Software-based transcoding uses the x264 codec from VideoLAN for video encoding and will operate on any hardware configuration supported by the Zixi Broadcaster, including on-premise hardware and cloud-based hardware . The x264 codec only supports encoding to H.264 (it does not support encoding to MPEG2 or H.265). and on X86-64 and ARM64 processors, but excluding currently excluding MacOS. Although software-based encoding offers the lowest performance of all three codec optionstranscoding offers lower density than NVIDIA GPU based transcoding, it is the most flexible from a hardware compatibility perspective.
Software-based transcoding offers the following features:
| Format | Chroma Subsampling | Color Depth | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Video Decode | MPEG-2 | 4:2:0 | 8-bit |
| H.264/AVC | 4:2:0, 4:2:2, 4:4:4 | 8-bit, 10-bit | |
| H.265/HEVC | 4:2:0, 4:2:2, 4:4:4 | 8-bit, 10-bit | |
Video Encode | MPEG-2 | 4:2:0 | 8-bit |
| H.264/AVC | 4:2:0, 4:2:2, 4:4:4 | 8-bit, 10-bit* |
* Input stream must be 10-bit
- Video Decoding:
- Scan Style: Interlaced and Progressive
- Codec: MPEG2, H.264/AVC
- Frame Size: SD, HD (720p), Full HD (1080p), 4K (2160p)
- Frame Rate: 24fps, 25fps, 29.97fps, 30fps, 59.94fps, 60fps
- Chroma Subsampling: 4:2:0
- Bit Depth: 8-bit (MPEG2, H.264/AVC), 10-bit (H.264/AVC)
- Video Encoding: Preserve Aspect Ratio: supported with black bar insertion
- Codec: H.264
- Frame Size: SD, HD (720p), Full HD (1080p)
- Frame Rate: 24fps, 25fps, 29.97fps, 30fps, 59.94fps, 60fps
- Chroma Subsampling: 4:2:0
- Bit Depth: 8-bit (MPEG2, H.264/AVC), 10-bit (H.264/AVC) for 10-bit input streams
- Scan Style: Interlaced and Progressive
- Framerate Conversion: supported with frame duplication/removal
- De-interlacing: supported except for 60i/59.94i to 24p