FFmpeg 8.0 launches with AV1 Vulkan encoding and enhanced security defaults

FFmpeg 8.0, codenamed "Huffman" arrives over 10 months after 7.1 with TLS peer certificate verification enabled by default and expanded hardware acceleration for AV1, VP9, and ProRes RAW using Vulkan. It also adds animated JPEG XL encoding via libjxl, improves FLV v2 with multitrack audio/video and modern codec support, and brings VVC support to Matroska (MKV) with full decoder coverage for Screen Content Coding features like Inter Block Copy, Palette Mode, and Adaptive Color Transform. New filters include Whisper, pad_cuda, Colordetect, and vf_scale_d3d11.

The update introduces new decoders for VVC VA-API, ProRes RAW, RealVideo 6.0, G.728, and several ADPCM variants, alongside encoding upgrades such as libx265 alpha channel support, CENC AV1 in MP4 muxer, and full APV support across decoding, muxing, demuxing, and ISOBMFF packaging. OpenHarmony users also gain native hardware decoder and encoder support.

Beyond multimedia features, FFmpeg has modernized its infrastructure with upgraded mailing list servers and a new Forgejo-based contribution platform at code.ffmpeg.org. FFmpeg 8.0 is available now from the official website.