# SVT-HEVC

Canonical URL: https://encode.wiki/tools/software-encoders/svt-hevc/
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License: CC BY-SA 4.0
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> **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.

SVT-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).

> **Caution — Discontinued.**
>
> 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/).
SVT-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.

## Legacy use

If 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.

```sh
SvtHevcEncApp -i input.y4m -encMode 4 -q 22 -b output.265
```

The default rate control is constant QP (`-rc 0`, `-q`, default 32). `-rc 1 -tbr <bits per second>` 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`.

> **Danger — Pipes never end on their own.**
>
> 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`:
>
> ```sh
ffmpeg -i input.mkv -f yuv4mpegpipe - | SvtHevcEncApp -i stdin -n 1440 -encMode 4 -q 22 -b output.265
```
## Related pages

- [H.265 / HEVC](/codecs/video/hevc/)
- [x265](/tools/software-encoders/x265/)
- [SVT-AV1](/tools/software-encoders/svt-av1/)