{ "schemaVersion": 1, "contentVersion": "ca42e61ede0a24f789d7287a0001244ad22f4abf", "id": "docs/tools/software-encoders/svt-hevc", "collection": "docs", "title": "SVT-HEVC", "description": "SVT-HEVC is Intel's discontinued, archived HEVC encoder; use x265 instead unless you must maintain an old workflow.", "canonicalUrl": "https://encode.wiki/tools/software-encoders/svt-hevc/", "apiUrl": "https://encode.wiki/api/v1/documents/docs/tools/software-encoders/svt-hevc.json", "markdownUrl": "https://encode.wiki/api/v1/markdown/docs/tools/software-encoders/svt-hevc.md", "status": "current", "tags": [ "migrated" ], "license": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "dates": { "lastVerified": "2026-10-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "authors": [], "sources": [ { "title": "SVT-HEVC repository and discontinuation notice", "url": "https://github.com/OpenVisualCloud/SVT-HEVC", "accessedAt": "2026-10-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, { "title": "SVT-HEVC v1.5.1 release", "url": "https://github.com/OpenVisualCloud/SVT-HEVC/releases/tag/v1.5.1", "accessedAt": "2026-10-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, { "title": "SVT-HEVC v1.5.1 encoder user guide", "url": "https://github.com/OpenVisualCloud/SVT-HEVC/blob/v1.5.1/Docs/svt-hevc_encoder_user_guide.md", "accessedAt": "2026-10-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, { "title": "SVT-HEVC FFmpeg plugin patches", "url": "https://github.com/OpenVisualCloud/SVT-HEVC/tree/v1.5.1/ffmpeg_plugin", "accessedAt": "2026-10-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, { "title": "x265 4.3 SVT-HEVC backend options", "url": "https://github.com/Multicorewareinc/x265/blob/4.3/doc/reST/cli.rst", "accessedAt": "2026-10-08T00:00:00.000Z" } ], "provenance": { "originUrl": "https://github.com/av1-community-contributors/codec-wiki/blob/37c3317fd058b23c71a87679bed5619a98f77752/docs/encoders/SVT-HEVC.mdx", "originCommit": "37c3317fd058b23c71a87679bed5619a98f77752", "migratedAt": "2026-08-21T00:00:00.000Z", "modified": true, "originPath": "docs/encoders/SVT-HEVC.mdx" }, "headings": [ { "depth": 2, "text": "Legacy use", "anchor": "legacy-use" } ], "sections": [ { "id": "_preamble", "title": "Page introduction", "depth": 0, "canonicalUrl": "https://encode.wiki/tools/software-encoders/svt-hevc/", "apiUrl": "https://encode.wiki/api/v1/sections/docs/tools/software-encoders/svt-hevc/_preamble.json", "markdownUrl": "https://encode.wiki/api/v1/sections/docs/tools/software-encoders/svt-hevc/_preamble.md", "checksum": "b4d5bdbad51eb953817288037a90d584599f4716036a037e6b1e048b8b17b6dd", "bytes": 1345 }, { "id": "legacy-use", "title": "Legacy use", "depth": 2, "anchor": "legacy-use", "canonicalUrl": "https://encode.wiki/tools/software-encoders/svt-hevc/#legacy-use", "apiUrl": "https://encode.wiki/api/v1/sections/docs/tools/software-encoders/svt-hevc/legacy-use.json", "markdownUrl": "https://encode.wiki/api/v1/sections/docs/tools/software-encoders/svt-hevc/legacy-use.md", "checksum": "4179348799ebe7f47b2743caad61d7468d8825c96084cf242b869daefa570ebe", "bytes": 1236 } ], "outboundReferences": [ "/codecs/video/hevc/", "/tools/software-encoders/svt-av1/", "/tools/software-encoders/x265/", "https://github.com/OpenVisualCloud/SVT-HEVC", "https://github.com/OpenVisualCloud/SVT-HEVC/blob/v1.5.1/Docs/svt-hevc_encoder_user_guide.md", "https://github.com/OpenVisualCloud/SVT-HEVC/issues/634", "https://github.com/OpenVisualCloud/SVT-HEVC/releases/tag/v1.5.1", "https://github.com/OpenVisualCloud/SVT-HEVC/tree/v1.5.1/ffmpeg_plugin" ], "checksum": "9761cf689878dbc4bd7cd3c9c779d9b97dd44d07784623f652c347f464c91fc6", "contentFormat": "markdown", "markdown": "> **Repository:** [OpenVisualCloud/SVT-HEVC](https://github.com/OpenVisualCloud/SVT-HEVC) (Archived). SVT HEVC encoder. Scalable Video Technology (SVT) is a software-based video coding technology that is highly optimized for Intel® Xeon® processors. Using the open source SVT-HEVC encoder, it is possible to spread video encoding processing…. Latest release: [v1.5.1](https://github.com/OpenVisualCloud/SVT-HEVC/releases/tag/v1.5.1), Jun 2, 2021. Last commit: Jul 29, 2024. Stars: 527.\n\nSVT-HEVC (Scalable Video Technology for HEVC) is Intel's open-source [H.265 / HEVC](/codecs/video/hevc/) encoder, licensed under BSD+Patent. It was built for throughput on Intel Xeon servers, runs only on x86, and offers 12 speed presets (`-encMode` 0–11, default 7).\n\n> **Caution — Discontinued.**\n>\n> Intel has stopped all development, maintenance and patch acceptance, and the GitHub repository is archived (read-only). The last release is v1.5.1 from June 2021. For new HEVC work use [x265](/tools/software-encoders/x265/).\nSVT-HEVC was never merged into FFmpeg. `libsvt_hevc` only exists in FFmpeg builds patched with the project's [plugin patches](https://github.com/OpenVisualCloud/SVT-HEVC/tree/v1.5.1/ffmpeg_plugin), which target FFmpeg 4.4-era sources. x265 can also use SVT-HEVC as a backend (`--svt`) if it was compiled with the library.\n\n## Legacy use\n\nIf you have to maintain an old workflow, build the last tag (`./build.sh release` in `Build/linux` on Linux; binaries land in `Bin/Release`) and use the [v1.5.1 user guide](https://github.com/OpenVisualCloud/SVT-HEVC/blob/v1.5.1/Docs/svt-hevc_encoder_user_guide.md) for the full option list.\n\n```sh\nSvtHevcEncApp -i input.y4m -encMode 4 -q 22 -b output.265\n```\n\nThe default rate control is constant QP (`-rc 0`, `-q`, default 32). `-rc 1 -tbr ` selects VBR. Lower `-encMode` values are slower and higher quality. Y4M input carries its bit depth; for 10-bit raw YUV, add `-bit-depth 10` along with `-w`, `-h` and `-fps`.\n\n> **Danger — Pipes never end on their own.**\n>\n> Reading from stdin is unreliable ([issue #634](https://github.com/OpenVisualCloud/SVT-HEVC/issues/634)). Without a frame count, a Y4M pipe is not stopped at the end of input and the encoder keeps writing output until the disk fills. Always pass the frame count with `-n`:\n>\n> ```sh\nffmpeg -i input.mkv -f yuv4mpegpipe - | SvtHevcEncApp -i stdin -n 1440 -encMode 4 -q 22 -b output.265\n```\n## Related pages\n\n- [H.265 / HEVC](/codecs/video/hevc/)\n- [x265](/tools/software-encoders/x265/)\n- [SVT-AV1](/tools/software-encoders/svt-av1/)\n" }