Why it matters

Transcoding is compute-heavy; getting it right controls costs. Understanding options shapes infrastructure.

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The architecture

Decode source: convert compressed video to raw frames.

Optional filter: scale, crop, denoise.

Encode target: compress to target format.

Transcoding pipelineDecodecompressed → rawFilterscale / crop / etcEncoderaw → targetHardware transcoding (GPU) 10x+ faster than CPU; some quality trade-off
Transcoding stages.
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How it works end to end

Hardware transcoding: NVIDIA NVENC/NVDEC, Intel Quick Sync, AMD VCN. Much faster than CPU; slightly worse quality.

Software: x264/x265/aom for max quality but slower.

Streaming ladder: generate multiple bitrates for adaptive streaming.

Cloud services: AWS Elemental MediaConvert, Google Transcoder API, Bitmovin.