… for Codecs & Media

Tip #1549: What Is Handbrake?

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Handbrake is a free, general-purpose media compression program.

HandBrake is a free open-source video transcoder available for Linux, Mac, and Windows.

HandBrake takes videos you already have and makes new ones that work on your mobile phone, tablet, TV media player, game console, computer, or web browser—nearly anything that supports modern video formats.

Features:

• Convert nearly any video to MP4 or MKV
• Crop and resize video
• Restore old and low-quality video
• Remove combing artifacts caused by interlacing and telecine
• Pass-through audio without conversion for certain audio types
• Downmix discrete surround sound to matrixed surround or stereo
• Adjust audio volume levels, and dynamic range for certain audio types
• Preserve existing subtitles, and add or remove soft subtitles (subtitles stored as text)

HandBrake does not:

• Combine multiple video clips into one
• Pass-through video without conversion (video is always converted)
• Create Blu-ray, AVCHD, or DVD discs
• Transcode into professional codecs such as ProRes, DNx, or GoPro Cineform

HandBrake also does not defeat or circumvent copy protection of any kind. It does not work with video files employing Digital Rights Management (DRM). This includes but is not limited to, copy protected content from iTunes, Amazon Video, Netflix, or other online providers, and many commercial DVD and Blu-ray discs.

Here’s the link to learn more.