The launch of the new version of HandBrake 1.8 was announced, which is a utility that is geared for multithreaded transcoding of audio and video files, this is a multiplatform application so it can be used in OS X, GNU / Linux and Windows..
HandBrake uses third-party libraries, such as FFmpeg and FAAC. Handbrake it can process most common multimedia files and any source. The program can transcode BluRay/DVD video, copies of the VIDEO_TS directory and any file whose format is compatible with the FFmpeg/LibAV libavformat and libavcodec libraries.
Main new features of HandBrake 1.8
In this new version that is presented of HandBrake 1.8, the general improvements are that UI has been migrated to GTK4 instead of GTK3, it is now possible to perform VP9 and FLAC multiplexing in the MP4 container, Time jitter has been eliminated when using an NTSC frame rate constant in the MP4 container, and removed support for importing presets based on property lists inherited from older versions of HandBrake.
Regarding the video improvements, we can find that it has been added support for FFV1 encoder, including a new “FFV1 Preservation” preset under the “Professional” category, plus it is now possible perform two-pass encoding with VP9, Settings have been added for VP9, expanding customization options for users.
Regarding platform-specific changes, for example in the edition for Linux icons updated, was added andl support for recursive file scanning and implementation of the “–clear-queue” and “–auto-start-queue” options. In macOS the toolbar design is adapted to the macOS style and in Windows .NET Desktop Runtime 8.0.x is now used.
In the command line interface (CLI), fixed identifying subtitles when they are not the first in the list subtitles, improving the accuracy of the process, fixed overriding of subtitle settings, ensuring that specific settings are applied consistently, and fixed processing of audio overrides for presets, ensuring greater accuracy in the audio settings.
Of others changes that stand out from this new version of HandBrake 1.8:
- Update includes dynamic Dolby Vision metadata pass-through for SVT-AV1
Deinterlacing speed has been improved by removing unnecessary frame copies - Support for video encoder in FFV1 format.
- Implementation of support for multi-pass coding with Constant Quality (CQ).
- Support for 88.2, 96, 176.4, and 192 kHz sample rates for TrueHD and FLAC audio encoding formats.
- Includes updates to FFmpeg 7.0, HarfBuzz 8.4.0, libdav1d 1.4.1, libjpeg-turbo 3.0.3, SVT-AV1 2.1.0, x264 164 and x265 3.6.
- Added TrueHD encoder, expanding high-quality audio encoding options.
- Audio track selection has been improved by tracking “linked” audio tracks, ensuring greater consistency in audio track selection.
- Fixed passing VobSub tracks that contain empty or fully transparent subtitles, improving more accurate subtitle playback.
- Fixed an issue that prevented decoding of VobSub tracks stored within MP4 files, adding greater support for different subtitle formats.
- Fixed overlapping SSA/ASS subtitles within MKV files that had duplicate reading orders, improving the quality of subtitle rendering.
Finally, if you want to know more about it, you can check the complete changelog by going to to the following link.
How to install Handbrake 1.8 from PPA?
For those who are interested in being able to install this new version, they can do so from the application's PPA where we can obtain the application updates in a faster way, than compared to the previous method.
For this we are going to open a terminal and we are going to execute the following commands.
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:stebbins/handbrake-releases
We update our list of repositories with:
sudo apt-get update
And finally we install the application with:
sudo apt-get install handbrake
How to install Handbrake from snap?
Now, if you do not want to add repositories to your system and you have the support to install applications in snap format, you can install HandBrake with the help of this technology, you just have to open a terminal and execute the following command:
sudo snap install handbrake-jz
If they want to install a release candidate version of the program, they do so using this command:
sudo snap install handbrake-jz --candidate
To install the beta version of the program, use this command:
sudo snap install handbrake-jz --beta
Now, if you already have the application installed by this method, to update it just run this command:
sudo snap refresh handbrake-jz