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Handbrake releases first update since 2009

January 5, 2011

Handbrake, my beloved choice for DVD ripping, has released its first update in more than a year. This update pushes the software to version 0.9.5. Highlights include updated presets for video encoding and a variety of things that would probably mean more to videophiles than to me. Those changes I’ll include at the bottom with a link to the official post.

The one big difference for Mac owners is this version ends support for PowerPC processors. Basically, if your computer is more than five years old, you’re probably not going to be able to use this update.

Release Highlights:

Core Library

  • * BluRay disc structure support. (No decryption support)
  • * Updated Libraries (x264, ffmpeg)
  • * SSA Subtitle support. (Including burn-in)
  • * MP3 audio now supported in MP4 files (Note: Limited Player compatibility)
  • * VOBSUB subtitle now supported in MP4 files (Note: Limited Player compatibility)
  • * Updated Presets for newer devices and better quality
  • * AC3 encoding support.
  • * Many Bug Fixes and other small improvements
  • * Improved DVD Main Feature detection (when using dvdnav)
  • * Universal audio downmix support (all audio types can be downmixed)
  • * Point*to*Point encoding (second or frame start and end times)
  • * Peak framerate option (Capped VFR)

All GUIs

  • * Updated x264 Advanced Panel
  • * Video Quality Slider drops % value and only shows RF for x264
  • * Batch Scan (Scan Multiple files at once. N.B: Does not include multiple VIDEO_TS folders / Image files)
  • * Many Bug fixes
  • * Many Tweaks to improve usability.
  • * Ability to edit queue jobs

Mac GUI

  • * New Audio Panel supporting >4 Audio Tracks
  • * VLC detection in /Applications and ~/Applications
  • * Multiple instance support

Windows GUI

  • * Encode Status in GUI. (CLI window is now always hidden)
  • * Improved Auto-Naming for Destination file name.
  • * Drag / Drop Video onto Main Window to scan.

Linux GUI

  • * Multiple instance support (run multiple copies of ghb at once)
  • * Many Bug fixes and UI improvements.

Notices

  • * Power PC (PPC) is no longer officially supported. Given limited resources and time, it simply isn’t feasible for this project to support minority platforms. For those of you still using older hardware, we recommend you stick with 0.9.4.