The Complete Reference — 2026 Edition

Codec Field Guide for
DVD & Blu-ray Rips

Every video and audio codec used for ripping optical media — from the DivX days to AV1 and beyond. Timeline, status, compatibility, and what to use when.

Interactive Encoding Guide

Answer a few questions to get personalized codec recommendations

1 Source Media

Select your source media type

💿
DVD
480i/576i, standard definition content
📀
Blu-ray 1080p
Full HD, high quality video
🎬
4K UHD Blu-ray
Ultra HD, HDR/Dolby Vision
🌸
Anime
Special handling for flat colors and line art
2 Encoding Goal

Choose your priority

3 Playback Target

Where will you play this?

💻
Modern Devices
Recent computers, phones (2020+), Plex/Jellyfin
📺
High Compatibility
TVs, streaming boxes, game consoles, older devices
🌐
Web Browser
HTML5 player, self-hosted streaming
📱
Mobile/Tablet
Phones, tablets, portable devices

Overview

Where every codec stands today. Click the status badges below to toggle visibility.

Video Codecs

MPEG-2Obsolete
H.262 · Native DVD codec
Only for bit-perfect DVD remuxes. Never re-encode to MPEG-2. Compression 4–8x worse than H.264.
Year
1995
Efficiency vs x264
~50% worse
Max Res
1080i (Blu-ray)
Encode Speed
Very Fast
DivX / XviDObsolete
MPEG-4 ASP · The scene era
Pioneered DVD ripping (1998–2008). Fully superseded by H.264. Only encountered in ancient rips.
Year
1998–2005
Efficiency vs x264
~40% worse
Max Res
SD (practical)
Encode Speed
Fast
VC-1Obsolete
WMV9 · Microsoft's Blu-ray codec
One of three Blu-ray video codecs. Some early BD titles (2006–2010) used it. Never re-encode to it.
Year
2006
Efficiency vs x264
Comparable
Max Res
1080p
Encode Speed
Moderate
H.264 / x264Current Standard
AVC · MPEG-4 Part 10 · The universal codec
The safe default. Plays on literally everything. Still widely used for DVD rips and 1080p BD rips. Gradually displaced by HEVC/AV1 for 4K.
Year
2003
Efficiency
Baseline ref
Max Res
8K (theoretical)
Encode Speed
Fast
H.265 / x265State of the Art
HEVC · The 4K workhorse
Reigning champion for 4K UHD rips. 25–50% smaller than H.264. HW decode everywhere since ~2016. Browser support is conditional — Safari native, Chrome/Edge require OS codec extensions. Not portable across browsers, but media players handle it universally.
Year
2013
vs H.264
25–50% smaller
Max Res
8K, HDR, DV
Encode Speed
Slow (5–10x)
AV1State of the Art
AOMedia Video 1 · Royalty-free future
Best compression-per-bit today. 20–30% better than HEVC. Encoding slow but rapidly improving (SVT-AV1). HW decode in all modern GPUs. Growing fast in ripping community.
Year
2018
vs HEVC
20–30% smaller
Max Res
8K+, HDR
Encode Speed
Very Slow
H.266 / VVCEmerging
Versatile Video Coding · x266 in development
~50% better than HEVC, ~10–20% better than AV1. Not yet practical — no mature encoders, minimal HW support (Intel Lunar Lake only). Patent situation worse than HEVC.
Year
2020
vs HEVC
~50% smaller
Max Res
16K, HDR
Encode Speed
Extremely Slow

Audio Codecs

MP3Obsolete for rips
MPEG-1 Layer III · Stereo only
DivX-era rips. No surround. Inferior to AAC at every bitrate. Never use for new rips.
Channels
2.0 max
Type
Lossy
AC-3 / Dolby DigitalCurrent
DD 5.1 · Universal surround
Most compatible surround codec. Every device decodes it. Standard for DVD (up to 448 kbps), required fallback on Blu-ray (up to 640 kbps). Not efficient by modern standards, but plays everywhere.
Channels
Up to 5.1
Type
Lossy
E-AC-3 / DD+Current
Dolby Digital Plus · Streaming standard
Higher quality AC-3 successor. Not decodable by legacy AC-3-only hardware — requires native E-AC-3 support. Carrier for streaming Atmos. Growing use in rips. Standard on all modern streaming devices.
Channels
Up to 13.1
Type
Lossy
DTS CoreLegacy
DTS 5.1 · Big bitrate, middling efficiency
Poor compression efficiency. Often extracted from DTS-HD MA for compat. AC-3 640 kbps is arguably better per-bit.
Channels
Up to 5.1
Type
Lossy
AACCurrent
Advanced Audio Coding · The versatile choice
Best lossy codec with universal compat. Use for stereo and commentary. Nero/Apple encoders produce best results.
Channels
Up to 48
Type
Lossy
OpusState of the Art
IETF RFC 6716 · Best lossy codec
Objectively best lossy codec at every bitrate. Royalty-free. Weak hardware player support limits adoption. Best with MKV + software players.
Channels
Up to 255
Type
Lossy
FLACLossless
Free Lossless Audio Codec · Gold standard
The lossless codec for rips. Open-source, royalty-free. ~50% compression vs PCM. Broad software support, growing HW support.
Channels
Up to 8
Type
Lossless
TrueHD / DTS-HD MALossless
Blu-ray native lossless · Atmos/DTS:X carrier
Native BD lossless formats with different architectures. DTS-HD MA embeds a legacy DTS core — a DTS-only decoder can play the core portion from the same stream. TrueHD is a standalone stream; Blu-rays include a separate AC-3 track alongside it as required fallback. Both carry object-audio metadata (Atmos on TrueHD, DTS:X on DTS-HD MA). Require HDMI passthrough for full decode.
Channels
Up to 7.1+objects
Type
Lossless

Compatibility Matrix

Approximate playback support across TVs, phones, browsers, receivers, and media players.

Filter by compatibilityNear Universal

Video Codecs

H.264 / x264
Universal — the king of compatibility
Device Support
Plays on: every smart TV, smartphone, browser, game console, streaming box, car system. If it plays video, it plays H.264.
H.265 / x265
Excellent hardware, conditional browser support
Device Support
All smart TVs since ~2016, all phones since ~2015, Safari, game consoles (PS4 Pro+, Xbox One S+), VLC, mpv, Plex. Browser support is conditional: Safari yes, Chrome/Edge only with OS-level codec extensions installed. Not reliable for universal web delivery.
AV1
All browsers, decent hardware, growing fast
Device Support
All modern browsers (Chrome 70+, Firefox 67+, Safari 17+), GPUs since 2022 (RTX 30+, RDNA2+, Arc, M3+), newer smart TVs (2022+), PS5. HW encode on NVIDIA RTX 40+, Intel Arc, AMD RDNA3+. Does NOT play on older TVs/streaming boxes.
MPEG-2
DVD native — universal decode
Device Support
Plays on everything. All DVD/BD players, all software players, all smart TVs. Only for remuxes — never transcode to MPEG-2.
H.266 / VVC
Almost nothing plays it yet
Device Support
Intel Lunar Lake decode only (2024). Some 2025 MediaTek/Qualcomm chipsets. No browser support. No mature player decoders. Not ready.

Audio Codecs

AC-3 / Dolby Digital
Universal surround
Device Support
Decoded by literally everything with audio output.
AAC
Universal stereo, strong multichannel
Device Support
All Apple devices, all browsers, all smartphones, all modern TVs. Stereo AAC is truly universal.
E-AC-3 / DD+
Streaming standard
Device Support
All streaming devices, most modern TVs/receivers/soundbars. Not backward-compatible with AC-3-only decoders — older hardware that only supports AC-3 cannot decode E-AC-3 natively.
FLAC
Excellent software, growing hardware
Device Support
VLC, mpv, Kodi, Plex, Jellyfin, most Android, many smart TVs, Apple since iOS 11. Some older receivers can't decode via HDMI.
TrueHD / DTS-HD MA
Requires HDMI bitstream passthrough
Device Support
Full decode requires HDMI passthrough to compatible AV receiver. Software players (VLC, mpv) decode to PCM. DTS-HD MA streams contain an embedded DTS core for legacy decoders. TrueHD does not — Blu-rays include a separate AC-3 track alongside it.
Opus
Great software, weak hardware
Device Support
All browsers, VLC, mpv, Kodi. Plex will transcode. Most smart TVs and streaming boxes do NOT decode Opus natively.

Evolution Timeline

Click any entry to expand. From MPEG-2 DVD originals through the AV1/H.266 frontier.

1993 — 1999 · The DVD Era
MPEG-2 / H.2621995VideoObsolete
▸ Click to expand
Native DVD video codec. Up to 480i/576i (SD) at ~9.8 Mbps. Interlaced NTSC/PAL. A 2-hour movie takes ~4–8 GB. Only for bit-perfect DVD remux.
DTS1993AudioLegacy
▸ Click to expand
Cinema codec (1993), adopted for DVD. Lossy, up to 5.1ch at 1.5 Mbps. Poor compression efficiency. DTS core often extracted from DTS-HD MA for compat.
Dolby Digital / AC-31995AudioStill Standard
▸ Click to expand
Mandatory DVD audio. Lossy, up to 5.1 surround. Max 448 kbps on DVD, up to 640 kbps on Blu-ray. Universal hardware support. Still the most common surround codec in rips.
LPCM1995AudioLossless
▸ Click to expand
Uncompressed audio on DVD/BD. Bit-perfect, zero compression. Up to 2ch on DVD, 8ch on BD. Enormous files. Usually transcoded to FLAC or AC-3.
AAC1997AudioCurrent
▸ Click to expand
MP3 successor (1997). More efficient than AC-3 and MP3. Supports multichannel. Go-to lossy codec for stereo and commentary tracks.
1999 — 2005 · DivX & The Scene
DivX 3.xx (;-))1998–99VideoObsolete
▸ Click to expand
Jérôme Rota reverse-engineered MS MPEG-4v3 (1998). Combined with DeCSS (Oct 1999), enabled DVD-quality video over internet. Near-VHS quality at ~700 MB/movie.
DivX 4/5/62001–05VideoObsolete
▸ Click to expand
Clean-room MPEG-4 ASP. DivX 5 added B-frames and qpel (2002). Dominated scene for DVD rips. 700 MB (1 CD) or 1.4 GB/movie. Dethroned by x264.
XviD2001VideoObsolete
▸ Click to expand
Open-source MPEG-4 ASP (GPL). "Xvid" = DivX backwards. Often slightly better at same bitrate. Last US patents expired Nov 2023. Entirely superseded by x264.
MP31993AudioObsolete
▸ Click to expand
DivX-era audio companion. Stereo only. 128–192 kbps typical. Completely superseded by AAC. Legacy rips only.
2003 — 2012 · The H.264 Revolution
FLAC2001AudioLossless
▸ Click to expand
Free Lossless Audio Codec. Open-source, royalty-free. ~50–60% compression vs PCM with zero quality loss. Up to 8ch. Gold standard for lossless rips.
H.264 / AVC / x2642003VideoCurrent Standard
▸ Click to expand
JVT standard (2003). x264 open-source encoder (2004). ~50% more efficient than MPEG-4 ASP. Universal HW decode. Most compatible video codec on the planet. Mandatory on Blu-ray.
DTS-HD Master Audio2004AudioLossless
▸ Click to expand
DTS lossless codec. Up to 7.1ch at 24-bit/192kHz. Contains mandatory lossy DTS core. Max ~24.5 Mbps. Very common on Blu-ray.
E-AC-3 / Dolby Digital Plus2004AudioCurrent
▸ Click to expand
Enhanced AC-3. Up to 13.1ch, higher bitrates (6.144 Mbps). Not backward-compatible with legacy AC-3 decoders. Standard streaming codec (Netflix, Disney+). Carrier for streaming Dolby Atmos via JOC — non-Atmos decoders play the base E-AC-3 bed and ignore object metadata.
Dolby TrueHD2005AudioLossless
▸ Click to expand
Dolby's BD lossless codec (Meridian Lossless Packing). Up to 16ch at 24-bit/192kHz. Foundation for disc Dolby Atmos. TrueHD is a standalone stream — Blu-rays include a separate AC-3 track alongside it as required fallback (unlike DTS-HD MA which embeds its own legacy core).
VC-1 / WMV92006VideoObsolete
▸ Click to expand
Microsoft's SMPTE-standardized codec. One of three BD video codecs. Some early BD titles used it. Lost ecosystem war. Dead for new encodes.
2012 — 2020 · HEVC & The Efficiency War
Opus2012AudioState of the Art
▸ Click to expand
Best lossy audio codec, period. IETF standard, royalty-free. Outperforms AAC, MP3, Vorbis, AC-3 at every bitrate. Up to 255ch. Growing in rips.
Dolby Atmos2012AudioCurrent
▸ Click to expand
Object-based metadata layer — not a codec itself. On BD: rides TrueHD. Streaming: E-AC-3 (JOC). Adds height channels and up to 128 audio objects.
H.265 / HEVC / x2652013VideoState of the Art
▸ Click to expand
H.264 successor. 25–50% better compression. Encoding ~5–10x slower. HW decode since ~2016. Sweet spot for 4K UHD rips. Supports 8K, HDR10, DV, 10-bit. Browser support conditional — Safari native, Chrome/Edge require OS codec extensions. Not reliable for universal web delivery.
VP92013VideoLegacy
▸ Click to expand
Google's royalty-free answer to HEVC. Powers YouTube 4K. Rarely used for disc rips. Superseded by AV1.
DTS:X2015AudioCurrent
▸ Click to expand
DTS object-based immersive format. Layered on DTS-HD MA. Height channels. Found on some 4K UHD BDs. Falls back to DTS-HD MA or DTS core.
AV12018VideoState of the Art
▸ Click to expand
Royalty-free, backed by Google, Netflix, Apple, Amazon, MS. 20–30% better than HEVC. SVT-AV1 improving fast. HW decode in all GPUs since ~2022. Native browser support. Future-proof choice.
2020+ · The Frontier
H.266 / VVC2020VideoEmerging
▸ Click to expand
~50% better than HEVC, ~10–20% over AV1 at 4K. Encoding ~6.5–10x slower than HEVC. Intel Lunar Lake first with decode (2024). x266 in development. Licensing worse than HEVC. May be leapfrogged by AV2.
AV2 (in development)~2027?VideoFuture
▸ Click to expand
AOMedia's AV1 successor. Active development. Expected to match/exceed VVC while staying royalty-free. Most likely next-gen codec for ripping.