The multimedia developer community has reason to celebrate: FFmpeg version 9.0 It is now availableThis popular open-source library, used in countless audio and video processing applications, arrives packed with new features that improve performance and expand encoding and decoding capabilities. Among the most notable improvements is the acceleration advance using VulkanIt now allows decoding APV and Apple ProRes RAW video, as well as a new 360-degree video filter (v360_vulkan). Optimizations for AVX-512 and new features in NVIDIA and AMD filters have also been incorporated.
The release of FFmpeg 9.0 represents a step forward in supporting modern hardware, with particular attention to current graphics cards and processors. Developers compiling from source code will have immediate access to all these improvements. Below, we review the most relevant changes brought by this update. version 8.1 He arrived last March.
New features in hardware acceleration in FFmpeg 9.0
One of the main focuses of FFmpeg 9.0 is the Vulkan support expansionHardware decoding of APV (Apple ProRes RAW) video and Vulkan acceleration for ProRes RAW have been added via VideoToolbox. Additionally, a new 360-degree video filter (v360_vulkan) is included, enabling efficient transformation of spherical projections. On the NVIDIA side, the transpose_cuda filter stands out, facilitating image rotation and flipping using CUDA. For AMD, the capabilities of the color converter (vf_vpp_amf) have been improved with HDR support, and a frame rate converter (vf_frc_amf) and a video quality enhancer (vf_vqe_amf) have been added.
New filters, codecs, and formats
FFmpeg 9.0 incorporates support for HE-AAC 960 decodingThe codec used in DAB+ (digital radio) expands audio processing capabilities. Animated WebP decoding and demuxing have also been added, allowing work with animated images in this format. In the encoding area, an encoder and muxer for the Playdate format, a small video game console, has been included. Furthermore, support for muxing LCEVC tracks in MP4 containers and the ability to handle SMPTE 2094-50 metadata, with passthrough capability, have been added.
Deletions and major changes
As is typical in major versions, obsolete features have been removed. The following has been eliminated: CELT decoding (which does not affect Opus CELT) and ogg/celt parsing. Legacy NVENC options and support for NVIDIA SDKs prior to version 11.1 have also been removed. In their place, support for the GPU-based ONNX Runtime backend has been added, opening the door to AI and machine learning applications within the FFmpeg ecosystem. Additionally, a bitstream filter for splitting Dolby Vision multi-layer HEVC video has been included.
With this update, FFmpeg 9.0 solidifies its position as an essential tool for video professionals and enthusiasts, offering broader support for modern hardware and emerging formats. The community can now download the source code and start experimenting with all these new features.
