H.264 vs HEVC: Which Codec for Screen Recordings?

The short version of H.264 vs HEVC: for most screen recordings, export H.264 in an MP4. It plays in every browser and chat app and on phones and PCs, and at a sensible bitrate it keeps text sharp. Pick HEVC (H.265) when file size matters more than reach. That means long or 4K videos, archives, or videos that only Mac and iPhone users will watch.

HEVC gives you about the same picture in a smaller file. At the settings most exports use, it does not give you a visibly better picture.

H.265 and HEVC are the same codec, so "H.265 vs H.264" is the same question. HEVC stands for High Efficiency Video Coding. H.264 is also called AVC (Advanced Video Coding).

Which codec to pick for each destination

What a codec does, and how it differs from MP4 and MOV

A raw screen recording is enormous. A codec shrinks it in two ways. It throws away detail your eye is unlikely to miss, and it stores only what changed between frames. H.264 (standardized in 2003) and HEVC (2013) both work this way. HEVC is the newer design and needs fewer bits for the same picture.

MP4 and MOV are containers, not codecs. A container is the file wrapper that holds the video track, the audio track and metadata. Both MP4 and MOV can hold either H.264 or HEVC. Apps often pair them, but "MP4 vs MOV" and "H.264 vs HEVC" are separate questions. Our MP4 vs MOV guide covers the container side.

In Screen Bolt the pairing is fixed: MP4 exports H.264, and MOV exports HEVC.

H.264 vs HEVC on screen content: text, flat UI and motion

Screen recordings are not like camera footage, and that changes how the codecs behave.

Flat UI areas are cheap. Both codecs compress toolbars, white page backgrounds and solid panels very well. That leaves more of the bit budget for the parts that are hard to compress.

Text edges are expensive. Small, high-contrast letters are the kind of detail that lossy compression smears. When there aren't enough bits, text looks soft or fuzzy, with faint halos around the letters. HEVC can split the frame into larger and more flexible blocks than H.264: up to 64×64 pixels, against H.264's 16×16 macroblocks. That lets it spend bits on edges and save them on flat areas. At the same bitrate, HEVC usually keeps text a little cleaner.

Motion is where quality breaks first. When you scroll a page or a zoom animates, almost every pixel changes from one frame to the next, so both codecs need far more data for those moments. Sometimes an export looks fine while the screen is still but smeary during zooms and scrolls. In that case the bitrate is too low, whichever codec you use.

Colored text on colored backgrounds suffers in both. Delivery video usually stores color at a lower resolution than brightness. This is called 4:2:0 chroma subsampling. Thin red text on a blue button can look fringed in H.264 and HEVC alike, so switching codecs won't fix it. Larger text, higher contrast or a higher export resolution will. See how to make text readable in screen recordings.

Quality and file size: what actually changes

You can spend HEVC's efficiency in two ways: better quality at the same file size, or the same quality in a smaller file. Screen Bolt spends it on a smaller file.

Screen Bolt sets the export bitrate from the output's pixel count:

• The base is about 5 bits per pixel for H.264 and about 3 for HEVC.
• At the same compression setting, an HEVC export therefore gets roughly three fifths of the H.264 video bitrate.
• Audio is the same in both formats.

The in-app description for MOV puts it as "smaller files at matching quality."

This has two practical consequences:

• If your text looks soft, change the compression or resolution, not the codec. A higher compression tier or a larger export size does more for sharpness than switching from H.264 to HEVC.
• The saving grows with resolution and length. On a 30-second 720p clip it hardly matters. On a 20-minute 4K tutorial, the smaller HEVC file makes a real difference to upload time and storage. If you work at that size, see how to screen record in 4K on Mac.

To estimate sizes before you export, try the video file size calculator.

Compatibility and playback

Compatibility is the real reason H.264 is still the default.

• H.264 plays practically everywhere. That includes every current browser, Windows, Android, smart TVs, older Macs and PCs, and the HTML <video> tag on any website.
• HEVC plays natively on Apple devices (macOS High Sierra and later, iOS 11 and later). On Windows it often needs Microsoft's HEVC Video Extensions from the Microsoft Store. Safari plays HEVC. In other browsers, support depends on the browser version and the computer's hardware.

If you don't control what your viewers watch on, use H.264. A smaller file doesn't help if a customer on a Windows laptop sees an error or a black frame.

YouTube and similar platforms re-encode every upload, so viewers never see your original file. What matters there is a high-quality upload that the platform accepts without trouble, and H.264 MP4 is the least likely to cause problems. HEVC can help when a large file is slow to upload, but test one upload first.

For resolution and bitrate per platform, see best screen recording settings for YouTube, X and LinkedIn.

Export speed and hardware

HEVC takes more work to encode than H.264. In software encoding that costs time, but a hardware encoder narrows the gap a lot. Apple silicon Macs have dedicated media hardware for both H.264 and HEVC, so either codec is a reasonable choice there. Older Intel Macs can be slower with HEVC.

Playback works the same way. A device without hardware HEVC decoding has to decode in software, which can stutter on older machines, especially at 4K. H.264 is lighter to play back.

In Screen Bolt, the Compression setting itself notes: "Quality setting does not impact export speed."

How to choose the codec when exporting from Screen Bolt

The format you pick in the export sheet sets the codec.

1. In the editor, click Export in the toolbar.
2. Under Format, choose MP4 (H.264, "Plays everywhere. Best default for sharing.") or MOV (HEVC, "Good for archives or editor handoff.").
3. Under Quality, choose Original, 4K, 1080p or 720p. Presets larger than your recording are disabled.
4. Check the summary line, which shows the estimated size, duration and pixel size (estimate ±30%).
5. Click Export or press Return. Screen Bolt saves the file to the Save to folder (Desktop by default) and shows it in Finder. You set the bitrate tier separately. Open Settings (⌘,, Command-Comma) and go to the Quick export tab, then Compression. This setting applies to editor exports as well as quick exports.

The same tab has Frame rate (30 or 60 FPS, default 60). This setting also controls the frame rate Screen Bolt records at, so set it before you record, not just before you export. Audio in both formats is AAC, 48 kHz stereo, 128 kb/s.

A few more details:

• The Format choice on the Quick export tab lists only MP4 and GIF. For an HEVC file, choose MOV in the editor's Export sheet.
• Screen Bolt captures the raw recording as H.264 in a .mov inside the project. The codec you choose is applied when the final file is rendered. You can export the same project twice, as MP4 for the web and MOV for your archive.
• The free version exports both MP4 and MOV, limited to 720p and 3 minutes, with a watermark. GIF and higher resolutions need a license. The export help page and the pricing section have the details.

Check which codec a file uses, or convert one

To see the codec of any video on your Mac:

1. Select the file in Finder.
2. Press ⌘I (Command-I) to open Get Info.
3. Expand More Info. The Codecs line shows something like "H.264, AAC" or "HEVC, AAC".

To convert a file without extra apps:

1. Open it in QuickTime Player.
2. Choose File ▸ Export As and pick a resolution.
3. If the dialog shows a format option, choose H.264 for compatibility or HEVC for a smaller file.

QuickTime saves the result as a .mov. Each conversion re-compresses an already compressed video and loses a little detail. If you still have the Screen Bolt project, export it again in the other format instead.

FAQ

Is H.265 the same as HEVC? Yes. H.265 is the standard's number and HEVC (High Efficiency Video Coding) is its name. Apps use both labels.

Does HEVC look better than H.264? At the same bitrate, usually a little better, especially on text edges. Screen Bolt gives HEVC a lower bitrate instead, so you get the same look in a smaller file.

Why won't my HEVC video play on Windows, or why does it show a black screen? The PC probably lacks HEVC support. The viewer can install Microsoft's HEVC Video Extensions, or you can send an H.264 MP4 instead.

Should I record in HEVC to save disk space? In Screen Bolt you don't choose: the raw capture is always H.264. The export codec is the one that matters, because the video is compressed again when you export.