FFmpeg 7.1 released with stable VVC decoder, Vulkan hardware encoding, and much more

FFmpeg 7.1 “Péter” has been released, offering significant updates to the cross-platform solution for recording, converting, and streaming audio and video. Key highlights include the stabilization of the VVC decoder, initially experimental in version 7.0, now optimized and gaining traction with broadcast standardization bodies.

The release introduces a native AAC USAC decoder, part of the xHE-AAC system, which is being adopted by streaming websites for its extensive volume normalization metadata. MV-HEVC decoding is now supported, catering to stereoscopic content from recent phones and VR headsets. Additionally, LC-EVC decoding support is included via an external library to enhance codec quality.

Support for Vulkan encoding with H264 and HEVC has been merged, enabling fully Vulkan-based decode-filter-encode pipelines. The Vulkan encoders now match the features of their VAAPI counterparts, and FFmpeg aims for day-one support for upcoming AV1 encoding in Vulkan, as announced by Khronos.

The release also features significant internal improvements, including enhanced full-range image processing, system clean-up, and support for cropping metadata in Matroska (MKV) and MP4 formats.