# Format support

This table describes the current tested prototype, not the final matrix in the
implementation plan.

| Area | Current implementation | Current limitation |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Matroska/MKV | Typed probe/index/preview, keyframe-safe packet-copy, source-codec boundary smart rendering, complete stream remux, and post-export payload/timestamp/format validation | Production smart-render validation across every codec remains incomplete |
| MPEG-2, AVC/H.264, MPEG-4, HEVC/H.265 | Real-file boundary exports pass for MPEG-2, H.264 High/Main/High 4:2:2/High 4:4:4, MPEG-4, and HEVC Main/Main10/Main 4:2:2 10/Main 4:4:4; complete interior GOPs remain byte-copied. Deterministic gates verify exact 4:2:2/4:4:4 decoded pixel formats and source profiles at encoded boundaries | Broad manual player interoperability for the less common 4:2:2/4:4:4 profiles remains external release work |
| AV1 and VP9 | libaom AV1 Main 8/Main10 and libvpx VP9 profile 0/profile 2 preview and boundary encoding are built and capability-gated; real MKV smart renders pass with copied interior GOPs | Broader AV1/VP9 profile, dynamic-metadata, and player interoperability fixtures remain M13 work |
| FFV1 and Apple ProRes | FFmpeg 9 software and Vulkan encoders are exposed as validated full-transcode profiles. FFV1 output is lossless at the encoder input; ProRes is 10-bit. Runtime probes open the real Vulkan device and both accelerated paths are exercised when supported, with automatic software fallback. | Hardware full-transcode is off by default. FFV1 Vulkan version 3 requires subsampled dimensions aligned to its slice geometry; SmartCut64 converts the hardware encoder input to 4:4:4 where necessary, while the default software profile preserves a supported source pixel format directly. ProRes remains a visually lossless, not mathematically lossless, codec. |
| Windows GPU acceleration | Preview, thumbnail and Ad-Detective decode use D3D11VA on the default Windows adapter for MPEG-2, H.264, HEVC, AV1 and VP9, then try FFmpeg 9 Vulkan decode for FFV1, ProRes and ProRes RAW before automatic software retry. Thumbnail and Ad-Detective downscaling stays on the GPU until the reduced frame is downloaded. Optional full-transcode output supports NVIDIA NVENC, Intel Quick Sync/oneVPL, AMD AMF, and FFmpeg 9 Vulkan FFV1/ProRes; runtime encoder opening selects a usable backend. The in-app self-test compares validated CPU/GPU performance for preview, DVD MPEG-2, H.264, HEVC, FFV1 and ProRes on representative user media. Program Options stores an independent backend preference for MPEG-2, H.264, HEVC, AV1, VP9, FFV1 and ProRes while output-profile overrides remain available. | Hardware full-transcode is off by default, recommendations are advisory and codec-specific, driver support is required, and smart-render boundary GOPs deliberately remain on the validated software encoders. MPEG-2 hardware encoding is available through Intel Quick Sync; other systems automatically retain the software MPEG-2 encoder. Direct zero-copy presentation is not used across the isolated preview-worker boundary. |
| AAC, AC-3, E-AC-3, MP2, MP3, FLAC, Opus, PCM S16LE/S24LE, DTS, TrueHD, Dolby E/SMPTE 337M | Complete-frame overlap copy/retiming and bounded decode; the corpus gate passes 22 encountered codec/rate/layout combinations. Output profiles may preserve source packets or transcode the primary audio track to AAC, AC-3, MP2, Opus, or PCM S16LE with validated gain, bitrate, sample-rate, and channel controls. A 16-bit little-endian SMPTE 337M Dolby E carrier has a lossless opaque Matroska editing bridge and byte-exact `.s337m`/`.dolbye` restoration | Sample-accurate compressed-audio boundary splicing is not claimed; packet-copy profiles retain the measured complete-frame overlap policy, while transcode profiles intentionally re-encode the primary audio track. Dolby E decoding, encoding, metadata interpretation, and certification are not claimed |
| MP4/MOV and MPEG-TS | Enabled as inputs and smart-render outputs. Automated H.264 gates verify MKV, MP4, MOV, and TS container identity, decoded frame count, zero-based monotonic timing, and copied interior video-packet payloads | Broader codec/profile and manual player fixtures for MOV and transport streams remain M13 compatibility work |
| MPEG-PS, WTV, DVR-MS, Topfield REC, and MXF | Validated packet-remux delivery from editor, Batch Manager, and Joiner workflows; automated gates verify stream codecs, packet/timing integrity, and permitted MXF PCM rechunking | `.rec` currently uses the MPEG transport-stream representation accepted by Topfield workflows; proprietary recorder-header variants and platform-specific metadata need hardware fixtures |
| Elementary streams | Multiplex independent elementary inputs and demultiplex MPEG-2, H.264, HEVC, AV1, VP9, AAC, AC-3/E-AC-3, MP2/MP3, FLAC, Opus, PCM, DTS, and TrueHD without decoding payloads | Raw-stream timestamps absent from the source are generated from codec frame duration; broad hardware interoperability remains manual |
| Container metadata | Existing tags are preserved; the metadata editor can add, replace, or remove arbitrary tags in a validated packet-copy output | Containers may canonicalize tag names or support only a subset; requested values must round-trip or the operation fails |
| Subtitles, chapters, attachments | Text subtitle overlap trimming/splitting; automatic SRT/ASS/WebVTT/text to MOV_TEXT conversion for MP4/MOV; conservative bitmap packet overlap copy; chapter trimming/retiming; attachment, embedded cover-art, metadata, order, and disposition preservation. Conversion packet counts, attachment drops, and output codecs are validated | Bitmap subtitles cannot be represented by MP4/MOV without OCR and are rejected with guidance to use Matroska, deselect the stream, or OCR it first. Bitmap events crossing a removed region are copied whole and reported by policy |

The portable release is intentionally conservative: an operation is blocked or
boundary-encoded when the current planner cannot prove packet-copy safety.
Probe output includes profile/level, stream and average rates, SAR/interlace,
channel layout, disposition, colour fields, and HDR10/Dolby side-data presence.
Decoded frame indexing now carries per-frame hashes/presence and the actual A53
caption payload for mastering, CLL, HDR10+, Dolby RPU, and A53 caption side
data. Boundary gates verify HLG signalling, HDR10/HDR10+ payload coverage,
source 4:2:2/4:4:4 chroma, and A53 caption byte equality.

The boundary primitive preserves exact Profile 8.1 RPU NALs and Matroska DOVI
configuration. At an ordinary discontinuity it uses linked libdovi to mark the
first RPU as a scene refresh and recompute its CRC; all following RPUs remain
exact. Active ordinary-frame and scene-boundary gates check physical 5/5
coverage, Profile 8/Level 1, BL compatibility ID 1, strict Main10 BT.2020/PQ
decode, and independent dovi_tool parsing. Manual compatible-player testing
remains in M13 and no Dolby certification claim is made.
