HEVC

H.265, or HEVC as it is better-known, is the MPEG group's follow-up to the ubiquitous H.264/AVC video codec. It offers significant improvements in reduction of file size for equivalent perceptual quality over its predecessor.

Encoding.com offers a number of implementations of HEVC, including x265 (the default described here), content-adaptive HEVC encoding via Beamr CABR, as well as Dolby Vision.

x265's options frequently mirror those in its related project, x264, with some notable exceptions. The majority of users will not need to define these parameters in a job request, unless expressly required by your decoder, but they are documented here for those who need to modify them.

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<query>
    <userid><<id>></userid> <!-- required-->
    <userkey><<key>></userkey> <!-- required-->
    <action>[Action]</action> <!-- required-->
    <source>[SourceFile]</source> <!-- required-->
    <format>
        <output>[mpeg_dash|mp4]</output> <!-- required-->
        <video_codec>hevc</video_codec>
        <video_codec_parameters>
            <level>[Level]</level>
            <refresh>1</refresh>
            <rc-lookahead>20</rc-lookahead>
            <b-adapt>2</b-adapt>
            <bframes>4</bframes>
            <b-pyramid>1</b-pyramid>
            <ref>3</ref>
            <ctu>64</ctu>
            <tu-intra-depth>1</tu-intra-depth>
            <tu-inter-depth>1</tu-inter-depth>
            <me>1</me>
            <subme>2</subme>
            <merange>60</merange>
            <max-merge>2</max-merge>
            <rect>1</rect>
            <amp>1</amp>
            <early-skip>0</early-skip>
            <fast-cbf>0</fast-cbf>
            <signhide>1</signhide>
            <lft>1</lft>
            <tskip>0</tskip>
            <sao>1</sao>
            <weightp>1</weightp>
            <tskip-fast>0</tskip-fast>
        </video_codec_parameters>
        <!-- format params -->
    </format>
</query>
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<query>
    <userid><<id>></userid> <!-- required-->
    <userkey><<key>></userkey> <!-- required-->
    <action>[Action]</action> <!-- required-->
    <source>[SourceFile]</source> <!-- required-->
    <format>
        <output>[advanced_dash|fmp4_hls]</output> <!-- required-->
        <stream>
            <video_codec>hevc</video_codec>
            <video_codec_parameters>
                <level>[Level]</level>
                <refresh>1</refresh>
                <rc-lookahead>20</rc-lookahead>
                <b-adapt>2</b-adapt>
                <bframes>4</bframes>
                <b-pyramid>1</b-pyramid>
                <ref>3</ref>
                <ctu>64</ctu>
                <tu-intra-depth>1</tu-intra-depth>
                <tu-inter-depth>1</tu-inter-depth>
                <me>1</me>
                <subme>2</subme>
                <merange>60</merange>
                <max-merge>2</max-merge>
                <rect>1</rect>
                <amp>1</amp>
                <early-skip>0</early-skip>
                <fast-cbf>0</fast-cbf>
                <signhide>1</signhide>
                <lft>1</lft>
                <tskip>0</tskip>
                <sao>1</sao>
                <weightp>1</weightp>
                <tskip-fast>0</tskip-fast>
            </video_codec_parameters>
        </stream>
        <stream>
            <!-- stream params -->
        </stream>
        <!-- format params -->
    </format>
</query>
{
    "query": {
        "userid": "<<id>>", // required
        "userkey": "<<key>>", // required
        "action": "[Action]", // required
        "source": "[SourceFile]", // required
        "format": {
            "output": "[mpeg_dash|mp4]", // required
            "video_codec": "hevc",
            "video_codec_parameters": {
                "level": "[Level]",
                "refresh": "1",
                "rc-lookahead": "20",
                "b-adapt": "2",
                "bframes": "4",
                "b-pyramid": "1",
                "ref": "3",
                "ctu": "64",
                "tu-intra-depth": "1",
                "tu-inter-depth": "1",
                "me": "1",
                "subme": "2",
                "merange": "60",
                "max-merge": "2",
                "rect": "1",
                "amp": "1",
                "early-skip": "0",
                "fast-cbf": "0",
                "signhide": "1",
                "lft": "1",
                "tskip": "0",
                "sao": "1",
                "weightp": "1",
                "tskip-fast": "0"
            }
            // format params
        }
    }
}
{
    "query": {
        "userid": "<<id>>", // required
        "userkey": "<<key>>", // required
        "action": "[Action]", // required
        "source": "[SourceFile]", // required
        "format": {
            "output": "[advanced_dash|fmp4_hls]", // required
            "stream": [
                {
                    "video_codec": "hevc",
                    "video_codec_parameters": {
                        "level": "[Level]",
                        "refresh": "1",
                        "rc-lookahead": "20",
                        "b-adapt": "2",
                        "bframes": "4",
                        "b-pyramid": "1",
                        "ref": "3",
                        "ctu": "64",
                        "tu-intra-depth": "1",
                        "tu-inter-depth": "1",
                        "me": "1",
                        "subme": "2",
                        "merange": "60",
                        "max-merge": "2",
                        "rect": "1",
                        "amp": "1",
                        "early-skip": "0",
                        "fast-cbf": "0",
                        "signhide": "1",
                        "lft": "1",
                        "tskip": "0",
                        "sao": "1",
                        "weightp": "1",
                       "tskip-fast": "0"
                    }
                },
                {
                   // stream params
                }
            ]
        }
    }
}
ParameterDefinitionAllowed ValuesDefault Values
General Options
levelVideo LevelPositive integer number
10 – 1.0,
20 – 2.0,
21 – 2.1,
22 – 2.2,
30 – 3.0,
31 – 3.1,
32 – 3.2,
40 – 4.0,
41 – 4.1,
50 – 5.0,
51 – 5.1,
52 – 5.2,
60 – 6.0,
61 – 6.1,
62 – 6.2
none
Slice Descision Options
refresh Specify the intra refresh type0 — none
1 — CDR
2 — IDR
1
rc-lookahead Specify the number of frames for the frame-type lookahead.An integer less than or equal to 250 and greater than the maximum consecutive bframes count.20
b-adaptEnable adaptive bframe scheduling.0 — none
1 — fast
2 — full (trellis)
2
bframes
Specify the number of consecutive b-frames.Positive integer from 0 to 16.4
b-pyramid Enable the use b-frames as references.0 — Disabled
1 — Enabled
1
ref Specify the max number of L0 references to be allowed.Positive integer from 0 to 16.3
weightp Enable the weighted prediction in P slices.0 — Disabled
1 — Enabled
1
Quad-Tree Analisys Options
ctu Specify the maximum CU size (width and height).16,32,6464
tu-intra-depth Specify the maximum TU recursive depth for intra CUs.1,2,3,41
tu-inter-depth Specify the maximum TU recursive depth for inter CUs.1,2,3,41
Motion Search Options
me Specify the motion search method.0 — dia
1 — hex
2 — umh
3 — star
4 — full
1
subme Specify the amount of subpel refinement to perform.Positive integer from 0 to 7 (0: least … 7: most)2
merange Specify the motion search range.Integer from 0 to 3276860
max-merge Specify the maximum number of merge candidates.Positive integer from 1 to 52
rect Specify the number of rectangular motion partitions Nx2N and 2NxN0 — Disable
1 — Enable
1
amp Specify the asymmetric motion partitions (requires rect enabled)0 — Disable
1 — Enable
1
early-skip Enable early SKIP detection.0 — Disable
1 — Enable
0
fast-cbfEnable CBF fast mode.0 — Disable
1 — Enable
0
Rate Control Options
rd Specify level of rate distortion in mode decision.0 — Least
1 — Lightweight RDO Analysis
0
signhide Hide the sign bit of one coeff per TU.0 — Disable
1 — Enable
1
Loop Filter Options
lft Enable the oop filter.0 — Disable
1 — Enable
1
Intra Options
tskip Enable intra transform skipping.0 — Disable
1 — Enable
0
tskip-fastEnable fast intra transform skipping0 — Disable
1 — Enable
0
Sample Adaptive Offset Loop Filter Options
sao Enable simple adaptive offset.0 — Disable
1 — Enable
1