Encoder acceleration

Hardware video encoding for fast H.264, H.265, and AV1 jobs

Run video encoding on real hardware encoder families where available, with honest fallback behavior and per-job encoder reporting.

Hardware encoding is fastest when the requested codec, host, and quality target line up. Convertrilo probes available encoders and reports what actually ran.

Try in dashboardAPI integration guideEstimate pricing
Request hardware-first encodingfeature
await client.onDemandEncode({
  sourceUrl: "https://example.com/upload.mov",
  codec: "h265",
  resolution: "1080p",
  quality: "good",
  preset: "fast",
  priority: "normal"
});

Use hardware-first H.264 and H.265 for fast turnaround.

Report the effective encoder used by the worker.

Avoid silent CPU fallback for GPU-only policies.

Keep one-pass speed separate from software two-pass quality control.

How it works

Encoding behavior that maps to the real worker path

These capability pages describe concrete job behavior: payload fields, worker choices, FFmpeg execution, and terminal output handling.

  1. Step 1

    A job is queued with codec, policy, resolution, and quality settings.

  2. Step 2

    The worker checks available hardware and bad-encoder quarantine state.

  3. Step 3

    Compatible hardware encoders are selected first for one-pass jobs.

  4. Step 4

    If policy allows fallback, CPU encoders can handle unsupported hardware paths.

Multiple encoder families

Convertrilo worker logic supports VideoToolbox, NVENC, QSV, AMF, and software fallback families where available.

Per-job reporting

Status responses and job rows expose the effective encoder so teams can audit speed, cost, and behavior.

Hardware truth

GPU-only jobs should fail if hardware cannot run, instead of quietly charging for a different execution path.

Feature questions

Is hardware encoding always better?

No. Hardware is usually faster, but software two-pass and VMAF workflows may be better for constrained quality or bitrate goals.

Which codecs can use hardware?

Hardware support depends on the worker host. H.264 and H.265 are broadly available; AV1 depends on newer hardware.

Can I see which encoder ran?

Yes. Job status and terminal metadata can expose the effective encoder, such as h264_videotoolbox, hevc_videotoolbox, libx264, or libx265.

Related capability pages

VMAF video encodingUse VMAF-guided sample encoding to choose a better quality target before the final video encode, without manually testing bitrate settings.Two-pass video encodingUse classic two-pass H.264 and H.265 encoding when predictable bitrate allocation matters more than raw hardware speed.Priority video encodingSubmit high-priority video jobs through the API or dashboard when customers pay for faster queue placement.S3 video encodingEncode videos from S3-compatible sources and write completed outputs back to customer-owned S3-compatible buckets.Video encoding APICreate video encoding jobs from your backend with API keys, idempotency, metadata, priority queues, webhooks, and storage destinations you control.Video encoding CLIAutomate video compression from terminals, deployment jobs, content pipelines, and scheduled scripts with a Convertrilo CLI workflow.

Start with a real estimate

Choose your codec, resolution, FPS, bitrate, quality, and optimization settings. Convertrilo shows the NEU estimate before credits are reserved, and failed jobs release reserved credits back to your balance.

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