HandBrake, the popular open-source video transcoder, has released its latest version, HandBrake 1.9.0. This update brings a host of improvements and new features aimed at enhancing the user experience across Windows, Linux, and macOS.
What’s New in HandBrake 1.9.0?
- General Features
- Added Intel QSV VVC hardware video decoder.
- Support for lossless VP9 encoding.
- New option to enable AV1 Screen Content Coding (SCC) on Intel Lunar Lake AV1 encoder.
- Preference to keep duplicated Blu-ray titles.
- Audio
- Added ALAC encoder.
- Support for Vorbis passthrough.
- Improved DTS audio profile scanning.
- Subtitles
- Enhanced subtitle burn-in quality.
- Fixed rare video corruption issue when burning in subtitles.
- Third-Party Libraries
- Updated to FFmpeg 7.1, x265 4.1, among others for better performance and compatibility.
- Linux
- Fixed Power Save to pause encodes only when enabled.
- Resolved issues with preset handling and chapter names.
- Mac
- Added Range Limit controls to the “Add to Queue” window.
- Fixed VideoToolbox HEVC multi-pass corruption.
- Windows
- Support for DirectX-based video decoding on ARM devices.
- New AV1 encoder support for ARM devices.
Preparation Before Updating
Before upgrading to version 1.9.0, ensure no pending encodes are left in the queue. Backup all your custom presets and app preferences to avoid compatibility issues.
Windows users must also install Microsoft .NET Desktop Runtime 8.0.
Why Should You Try HandBrake 1.9.0?
In my opinion, HandBrake remains one of the most reliable tools for video transcoding. The latest version not only enhances performance but also introduces features that cater to modern video processing needs, like lossless VP9 encoding and AV1 support. If you frequently work with video, this update is a must-try.
