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H264 vs H265

H264 vs H265

A detailed comparison of H.264 Raw Stream and H.265/HEVC Raw Stream — file size, quality, compatibility, and which format to choose for your workflow.

Convert H264 → H265 Convert H265 → H264
H264

H.264 Raw Stream

Video Files

H.264 raw stream is an elementary bitstream containing only the video data encoded with the H.264/AVC codec without any container. It is commonly used as an intermediate format in video processing pipelines and for hardware encoder output.

About H264 files
H265

H.265/HEVC Raw Stream

Video Files

H.265 (HEVC) raw stream contains video data encoded with the High Efficiency Video Coding standard without a container. HEVC achieves roughly double the compression efficiency of H.264, enabling 4K and 8K video at practical bitrates.

About H265 files

Strengths Comparison

H264 Strengths

  • Universal hardware decode on every device since ~2010.
  • 40-50% smaller than MPEG-2 at equal quality.
  • Mature ecosystem with dozens of encoders (x264 is the open-source gold standard).
  • Every browser, phone, TV, and car infotainment supports H.264.
  • Supports everything from 144p vertical phone video to 8K HDR masters.

H265 Strengths

  • ~50% smaller files than H.264 at equivalent quality.
  • HDR (HDR10, HLG, Dolby Vision) first-class support.
  • Up to 8K resolution and beyond in the spec.
  • Hardware decode on every iPhone, most smart TVs, and most 2018+ GPUs.
  • Main 10 profile (10-bit) standard for streaming 4K HDR.

Limitations

H264 Limitations

  • Patent-encumbered — encoding royalties apply for commercial use.
  • 30-50% larger than H.265/AV1 at equivalent quality.
  • Raw .h264 bytestreams have no timecode — containers (MP4/MKV) add that.
  • High profiles decode slowly on pre-2010 hardware.

H265 Limitations

  • Patent licensing is a fragmented mess — three pools with incompatible terms.
  • Encoding is 5-10× slower than H.264.
  • Apple-ecosystem heavy — web browsers outside Safari have been reluctant.
  • AV1 is gradually replacing HEVC for royalty-free streaming.

Technical Specifications

Specification H264 H265
MIME type video/h264 video/hevc
Extensions .h264, .264, .avc (raw bytestream) .h265, .265, .hevc (raw bytestream)
Standard ITU-T Rec. H.264 / ISO/IEC 14496-10 (AVC) ITU-T Rec. H.265 / ISO/IEC 23008-2 (HEVC)
Typical containers MP4, MKV, MOV, TS, FLV MP4, MKV, MOV, TS, HEIF (still images)
Profiles Baseline, Main, High, High 10, High 4:2:2, High 4:4:4 Main, Main 10, Main 4:2:2, Main 4:4:4, Monochrome, High Throughput

Typical File Sizes

H264

  • 1080p 30fps @ 5 Mbps (1 min) ~37 MB
  • 4K 60fps @ 35 Mbps (1 min) ~260 MB
  • HD streaming (1 hour, 6 Mbps) ~2.7 GB

H265

  • 1080p @ 3 Mbps (1 min) ~22 MB
  • 4K HDR @ 15 Mbps (1 min) ~112 MB
  • 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray (2 hours) 50-100 GB

Ready to convert?

Convert between H264 and H265 online, free, and without installing anything. Encrypted upload, automatic deletion after 2 hours.

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Frequently Asked Questions

H264 (H.264 Raw Stream) is a video container format that bundles one or more video streams, audio tracks, and optional subtitles into a single file. The container format determines how metadata is organised and which codecs can live inside; the visual quality itself depends on the codec (H.264, H.265, VP9, AV1) rather than the H264 wrapper. It is part of the video files family.

H265 (H.265/HEVC Raw Stream) is a video container format that bundles one or more video streams, audio tracks, and optional subtitles into a single file. The container format determines how metadata is organised and which codecs can live inside; the visual quality itself depends on the codec (H.264, H.265, VP9, AV1) rather than the H265 wrapper. It is part of the video files family.

VLC, MPV and PotPlayer play nearly every H264 file on desktop. Browser support varies: modern Chromium, Firefox and Safari play common containers via the HTML5 <video> tag, but niche H264 variants may fail. If a device refuses your H264, convert to MP4 with our H264 to MP4 converter for universal playback.

VLC, MPV and PotPlayer play nearly every H265 file on desktop. Browser support varies: modern Chromium, Firefox and Safari play common containers via the HTML5 <video> tag, but niche H265 variants may fail. If a device refuses your H265, convert to MP4 with our H265 to MP4 converter for universal playback.

Upload your H264 to KaijuConverter and pick MP4, MOV, MKV, WebM, or any other target. Our pipeline uses FFmpeg under the hood and stream-copies when codecs are compatible (no quality loss) or transcodes at high-quality defaults otherwise. Conversion runs server-side; both files delete within two hours.

Only when the target requires re-encoding. If the codecs inside H264 match what the target container supports, FFmpeg stream-copies the streams and the output is bit-identical to the source. Transcoding uses transparent quality defaults (CRF 20–23 H.264) and produces output indistinguishable from the original at normal viewing distance.