Video codec

info

Added in Scrcpy 2.0

namespace ScrcpyOptions2_0 {
  export interface Init {
    videoCodec?: "h264" | "h265" | "av1";
  }
}

The videoCodec option specifies the video codec to use by the server.

The specified videoCodec must be supported by the device (has an encoder for it), otherwise an error will be thrown in the startup process.

It's also recommended to use a hardware-based encoder for best experience. From Scrcpy 3.0, the output of --list-encoders (or AdbScrcpyClient.getEncoders method) will include the hardware type of each encoder.

H.264

H.264 is the default value, and the only supported video codec in earlier versions of Scrcpy.

Most devices since Android 5 has hardware-based H.264 encoders.

H.265 (HEVC)

H.265 can provide better video quality at the same bitrate compared to H.264.

H.265 encoder is not required by Google, but many devices since Android 7 have hardware-based H.265 encoders.

AV1

AV1 can provide even better video quality at the same bitrate compared to H.265.

AV1 encoder is mandatory since Android 14, however, the built-in, software-based encoder by Google is too slow to be used in production.

Support for hardware-based AV1 encoders can be found at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AV1#Hardware.