FFmpeg 8.1 has been released, a version that further expands GPU utilization, mainly focusing on Vulkan and D3D12, and the developers recommend updating.



FFmpeg 8.1 (codename: Hoare), the 8.1st version of the open-source multimedia framework FFmpeg, was released as a stable version on March 16, 2026. This release follows version 8.0 , which was released in August 2025, and the development team recommends that all users, distributors, and system integrators who are not using the latest git master upgrade to this version.

FFmpeg
https://ffmpeg.org/index.html#pr8.1



Video Encoding and Decoding with Vulkan Compute Shaders in FFmpeg
https://www.khronos.org/blog/video-encoding-and-decoding-with-vulkan-compute-shaders-in-ffmpeg

FFmpeg 8.1 now supports H.264 and AV1 encoding with Direct3D 12 (D3D12) . This makes it easier to handle video more directly on the GPU in Windows-based GPU processing paths. It also includes filters for D3D12, such as scale_d3d12, mestimate_d3d12, and deinterlace_d3d12. This not only enables 'GPU encoding,' but also makes it easier to handle pre-processing, motion estimation, and deinterlacing on the D3D12 side.

Furthermore, FFmpeg 8.1 significantly expanded its Vulkan-related capabilities, implementing Vulkan-based encoding and decoding for Apple ProRes and DPX . The previous hybrid approach, which involved back-and-forth transfers between the CPU and GPU, was prone to transfer delays and was unpopular in terms of performance and maintainability. Therefore, a fully GPU-resident implementation was adopted.

In terms of audio, xHE-AAC Mps212 has been experimentally added. Decoding of MPEG-H 3D Audio via the libmpeghdec library is also now possible. In the video area, initial support for JPEG-XS has been added, enabling encoding and decoding using the JPEG-XS parser and the SVT-JPEG-XS project (libsvtjpegxs). In addition, muxing and demxing of raw JPEG-XS bitstreams are also supported.

Additionally, an EXIF metadata parsing function has been added, allowing FFmpeg to more accurately read shooting information and various attributes attached to still images and some media. Furthermore, support for LCEVC (Low Complexity Enhancement Video Coding) metadata analysis, transfer, and bitstream filtering for LCEVC metadata has been introduced.

Regarding formats and containers, a new 'hxvs demuxer' has been added to analyze the HXVS/HXVT container format, which is the video format for IP cameras. In addition, the types of spatial audio elements that can be handled within IAMF (Immersive Audio Model and Formats), an audio format for immersive sound, have been expanded.

Hardware-specific features now include support for Rockchip 's H.264 and HEVC hardware encoding. Capture functionality now includes window and monitor capture based on Windows.Graphics.Capture . Additionally, a new vpp_amf filter utilizing AMD hardware has been added.

Other improvements for the CLI and developers include the addition of the 'ffprobe -codec option,' and an update that allows ffprobe to display only the refs fields of the stream section when loading frames. Additionally, the old HLS protocol handler has been removed.

FFmpeg states that 'unless you are using the latest git master, we recommend that users, resellers, and system integrators upgrade.'

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in Software, Posted by log1i_yk