Must-have multi-threaded video conversion utility which can handle a plethora of video and audio formats as well as Blu-ray and DVD discs including High Efficiency Video Coding (H.265, H.264).
For anybody looking to convert DVD and Blu-ray discs to video files that can be played on a variety of devices, then Handbrake is the conversion and encoding application to turn to.
As an open source project with a large community contributing to its development, Handbrake is grown into one of the most powerful DVD and Blu-ray video conversion utilities available. Although Handbrake has been most often used for optical discs in the past, it's fully capable of processing plain old video files like MKV, AVI, MOV, QT, etc.
It features a well thought-out graphical user interface that's powered by a variety of free video encoder and decoders under the hood.
Getting started with the application, you're able to open up a video disc or a video file and presented with a multitude of options for the final output. All of the options are arranged into tabs describing what modifications should take place.
Supporting the standard high definition formats, including 4K
Handbrake comes with a number of presets which have their default values already set. They range from 4K resolution to simple 1080p HD and some lower resolutions suitable for sharing on the web.
Even when applying a preset, you can modify the resolution, dimensions and apply cropping with relative ease in the "Dimensions" tabs. Further on under filters, different modifications can be applied from denoise, sharpen, deinterlace with a few presents available. These can all be tweaked to preference.
Though the presets are certainly a way to save time, Handbrake is very capable of encoding other formats like MP4, x.264/x.264 and many others. It can also automatically select the format based on the device you wish to use the video files on such as a smart phone, portable gaming device or anything else.
In conclusion
All in all, Handbrake is an excellent choice for video conversion with a huge list of supported formats and codecs along with some useful video enhancement tools and settings included.
Features of HandBrake
- Advanced Options: Advanced encoding settings for more control.
- Audio Encoding: Create AAC, AC3, MP3 and more audio types.
- Chapter Markers: Add chapter markers to output videos.
- Chapter Selection: Select which chapters to include in the output.
- Command Line Interface: Encode from the command line.
- Cropping: Remove unwanted parts of the video.
- Picture Settings: Adjust width, height and other settings.
- Presets: Quickly create custom encodes for devices.
- Queue: Add multiple jobs to the queue and encode them in batches.
- Subtitles: Add, hard burn and soft burn subtitles.
- Video Encoding: Convert video from nearly any format.
- Video Filters: Adjust brightness, contrast, deinterlacing and more.
- Video Filters: Deinterlacing, Decomb, Detelecine, Deblock, Grayscale, Cropping and scaling.
Compatibility and License
HandBrake is available for free and released under the open source GPLv2 license on Windows from media converter software. The license provides the options to freely download, install, run and share this program without any restrictions. The source code for HandBrake should be freely available and modifications are certainly permitted as well as the option to inspect the software.
What version of Windows can HandBrake run on?
HandBrake can be used on a computer running Windows 11 or Windows 10. Previous versions of the OS shouldn't be a problem with Windows 8 and Windows 7 having been tested. It comes in both 32-bit and 64-bit downloads.
Other operating systems: The latest HandBrake version from 2024 is also available for Mac and iPhone.
Filed under:
- HandBrake Download
- Free Media Converter Software
- Open source and GPL software
- DVD Ripping Software
