 95 game.
Electronic Arts Madcow video |  | X
Electronic Arts TGV video |  | X
Electronic Arts TGQ video |  | X
Electronic Arts TQI video |  | X
Escape 124 |  | X
Escape 130 |  | X
FFmpeg video codec #1 | X | X | lossless codec (fourcc: FFV1)
Flash Screen Video v1 | X | X | fourcc: FSV1
Flash Screen Video v2 | X | X
Flash Video (FLV) | X | X | Sorenson H.263 used in Flash
FM Screen Capture Codec |  | X
Forward Uncompressed |  | X
Fraps |  | X
Go2Meeting |  | X | fourcc: G2M2, G2M3
Go2Webinar |  | X | fourcc: G2M4
Gremlin Digital Video |  | X
H.261 | X | X
H.263 / H.263-1996 | X | X
H.263+ / H.263-1998 / H.263 version 2 | X | X
H.264 / AVC / MPEG-4 AVC / MPEG-4 part 10 | E | X | encoding supported through external library libx264 and OpenH264
HEVC | X | X | encoding supported through external library libx265 and libkvazaar
HNM version 4 |  | X
HuffYUV | X | X
HuffYUV FFmpeg variant | X | X
IBM Ultimotion |  | X | fourcc: ULTI
id Cinematic video |  | X | Used in Quake II.
id RoQ video | X | X | Used in Quake III, Jedi Knight 2, other computer games.
IFF ILBM |  | X | IFF interleaved bitmap
IFF ByteRun1 |  | X | IFF run length encoded bitmap
Infinity IMM4 |  | X
Intel H.263 |  | X
Intel Indeo 2 |  | X
Intel Indeo 3 |  | X
Intel Indeo 4 |  | X
Intel Indeo 5 |  | X
Interplay C93 |  | X | Used in the game Cyberia from Interplay.
Interplay MVE video |  | X | Used in Interplay .MVE files.
J2K | X | X
Karl Morton’s video codec |  | X | Codec used in Worms games.
Kega Game Video (KGV1) |  | X | Kega emulator screen capture codec.
Lagarith |  | X
LCL (LossLess Codec Library) MSZH |  | X
LCL (LossLess Codec Library) ZLIB | E | E
LOCO |  | X
LucasArts SANM/Smush |  | X | Used in LucasArts games / SMUSH animations.
lossless MJPEG | X | X
MagicYUV Video | X | X
Mandsoft Screen Capture Codec |  | X
Microsoft ATC Screen |  | X | Also known as Microsoft Screen 3.
Microsoft Expression Encoder Screen |  | X | Also known as Microsoft Titanium Screen 2.
Microsoft RLE |  | X
Microsoft Screen 1 |  | X | Also known as Windows Media Video V7 Screen.
Microsoft Screen 2 |  | X | Also known as Windows Media Video V9 Screen.
Microsoft Video 1 |  | X
Mimic |  | X | Used in MSN Messenger Webcam streams.
Miro VideoXL |  | X | fourcc: VIXL
MJPEG (Motion JPEG) | X | X
Mobotix MxPEG video |  | X
Motion Pixels video |  | X
MPEG-1 video | X | X
MPEG-2 video | X | X
MPEG-4 part 2 | X | X | libxvidcore can be used alternatively for encoding.
MPEG-4 part 2 Microsoft variant version 1 |  | X
MPEG-4 part 2 Microsoft variant version 2 | X | X
MPEG-4 part 2 Microsoft variant version 3 | X | X
Newtek SpeedHQ |  | X
Nintendo Gamecube THP video |  | X
NuppelVideo/RTjpeg |  | X | Video encoding used in NuppelVideo files.
On2 VP3 |  | X | still experimental
On2 VP4 |  | X | fourcc: VP40
On2 VP5 |  | X | fourcc: VP50
On2 VP6 |  | X | fourcc: VP60,VP61,VP62
On2 VP7 |  | X | fourcc: VP70,VP71
VP8 | E | X | fourcc: VP80, encoding supported through external library libvpx
VP9 | E | X | encoding supported through external library libvpx
Pinnacle TARGA CineWave YUV16 |  | X | fourcc: Y216
Prores |  | X | fourcc: apch,apcn,apcs,apco
Q-team QPEG |  | X | fourccs: QPEG, Q1.0, Q1.1
QuickTime 8BPS video |  | X
QuickTime Animation (RLE) video | X | X | fourcc: ’rle ’
QuickTime Graphics (SMC) |  | X | fourcc: ’smc ’
QuickTime video (RPZA) |  | X | fourcc: rpza
R10K AJA Kona 10-bit RGB Codec | X | X
R210 Quicktime Uncompressed RGB 10-bit | X | X
Raw Video | X | X
RealVideo 1.0 | X | X
RealVideo 2.0 | X | X
RealVideo 3.0 |  | X | still far from ideal
RealVideo 4.0 |  | X
Renderware TXD (TeXture Dictionary) |  | X | Texture dictionaries used by the Renderware Engine.
RL2 video |  | X | used in some games by Entertainment Software Partners
ScreenPressor |  | X
Screenpresso |  | X
Screen Recorder Gold Codec |  | X
Sierra VMD video |  | X | Used in Sierra VMD files.
Silicon Graphics Motion Video Compressor 1 (MVC1) |  | X
Silicon Graphics Motion Video Compressor 2 (MVC2) |  | X
Silicon Graphics RLE 8-bit video |  | X
Smacker video |  | X | Video encoding used in Smacker.
SMPTE VC-1 |  | X
Snow | X | X | experimental wavelet codec (fourcc: SNOW)
Sony PlayStation MDEC (Motion DECoder) |  | X
Sorenson Vector Quantizer 1 | X | X | fourcc: SVQ1
Sorenson Vector Quantizer 3 |  | X | fourcc: SVQ3
Sunplus JPEG (SP5X) |  | X | fourcc: SP5X
TechSmith Screen Capture Codec |  | X | fourcc: TSCC
TechSmith Screen Capture Codec 2 |  | X | fourcc: TSC2
Theora | E | X | encoding supported through external library libtheora
Tiertex Limited SEQ video |  | X | Codec used in DOS CD-ROM FlashBack game.
Ut Video | X | X
v210 QuickTime uncompressed 4:2:2 10-bit | X | X
v308 QuickTime uncompressed 4:4:4 | X | X
v408 QuickTime uncompressed 4:4:4:4 | X | X
v410 QuickTime uncompressed 4:4:4 10-bit | X | X
VBLE Lossless Codec |  | X
VMware Screen Codec / VMware Video |  | X | Codec used in videos captured by VMware.
Westwood Studios VQA (Vector Quantized Animation) video |  | X
Windows Media Image |  | X
Windows Media Video 7 | X | X
Windows Media Video 8 | X | X
Windows Media Video 9 |  | X | not completely working
Wing Commander III / Xan |  | X | Used in Wing Commander III .MVE files.
Wing Commander IV / Xan |  | X | Used in Wing Commander IV.
Winnov WNV1 |  | X
WMV7 | X | X
YAMAHA SMAF | X | X
Psygnosis YOP Video |  | X
yuv4 | X | X | libquicktime uncompressed packed 4:2:0
ZeroCodec Lossless Video |  | X
ZLIB | X | X | part of LCL, encoder experimental
Zip Motion Blocks Video | X | X | Encoder works only in PAL8.

`X` means that the feature in that column (encoding / decoding) is supported.

`E` means that support is provided through an external library.

### 2.4 Audio Codecs# TOC

Name | Encoding | Decoding | Comments
8SVX exponential |  | X
8SVX fibonacci |  | X
AAC | EX | X | encoding supported through internal encoder and external library libfdk-aac
AAC+ | E | IX | encoding supported through external library libfdk-aac
AC-3 | IX | IX
ADPCM 4X Movie |  | X
APDCM Yamaha AICA |  | X
ADPCM CDROM XA |  | X
ADPCM Creative Technology |  | X | 16 -> 4, 8 -> 4, 8 -> 3, 8 -> 2
ADPCM Electronic Arts |  | X | Used in various EA titles.
ADPCM Electronic Arts Maxis CDROM XS |  | X | Used in Sim City 3000.
ADPCM Electronic Arts R1 |  | X
ADPCM Electronic Arts R2 |  | X
ADPCM Electronic Arts R3 |  | X
ADPCM Electronic Arts XAS |  | X
ADPCM G.722 | X | X
ADPCM G.726 | X | X
ADPCM IMA AMV |  | X | Used in AMV files
ADPCM IMA Electronic Arts EACS |  | X
ADPCM IMA Electronic Arts SEAD |  | X
ADPCM IMA Funcom |  | X
ADPCM IMA QuickTime | X | X
ADPCM IMA Loki SDL MJPEG |  | X
ADPCM IMA WAV | X | X
ADPCM IMA Westwood |  | X
ADPCM ISS IMA |  | X | Used in FunCom games.
ADPCM IMA Dialogic |  | X
ADPCM IMA Duck DK3 |  | X | Used in some Sega Saturn console games.
ADPCM IMA Duck DK4 |  | X | Used in some Sega Saturn console games.
ADPCM IMA Radical |  | X
ADPCM Microsoft | X | X
ADPCM MS IMA | X | X
ADPCM Nintendo Gamecube AFC |  | X
ADPCM Nintendo Gamecube DTK |  | X
ADPCM Nintendo THP |  | X
APDCM Playstation |  | X
ADPCM QT IMA | X | X
ADPCM SEGA CRI ADX | X | X | Used in Sega Dreamcast games.
ADPCM Shockwave Flash | X | X
ADPCM Sound Blaster Pro 2-bit |  | X
ADPCM Sound Blaster Pro 2.6-bit |  | X
ADPCM Sound Blaster Pro 4-bit |  | X
ADPCM VIMA |  | X | Used in LucasArts SMUSH animations.
ADPCM Westwood Studios IMA |  | X | Used in Westwood Studios games like Command and Conquer.
ADPCM Yamaha | X | X
AMR-NB | E | X | encoding supported through external library libopencore-amrnb
AMR-WB | E | X | encoding supported through external library libvo-amrwbenc
Amazing Studio PAF Audio |  | X
Apple lossless audio | X | X | QuickTime fourcc ’alac’
aptX | X | X | Used in Bluetooth A2DP
aptX HD | X | X | Used in Bluetooth A2DP
ATRAC1 |  | X
ATRAC3 |  | X
ATRAC3+ |  | X
ATRAC9 |  | X
Bink Audio |  | X | Used in Bink and Smacker files in many games.
CELT |  | E | decoding supported through external library libcelt
codec2 | E | E | en/decoding supported through external library libcodec2
Delphine Software International CIN audio |  | X | Codec used in Delphine Software International games.
Digital Speech Standard - Standard Play mode (DSS SP) |  | X
Discworld II BMV Audio |  | X
COOK |  | X | All versions except 5.1 are supported.
DCA (DTS Coherent Acoustics) | X | X | supported extensions: XCh, XXCH, X96, XBR, XLL, LBR (partially)
Dolby E |  | X
DPCM id RoQ | X | X | Used in Quake III, Jedi Knight 2 and other computer games.
DPCM Interplay |  | X | Used in various Interplay computer games.
DPCM Squareroot-Delta-Exact |  | X | Used in various games.
DPCM Sierra Online |  | X | Used in Sierra Online game audio files.
DPCM Sol |  | X
DPCM Xan |  | X | Used in Origin’s Wing Commander IV AVI files.
DSD (Direct Stream Digital), least significant bit first |  | X
DSD (Direct Stream Digital), most significant bit first |  | X
DSD (Direct Stream Digital), least significant bit first, planar |  | X
DSD (Direct Stream Digital), most significant bit first, planar |  | X
DSP Group TrueSpeech |  | X
DST (Direct Stream Transfer) |  | X
DV audio |  | X
Enhanced AC-3 | X | X
EVRC (Enhanced Variable Rate Codec) |  | X
FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) | X | IX
G.723.1 | X | X
G.729 |  | X
GSM | E | X | encoding supported through external library libgsm
GSM Microsoft variant | E | X | encoding supported through external library libgsm
IAC (Indeo Audio Coder) |  | X
iLBC (Internet Low Bitrate Codec) | E | E | encoding and decoding supported through external library libilbc
IMC (Intel Music Coder) |  | X
Interplay ACM |  | X
MACE (Macintosh Audio Compression/Expansion) 3:1 |  | X
MACE (Macintosh Audio Compression/Expansion) 6:1 |  | X
MLP (Meridian Lossless Packing) | X | X | Used in DVD-Audio discs.
Monkey’s Audio |  | X
MP1 (MPEG audio layer 1) |  | IX
MP2 (MPEG audio layer 2) | IX | IX | encoding supported also through external library TwoLAME
MP3 (MPEG audio layer 3) | E | IX | encoding supported through external library LAME, ADU MP3 and MP3onMP4 also supported
MPEG-4 Audio Lossless Coding (ALS) |  | X
Musepack SV7 |  | X
Musepack SV8 |  | X
Nellymoser Asao | X | X
On2 AVC (Audio for Video Codec) |  | X
Opus | E | X | encoding supported through external library libopus
PCM A-law | X | X
PCM mu-law | X | X
PCM Archimedes VIDC | X | X
PCM signed 8-bit planar | X | X
PCM signed 16-bit big-endian planar | X | X
PCM signed 16-bit little-endian planar | X | X
PCM signed 24-bit little-endian planar | X | X
PCM signed 32-bit little-endian planar | X | X
PCM 32-bit floating point big-endian | X | X
PCM 32-bit floating point little-endian | X | X
PCM 64-bit floating point big-endian | X | X
PCM 64-bit floating point little-endian | X | X
PCM D-Cinema audio signed 24-bit | X | X
PCM signed 8-bit | X | X
PCM signed 16-bit big-endian | X | X
PCM signed 16-bit little-endian | X | X
PCM signed 24-bit big-endian | X | X
PCM signed 24-bit little-endian | X | X
PCM signed 32-bit big-endian | X | X
PCM signed 32-bit little-endian | X | X
PCM signed 16/20/24-bit big-endian in MPEG-TS |  | X
PCM unsigned 8-bit | X | X
PCM unsigned 16-bit big-endian | X | X
PCM unsigned 16-bit little-endian | X | X
PCM unsigned 24-bit big-endian | X | X
PCM unsigned 24-bit little-endian | X | X
PCM unsigned 32-bit big-endian | X | X
PCM unsigned 32-bit little-endian | X | X
PCM Zork |  | X
QCELP / PureVoice |  | X
QDesign Music Codec 1 |  | X
QDesign Music Codec 2 |  | X | There are still some distortions.
RealAudio 1.0 (14.4K) | X | X | Real 14400 bit/s codec
RealAudio 2.0 (28.8K) |  | X | Real 28800 bit/s codec
RealAudio 3.0 (dnet) | IX | X | Real low bitrate AC-3 codec
RealAudio Lossless |  | X
RealAudio SIPR / ACELP.NET |  | X
SBC (low-complexity subband codec) | X | X | Used in Bluetooth A2DP
Shorten |  | X
Sierra VMD audio |  | X | Used in Sierra VMD files.
Smacker audio |  | X
SMPTE 302M AES3 audio | X | X
Sonic | X | X | experimental codec
Sonic lossless | X | X | experimental codec
Speex | E | E | supported through external library libspeex
TAK (Tom’s lossless Audio Kompressor) |  | X
True Audio (TTA) | X | X
TrueHD | X | X | Used in HD-DVD and Blu-Ray discs.
TwinVQ (VQF flavor) |  | X
VIMA |  | X | Used in LucasArts SMUSH animations.
Vorbis | E | X | A native but very primitive encoder exists.
Voxware MetaSound |  | X
WavPack | X | X
Westwood Audio (SND1) |  | X
Windows Media Audio 1 | X | X
Windows Media Audio 2 | X | X
Windows Media Audio Lossless |  | X
Windows Media Audio Pro |  | X
Windows Media Audio Voice |  | X
Xbox Media Audio 1 |  | X
Xbox Media Audio 2 |  | X

`X` means that the feature in that column (encoding / decoding) is supported.

`E` means that support is provided through an external library.

`I` means that an integer-only version is available, too (ensures high performance on systems without hardware floating point support).

### 2.5 Subtitle Formats# TOC

Name | Muxing | Demuxing | Encoding | Decoding
3GPP Timed Text |  |  | X | X
AQTitle |  | X |  | X
DVB | X | X | X | X
DVB teletext |  | X |  | E
DVD | X | X | X | X
JACOsub | X | X |  | X
MicroDVD | X | X |  | X
MPL2 |  | X |  | X
MPsub (MPlayer) |  | X |  | X
PGS |  |  |  | X
PJS (Phoenix) |  | X |  | X
RealText |  | X |  | X
SAMI |  | X |  | X
Spruce format (STL) |  | X |  | X
SSA/ASS | X | X | X | X
SubRip (SRT) | X | X | X | X
SubViewer v1 |  | X |  | X
SubViewer |  | X |  | X
TED Talks captions |  | X |  | X
VobSub (IDX+SUB) |  | X |  | X
VPlayer |  | X |  | X
WebVTT | X | X | X | X
XSUB |  |  | X | X

`X` means that the feature is supported.

`E` means that support is provided through an external library.

### 2.6 Network Protocols# TOC

Name | Support
file | X
FTP | X
Gopher | X
HLS | X
HTTP | X
HTTPS | X
Icecast | X
MMSH | X
MMST | X
pipe | X
Pro-MPEG FEC | X
RTMP | X
RTMPE | X
RTMPS | X
RTMPT | X
RTMPTE | X
RTMPTS | X
RTP | X
SAMBA | E
SCTP | X
SFTP | E
TCP | X
TLS | X
UDP | X

`X` means that the protocol is supported.

`E` means that support is provided through an external library.

### 2.7 Input/Output Devices# TOC

Name | Input | Output
ALSA | X | X
BKTR | X |
caca |  | X
DV1394 | X |
Lavfi virtual device | X |
Linux framebuffer | X | X
JACK | X |
LIBCDIO | X
LIBDC1394 | X |
OpenAL | X
OpenGL |  | X
OSS | X | X
PulseAudio | X | X
SDL |  | X
Video4Linux2 | X | X
VfW capture | X |
X11 grabbing | X |
Win32 grabbing | X |

`X` means that input/output is supported.

### 2.8 Timecode# TOC

Codec/format | Read | Write
AVI | X | X
DV | X | X
GXF | X | X
MOV | X | X
MPEG1/2 | X | X
MXF | X | X

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