---
title: 'H.264 vs H.265: Which is the Better Choice?'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=jBzLD14Rwo8'
video_id: 'jBzLD14Rwo8'
date: 2026-06-17
duration_sec: 0
---

# H.264 vs H.265: Which is the Better Choice?

> Source: [H.264 vs H.265: Which is the Better Choice?](https://youtube.com/watch?v=jBzLD14Rwo8)

## Summary

This video explores the differences between H.264 and H.265 video encoding formats, explaining key concepts like I, P, and B frames, GOP, and their implications for live streaming. It provides a practical comparison of file sizes, quality, compatibility, and performance to help content creators choose the right codec.

### Key Points

- **Video File Layers** [00:42] — A video file consists of three layers: container, codec, and raw data. Encoding compresses data to control file size.
- **I, P, and B Frames** [02:16] — I-frames are standalone with most data; P-frames depend on previous I/P frames; B-frames depend on both preceding and succeeding frames, making them the most efficient.
- **GOP (Group of Pictures)** [02:51] — GOP defines the set of frames between I-frames. For instance, if GOP is 25 at 25 FPS, an I-frame appears every second.
- **Live Streaming Implications** [03:12] — I-frames are critical for reducing initial screen distortion; GOP should be set to 1-2 times the frame rate (I-frame every 1-2 seconds). Disabling B-frames is recommended for smoother streaming.
- **H.265 Compression Advantage** [04:38] — Under same conditions (e.g., 4K 30fps), H.265 produces smaller files (e.g., 12.63 MB vs 14.22 MB for H.264). The quality difference is more noticeable at lower resolutions (720p, 480p).
- **H.265 Compatibility Issues** [06:10] — H.265 is not supported by all platforms (e.g., Facebook, Twitch). It also requires more processing power, causing choppy playback on older computers and slower software decoding.
- **Recommendation for Editing** [06:57] — For importing videos into editing software, H.264 is recommended for now due to better support. H.265 is expected to become more widely adopted as tools like Premiere and Final Cut improve compatibility.

### Conclusion

H.264 remains the safest choice for universal compatibility and reliable editing workflows, while H.265 offers better compression but at the cost of higher processing demands and limited platform support. As adoption grows, H.265 is expected to eventually replace H.264.

## Transcript

hi everyone welcome back to our Channel
this is Frank from YOLO live in our last
video we discussed three encoding
methods vbr CBR and CQ and we also
touched on the concepts of h264 and
h265 it is well known that yolobox
supports the h264 encoding format
Additionally the ultra model also
supports the h265 encoding format so in
this video we'll dive deeper into the
video encoding formats h264 and
h265 to help you gain a more
comprehensive understanding of the
visual parameters that affect video
compression
quality a video file comprises three
layers container codec and raw data
encoding compresses data to control the
final file size each video consists of
frames size based on their raw data
format usually a color space model
actual video files are smaller due to
compression during encoding dictated by
the codec format which uses specific
compression and decompression algorithms
compatibility with the codec is
essential unsupported formats won't play
on certain players encoding primarily
affects file size through parameters
like bit rate and maximum bit rate often
resulting in lossy compression that
impacts quality resolution and frame
rate adjustments occur during
transcoding which manipulates raw Frame
data by recalculating time stamps and
discarding extra
frames h264 is the most commonly used
video Codec but it is designed to handle
images and cannot process audio data the
compression mechanism of h264 is quite
typical incorporating Concepts like
motion compensation and motion
estimation this allows the codec to
reduce the overall file size by
calculating the current image based on
previous or surrounding images instead
of recording all the data for a highly
similar sequence while understanding the
specific compression algorithms isn't
necessary it's important to be familiar
with certain h264 specific Concepts
iframes P frames and B frames an if
frame or intraframe is a standalone
image frame that can be displayed
independently and contains the most data
a p frame or predicted frame is computed
from the previous iframe or P frame so
its data is incomplete and smaller in
size compared to an iframe most frames
in a video are P frames a b frame or by
predictive frame is calculated based on
both the preceding and succeeding I
frames or P frames making it the most
data efficient and smallest frame GOP or
group of pictures refers to a complete
set of video frames for instance if the
GOP is set to 25 the encoder will ensure
that the first frame of every 25 frames
is an iframe if the frame rate is also
25 FPS then the first frame of each
second will be an
iframe why is it useful to understand
these h264 Concepts in live streaming
these Concepts become more significant
since iframes are independent frames the
playback of B frames and P frames relies
on iframes therefore streaming servers
must Dash iframes to help reduce initial
screen Distortion however localized
distortions may still occur to mitigate
this the GOP setting is crucial
typically the GOP is set to one to two
times the frame rate ensuring an if
frame every 1 to two seconds this setup
means that screen Distortion
theoretically only occurs if streaming
starts within this one to two second
window given that frames are generally
similar within this interval and with
iframe caching even localized
distortions often go unnoticed moreover
for live streaming it is usually
recommended to disable B frames although
B frames have the smallest data size
they depend on subsequent frames for
decoding thus disabling B frames helps
ensure a smoother live streaming
experience the iframe interval and
maximum bframe settings on the YOLO box
are fixed by default if you are not
satisfied with the YOLO Box's parameter
settings and need to insert iframes more
frequently you will need to learn how to
use custom ffmp
output in recent years h265 has steadily
gained popularity compared to h264 files
compressed with h265 under the same
conditions are often smaller for example
if I record a 9-second video on my ultra
both set to 4K 30fps with the same
network the file size is 14 .22 medaris
with h264 en coding however with h265
encoding the file size is only 12.63 M
there's also a unique situation where if
your network bandwidth can only support
lower resolution and FPS settings you
can choose h265 encoding to maintain the
best possible video quality to elaborate
at 4K 30fps the difference in quality
between h264 and h265 May hard to notice
with the naked eye however at 720p or
480p settings the final video quality
difference between the two codecs is
quite significant additionally h265
conserves bandwidth while maintaining
video quality but it requires more
computational power for encoding and
decoding in other words playing h265
videos demands more processing power
than
h264 this is the key difference h26 5
offers a higher compression ratio but at
the expense of increased performance
requirements however a crucial point to
consider is that h265 is not as widely
supported as one might assume some
streaming platforms such as Facebook and
twitch do not support
h265 therefore even if you opt for
h265 it won't be feasible if the client
lacks support this is why h264 remains
more commonly used as it ensures
compatibility across all almost all
platforms furthermore because h265
achieves greater compression software
decoding tends to be slower for some
older computers playing High bit rate
h265 videos can be very choppy support
for h265 in widely used editing software
is still improving therefore if you plan
to import videos from yolobox for
editing on your computer I still
recommend using h264 encoding for now
unless h265 encoding significantly
enhances video quality I personally have
high hopes for the development of
h265 in the future as Premiere and Final
Cuts support for it becomes more
comprehensive and more software and
devices begin to adapt to
h265 this encoding format which balances
high quality with small file sizes will
undoubtedly replace h264 in the visible
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89 see you in the next video