Delivery
The final step decides how the viewer sees the video. Codec, container, bitrate, colour tags and loudness all have to suit the destination — broadcast, cinema, YouTube and the archive each have different requirements.
ReadingDelivery
Last step: codec, container, bitrate, storage and the cable into the projector. This is where it’s decided what the audience actually sees.
Set talk
Words you’ll hear at this stage. Explained once, then we just use them.
- master
- the final top-quality version that every other copy is made from.
- deliverables
- the list of files you hand over to the client, broadcaster or platform.
- QC
- technical check before hand-over: picture, sound, loudness, metadata.
Departments
Projection & AV
The moving image ends up on a screen or a display. Projectors, presentation equipment, resolutions and connections (HDMI and others) decide whether a well-prepared picture loses something on location.
ReadingFrom the kit
The tools for this stage, right here. They run in your browser and send nothing.
Codec explorer
H.264, H.265, ProRes, DNxHR and AV1: compression type, bit depth, licensing, support. Tool page
Codec explorer
H.264 AVC · MPEG-4 Part 10
ITU-T H.264 | ISO/IEC 14496-10, first approved 30 May 2003
Long-GOP: a key frame (I) with predicted P and B frames in between that store only the differences. Smaller files, heavier decoding when editing.
- Compression
- Usually long-GOP (I, P and B frames). The standard also includes all-intra profiles for professional recording (High 10 Intra, High 4:2:2 Intra and others).
- Typical use
- Distribution and web uploads, recording in many cameras and phones, streaming.
- Bit depth and colour
- High profile: 8 bits, 4:2:0. The High 10, High 4:2:2 and High 4:4:4 Predictive profiles extend bit depth and chroma sampling.
- Containers
- MP4, MOV, MKV, MPEG-TS
- Licensing
- The patent pool is administered by Via Licensing Alliance (Via LA). Licensing obligations depend on the product and the method of distribution.
- Hardware
- The widest decoding support of all the codecs here; hardware encoding and decoding are common in computers, phones and TVs.
Sources: ITU-T H.264 — Advanced video coding for generic audiovisual services (edition history, profiles); Via LA: AVC/H.264 Patent Portfolio License
H.265 HEVC · MPEG-H Part 2
ITU-T H.265 | ISO/IEC 23008-2, first approved 13 April 2013, current edition V11 (01/2026)
Long-GOP: a key frame (I) with predicted P and B frames in between that store only the differences. Smaller files, heavier decoding when editing.
- Compression
- The successor to H.264 with more efficient compression, typically long-GOP. The range extensions (from the 2nd edition, 10/2014) added professional profiles, including intra variants.
- Typical use
- In-camera recording (often 10-bit), HDR distribution, 4K streaming, archives with smaller data volumes.
- Bit depth and colour
- Main: 8 bits 4:2:0. Main 10: 10 bits 4:2:0 — common for HDR. Range extensions: 4:2:2, 4:4:4 and higher bit depths.
- Containers
- MP4, MOV, MKV, MPEG-TS
- Licensing
- Several patent pools and individual patent holders. The HEVC Advance pool is administered by Access Advance; Via LA’s HEVC/VVC programme was taken over by Access Advance (VCL Advance) on 15 December 2025.
- Hardware
- Hardware decoding is common in newer devices; support in browsers and older computers varies — check the target platform before delivery.
Sources: ITU-T H.265 — High efficiency video coding (editions 04/2013 – V11 01/2026); Access Advance: HEVC Advance and VCL Advance (takeover of the HEVC/VVC programme from Via LA, 15 December 2025)
Apple ProRes Proxy · LT · 422 · HQ · 4444 · 4444 XQ
Apple’s proprietary codec (ProRes RAW is a separate technology)
Every frame is a key frame (I): it is decoded on its own, so cutting on any frame is cheap.
- Compression
- According to Apple, all ProRes codecs are ‘frame-independent (intra-frame)’: every frame is encoded and decoded on its own. They are variable bitrate (VBR) with a target number of bits per frame; the maximum is about 10% above the target.
- Typical use
- Editing, exchange between facilities, mastering, recording in professional cameras and recorders.
- Bit depth and colour
- Apple: the family supports editing of 10-bit 4:2:2 and 4:4:4:4 material. 4444 and 4444 XQ: up to 12 bits per image channel and an alpha channel of up to 16 bits (lossless).
- Containers
- MOV; MXF as well from Final Cut Pro 10.3
- Licensing
- Apple licenses ProRes to selected companies and keeps a list of authorised products. According to Apple, unauthorised implementations (it names FFmpeg and its derivatives) can cause decoding errors and incompatibility.
- Hardware
- Apple M1 Pro and M1 Max chips (and newer) have hardware-accelerated ProRes; otherwise encoders and decoders are software-based and use multi-core processors.
| Level | Bit depth | Chroma | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 422 Proxy | — | 4:2:2 | offline editing |
| 422 LT | — | 4:2:2 | ≈ 70% of the 422 data rate |
| 422 | — | 4:2:2 | ≈ 66% of the HQ data rate |
| 422 HQ | 10 bit | 4:2:2 | |
| 4444 | up to 12 bit + 16-bit alpha | 4:4:4:4 | |
| 4444 XQ | up to 12 bit + 16-bit alpha | 4:4:4:4 |
Sources: Apple ProRes White Paper, April 2022
Avid DNxHR LB · SQ · HQ · HQX · 444 — now ‘Avid DNx’
An implementation of SMPTE ST 2019-1 (VC-3). Since the 2025 revision Avid has called the codec simply ‘Avid DNx’, with five levels.
Every frame is a key frame (I): it is decoded on its own, so cutting on any frame is cheap.
- Compression
- Frame-by-frame compression with a fixed number of bytes per frame for a given level and resolution — so the data rate can be calculated exactly.
- Typical use
- Editing and exchange (especially Avid Media Composer and shared storage), mastering, broadcast workflows.
- Bit depth and colour
- Avid’s classic DNxHR table: LB, SQ, HQ 8 bit 4:2:2; HQX 12 bit 4:2:2; 444 12 bit RGB/4:4:4. The newer ‘Avid DNx’ supports 8 to 16 bits and optional alpha at every level.
- Containers
- MXF (native in Avid), MOV
- Licensing
- The codec is based on the SMPTE VC-3 standard and supplied by Avid. Terms for your own implementations are a matter for Avid.
- Hardware
- Mainly software encoding and decoding; its low processing load is one of the reasons it is used for editing.
| Level | Bit depth | Chroma | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| LB | 8 bit | 4:2:2 | proxy, 22:1 compression |
| SQ | 8 bit | 4:2:2 | 7:1 |
| HQ | 8 bit | 4:2:2 | 4.5:1 |
| HQX | 12 bit | 4:2:2 | 5.5:1 |
| 444 | 12 bit | RGB / 4:4:4 | 4.5:1 |
Sources: Avid: NEXIS Bandwidth for DNxHR Material (profile table, bit depth); Avid: Avid DNx naming scheme and data rates (updated 21 April 2026)
AV1 AOMedia Video 1
AOMedia — AV1 Bitstream & Decoding Process Specification
Long-GOP: a key frame (I) with predicted P and B frames in between that store only the differences. Smaller files, heavier decoding when editing.
- Compression
- A distribution codec with inter-frame prediction, designed for high efficiency in streaming. It is not usually edited natively — it is transcoded to an intra codec.
- Typical use
- Streaming and web distribution, especially at high resolutions and in HDR.
- Bit depth and colour
- Main profile: 8/10 bit, 4:2:0 (and monochrome). High: adds 4:4:4. Professional: adds 12 bit and 4:2:2.
- Containers
- MP4 (AOMedia ISOBMFF binding), WebM, MKV
- Licensing
- AOMedia Patent License 1.0: a royalty-free patent licence from contributors for AV1 implementations, in exchange for the same commitment from licensees.
- Hardware
- Newer GPUs, SoCs and televisions have hardware decoding; older devices decode AV1 only in software or not at all. Encoding is computationally demanding.
| Level | Bit depth | Chroma | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Main | 8 / 10 bit | 4:2:0 | |
| High | 8 / 10 bit | 4:2:0, 4:4:4 | |
| Professional | 8 / 10 / 12 bit | 4:2:0, 4:2:2, 4:4:4 |
Sources: AOMedia: AV1 Bitstream & Decoding Process Specification, Annex A (profiles); AOMedia Patent License 1.0
| Codec | Type | Main use | Free of patent royalties? |
|---|---|---|---|
| H.264 | long-GOP (intra profiles too) | distribution, web, cameras | No — patent pool (Via LA) |
| H.265 | long-GOP (intra profiles too) | HDR, 4K distribution, cameras | No — several pools and patent holders |
| ProRes | intra | editing, mastering | Proprietary, licensed by Apple |
| DNxHR | intra | editing, mastering, Avid | Proprietary implementation of the SMPTE VC-3 standard |
| AV1 | long-GOP | streaming | Yes — AOMedia Patent License 1.0 |
Video storage calculator
Resolution, codec, bitrate, fps and duration → GB, TB and usage per minute and per hour. Tool page
Storage calculator
Space required —
- per minute
- —
- per hour
- —
- data rate
- —
- per frame
- —
How we calculate
- Size = data rate × time. 1 Mb/s = 1,000,000 bits per second; a byte = 8 bits. GB and TB are decimal (10⁹ and 10¹² bytes), as disk manufacturers state them. Operating systems often show GiB (2³⁰ B) — the same data then looks about 7% smaller.
- ProRes: values from the ‘Target Data Rates’ table in the Apple ProRes White Paper. ProRes is VBR — the actual file is usually close to the target or smaller; the maximum is about 10% higher. The table gives 24p, 25p, 30p, 50p and 60p; for 23.976 / 29.97 / 59.94 we use the 24p / 30p / 60p row (Apple gives, for example, 147 Mb/s ‘at 1920 × 1080 and 29.97 fps’, which is the 30p row value). The table has no values for 100 and 120 fps — we derive them from the bits per frame of the 50p / 60p row and mark the result as derived.
- DNxHR: Avid gives a fixed number of bytes per frame for each level and resolution; data rate = bytes per frame × 8 × fps. This is also how the MB/s values in Avid’s table come out.
- H.264, H.265, AV1: the data rate is chosen by the encoder or the camera, so you enter it yourself. For orientation: YouTube recommends 8 Mb/s for 1080p SDR uploads (24–30 fps) and 35–45 Mb/s for 2160p.
- Audio, metadata and container overhead are not included. Uncompressed 48 kHz / 24-bit stereo audio adds 2.304 Mb/s.