H264 codec, Profile | Size, Quality and Speed

Introduction · Advanced user tips › Hardware » FourCC Code, Keyframe Interval

The H.264 standard defines a set of capabilities, which are referred to as profiles.
If you choose "H264 (NVIDIA® NVENC)", the "Profile selection menu" appears like below.

* H264 codec and Profile - Size, Quality and Speed

The table below shows the file sizes, video quality and speed of Bandicam codecs and H264 profiles.

Codec	Size	Quality	Speed	Description
HEVC	33.5 MB	Better	Fast	Better than H.264 at compression (NVIDIA NVENC, Intel Quick Sync video)
H264	34.2 MB	Better	Fast	Best codec for most users
H264 (High 4:4:4)	40.7 MB	Better	Fast	High quality, Windows Media Player doesn't support
H264 (High 4:4:4 lossless)	217 MB	Best	Fast	Lossless video codec Much smaller than YV12 or RGB24
Xvid	52.9 MB	Good	Normal	Best codec for most users
MPEG-1	38.8 MB	Good	Normal	Better compression ratio than Xvid
Motion JPEG	420 MB	Normal	Fast	Best codec for video editing software
YV12	5,210 MB	Best	Faster	Lossless video codec
RGB24	10,400 MB	Best	Fastest	Lossless video codec

(Recording time: one minute, Video resolution: 1920x1080, FPS: 30, Quality: 80)

* Geforce GTX 900 series and higher graphics cards support the "High 4:4:4" or "High 4:4:4 lossless" profile.
* For more information about the H.264 profiles, refer to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.264/MPEG-4_AVC#Profiles.

How to play H264 (High 4:4:4 profile) videos

H264 (High 4:4:4 lossless) video codec is much smaller than YV12 or RGB24. However, Windows Media Player doesn't support the "High 4:4:4" or "High 4:4:4 lossless" profile. To play the H264 (High 4:4:4 profile) video file, please use VLC media player, Media Player Classic, or POT media player.

* VLC media player settings for H264 (High 4:4:4 profile)

The default settings of VLC doesn't allow you to play the original video quality of the H264 (High 4:4:4 profile) video file. If you use VLC media player, please go to Tools -> Preferences (Ctrl+P) -> Video, and then select "Direct2D video output", "OpenGL video output", or "Windows GDI video output".

* POT media player settings for H264 (High 4:4:4 profile)

The default settings of VLC doesn't allow you to play the original video quality of the H264 (High 4:4:4 profile) video file. If you use POT media player, please go to Preferences (F5) -> Video -> Colorspaces, and then select "RGB 32", "Enable (if possible") and "Limited (RGB: 16 - 235, TV standard)".

potplayer, h264, high 4:4:4 profile

* Media Player Classic settings for H264 (High 4:4:4 profile)

The default settings of Media Player Classic allow you to play the original video quality of the H264 (High 4:4:4 profile) video file.

* Tip) The H.264 profiles are only available with the "H264 (NVIDIA NVENC)" encoder.

- Intel Quick Sync Video and AMD VCE profiles may be available in the future.

How to edit H264 (High 4:4:4 profile) videos

If you use Bandicut, you can cut, split or join H264 (High 4:4:4 profile) videos without losing the original video quality. However, if you use Sony Vegas or Adobe Premiere, you must convert the H264 (High 4:4:4 profile) videos to normal MP4 files. To convert a H264 (High 4:4:4 profile) video, start Bandicut -> Open the video file -> .