H264 vs H265 [2026]: 30-50% Smaller, Less Compatible

H264 vs H265 is a trade between file size and reach. HEVC (H.265) usually delivers similar picture quality at roughly 30% to 50% lower bitrate, while H.264 still plays on nearly every phone, browser, TV and editing app you will meet. The H.265 standard is mature, with ITU listing a January 2026 edition of Recommendation H.265 and the project now at version 11.

This comparison covers what changes when you pick one codec over the other: size, quality, encode speed, playback support, licensing and export settings in Premiere, Media Encoder and DaVinci Resolve. Every figure comes from a vendor page, a standards body or a dated report, and each is attributed in the text. Facts were checked on October 30, 2026.

The short version fits in one sentence. Export H.264 in an MP4 with AAC audio when you do not know who will watch, and reach for H.265 when a 4K or HDR file must stay small and you control the playback chain.

H264 vs H265: the short answer for creators

Pick H.264 for delivery to unknown audiences. Pick H.265 for 4K and HDR files where size matters and the viewer’s device is known to decode it. That is the position Adobe’s guidance, the Fraunhofer HHI overviews of both standards and the October 2026 reporting all land on, with small differences in wording.

Here is the decision in four lines. If the file goes to a client review link, a social platform or an older device, export H.264. If the file is a 4K or HDR deliverable headed to a modern TV, an Apple device or a controlled player, H.265 is the better space saver. If the file is an archive copy, H.265 Main 10 keeps more headroom than 8-bit H.264. If you publish on the web yourself, ship H.265 only as an extra version and keep an H.264 fallback.

The numbers behind that advice are softer than most blog posts suggest. The claim that HEVC halves every file is too broad. Real savings depend on resolution, frame rate, encoder preset, content, bit depth and the quality target you set. A flat talking-head clip compresses differently from a confetti-and-particles gaming montage, and the gap between the two codecs moves with it.

Compatibility is the other half of the story. H.264 is the video codec inside the most broadly playable export, an MP4 with AAC audio. HEVC is the successor, designed around the same goals, but its playback depends on the operating system, the GPU, the browser and sometimes a paid or optional extension. A smaller file that your client cannot open is not a saving.

Scoring the two on the criteria that matter to someone exporting a video this week gives a clear split. H.264 wins on reach, edit-friendliness and encode speed. H.265 wins on bitrate efficiency, 10-bit and HDR delivery, and long-term archive size. Neither wins on cost to the creator, since patent fees fall on device and software makers, not on you.

H.264 vs H.265 specs table: 14 differences side by side

The table below puts the two codecs next to each other using the vendor and standards pages checked on October 30, 2026. Where no official source states a number, the cell says so instead of guessing.

Two rows deserve a second look. The profile row matters because 10-bit export is gated by profile. Adobe identifies H.264 High 10 and HEVC Main 10 as the profiles that expose additional color-space options, and most presets default to Rec. 709. If you pick a default preset and wonder why no HDR choices appear, the profile is the first thing to change.

The chroma row explains why professional camera files and consumer files behave differently. HEVC version 2 in 2014 added 10-bit and 12-bit depth plus 4:2:2 and 4:4:4 sampling. That is the reason HEVC shows up inside camera formats, and it is why Premiere 26.5 added updated hardware decoding for 4:2:2 10-bit AVC and HEVC in MXF on NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs. Typical consumer H.264 stays at 8-bit 4:2:0.

One more row hides in plain sight: the relationship. Adobe describes HEVC as the successor to the widely used H.264 format, and that framing sometimes leads creators to assume the older codec is obsolete. It is not. Any claim that H.264 is retired, or that it has been replaced everywhere, is outdated or wrong. Both standards are in active use and both appear in every major editor’s export menu in October 2026.

File size and quality: what 30% to 50% smaller really means

HEVC aims for H.264-like quality at a lower bitrate, and the commonly cited range is 30% to 50%. Fraunhofer HHI, which publishes overview pages on both standards, describes HEVC as built to deliver similar visual quality at lower bitrates and smaller files, and says the practical gain depends on resolution, bitrate, encoder and content.

Read the table as a range, not a promise. Adobe’s guide puts the saving at up to 30%, while the October 2026 coverage reaches 50% at the high end. Those figures do not contradict each other. They describe different content and different targets. A 4K HDR clip with gradients and fine detail rewards HEVC more than a 1080p slide deck with flat colors.

The arithmetic is simple, and you can run it for your own files. File size equals bitrate multiplied by duration, divided by eight. Take a hypothetical 10 Mbps H.264 export of a 60-minute video. That lands near 4.5 GB. Apply the 30% to 50% range and the HEVC equivalent drops to roughly 5 to 7 Mbps, and the file shrinks in about the same proportion. The numbers are round figures for the math, not a recommended bitrate.

Quality is where creators get tripped up. The savings assume you hold perceived quality constant. If you simply halve the bitrate on an HEVC export and compare it with the original H.264 file at full bitrate, you are testing a different quality target, not the codec. Compare at matched quality, using a visual check at the target resolution and frame rate, then read off the bitrate each codec needed.

One report suggests starting HEVC at about 50% to 70% of the H.264 bitrate for a quality comparison, then verifying by eye. Treat that as a starting point from a single source, not a rule. It is a useful way to frame the test, since it forces you to look rather than assume.

Resolution and bit depth change the picture too. Adobe’s export documentation lists no single universal bitrate recommendation for H.264 versus HEVC, which is a polite way of saying the answer is content dependent. At lower resolutions the gap narrows in practice, since the extra tools in HEVC have less to work on. At 4K and above, with 10-bit color, the gap widens in HEVC’s favor.

One more caution on size. A smaller delivery file does not mean a smaller project. Your master, proxies and cache files are separate. Resolve supports H.264 and H.265 as proxy formats, and delivery normally uses the original media unless you select proxy media. Premiere likewise exports from full-resolution media by default, even with proxies switched on, unless you explicitly choose to use proxies. Check that before you blame the codec for a soft export.

Encoding speed and hardware: the cost of smaller files

HEVC costs more to encode and decode than H.264. That is the price of its efficiency. In software, an HEVC export runs slower than an H.264 export at comparable settings, and low-powered devices can struggle to play high-bitrate HEVC without a hardware decoder.

Hardware encoding closes much of the gap. Adobe’s general advice for Premiere is to start with Match Source when you are unsure of profile and level, keep the source frame size and frame rate, choose Hardware Encoding when it is available, and check the destination platform’s codec limits before delivery. Hardware encoders usually trade a little compression efficiency for large speed gains, so a hardware HEVC file can come out bigger than a slow software one at the same visual quality.

Adobe’s September 2026 Premiere 26.5 release shifted the H.264 side of this equation. The release rewrote H.264 support, and Adobe claims up to 4x faster H.264 performance on Apple silicon and up to 2x on Windows. It also added MKV import for H.264 with AAC audio and updated NVIDIA Blackwell hardware decoding for 4:2:2 10-bit AVC and HEVC in MXF. Version 26.5.2 is the latest patch named in Adobe’s release notes, and it addressed visual artifacts such as green frames in some long-GOP 10-bit 4:2:2 media on Windows systems without hardware acceleration.

That fix is a reminder of the practical risk. Professional 10-bit 4:2:2 media from cameras is demanding, and support differs by GPU. On October 27, 2026, Adobe’s beta forum described testing Blackwell GPU acceleration for 10-bit 4:2:2 H.264 and HEVC, so this area is still moving. If your footage is 8-bit 4:2:0 from a phone or screen recorder, you will rarely hit these edge cases.

Software encoders keep improving as well. A technical summary lists x265 4.3 as the current release, with foveated encoding, noise-aware filtering and LoongArch64 support, but that summary is not an official project page. Treat that as reported until you see the project’s own release notes. The practical point stands either way: the HEVC software encoder ecosystem is active, and tuning options are still being added.

Apple hardware is part of the picture for many creators. CineD reportedly covered new M6 MacBook Pro and iMac models on October 27, 2026, with media engines that accelerate H.264 and HEVC alongside ProRes and AV1 decoding. That is one report on newly announced machines, so verify availability and specs on Apple’s own pages before buying with codecs in mind.

For decision purposes, treat encode time as a budget. A weekly YouTube show that renders overnight has slack, so HEVC at a slow preset is affordable. A news clip that must be out in ten minutes does not, and H.264 with hardware encoding is the safer pick. Match the codec to the clock, not just to the file size.

Compatibility: where H.265 plays and where it breaks

H.264 plays almost everywhere. H.265 plays on modern hardware, with gaps that show up in browsers, Windows installs and older devices. A web publisher should keep an H.264 fallback unless playback has been tested on the target audience’s devices.

Windows is the most common trouble spot. Microsoft removed the free HEVC decoder in 2017 and sells HEVC Video Extensions for $0.99 unless your PC maker licensed it. Microsoft’s support pages state that H.265 playback is not guaranteed on every Windows device and may need that package. The symptom to look for is a file that plays audio with a black or missing picture, and Microsoft’s Q&A forum carries threads such as video not displaying with only audio heard.

Browsers sit in the middle. Chrome and Edge version 107 added hardware HEVC playback in 2022, and Firefox added support in 2025. Support still depends on the operating system and GPU, so a viewer on an older laptop may fail where your own machine succeeds. This is why the advice to ship HEVC only as an additional version holds. Test the fallback logic rather than the happy path.

Editing compatibility is a separate question from playback. H.264 remains the format that nearly every nonlinear editor, plug-in and review tool accepts without fuss. HEVC import and export work in Premiere, Media Encoder and Resolve, though one Community report from October 29, 2026 mentions an optional HEVC codec entry in Premiere Beta and 26.5.2 that was not visible in version 25.6.6. If a collaborator runs an older build, confirm they can open your HEVC masters before sending them.

The takeaway is that HEVC support is real and broad, but it is conditional. H.264 support is the default state of the world. Plan your delivery so a failure of the conditional case degrades gracefully, with a fallback file or a link to one.

Platform delivery: YouTube, social apps and client review links

For direct uploads to social platforms, H.264 in an MP4 container with AAC audio is the safe choice. As of October 30, 2026, current guidance names H.264 in MP4 as the safer direct-upload option for YouTube, and Adobe Media Encoder ships social media presets built around H.264.

YouTube re-encodes uploads, so your file is a source, not the final product. That has two consequences. First, the extra efficiency of HEVC buys you a smaller upload, not a better result on the viewer’s screen. Second, a cleaner, higher-bitrate source usually survives re-encoding better than a starved one, so do not chase tiny files at the cost of quality headroom. Sources disagree on whether YouTube accepts H.265 uploads, and Adobe’s HEVC guidance reportedly says it does not. Check YouTube’s own upload documentation before relying on either claim.

Instagram and TikTok call for the same caution with less room for error. Both transcode what you send, as most platforms do, so treat them as H.264 destinations unless the app’s own help page says otherwise. The point of exporting for them is to arrive with a clean H.264 file at the correct resolution and frame rate, so the platform’s encoder has less to damage. Platform size and bitrate limits change often, so read each platform’s help page on the day you export.

Client review links deserve the most conservative choice of all. A client opening your link on a corporate laptop, a locked-down phone or a hotel TV has no patience for a codec extension prompt. Send H.264 MP4 for review. Keep the HEVC master for final delivery if the client’s specification asks for it and their playback chain is known.

Broadcast and OTT delivery specs sit outside this article, but the rule is the same. When a spec names a codec, profile and level, deliver exactly that. Adobe’s export documentation notes an H.264 Stream Compatibility control meant for device playback, and it lists the Baseline, Main, High and High10 profiles. Matching a spec to the letter beats any general advice written here.

Export settings in Premiere, Media Encoder and DaVinci Resolve

The safe default for both editors is H.264, MP4, High profile, 8-bit 4:2:0, AAC audio, with frame size and frame rate matching the timeline. Switch to HEVC Main 10 only when you need 10-bit color or a smaller 4K file and know the destination can decode it.

Premiere and Media Encoder

Adobe now brands its desktop editor Premiere, though many creators still say Premiere Pro. The latest release named in Adobe’s release notes is 26.5.2, and the US product page lists the individual plan at $22.99 per month on an annual plan billed monthly, labeled as first-year pricing for new subscribers. Adobe states that Premiere is available through a membership plan, with no perpetual license confirmed on its pricing information.

• Start with Match Source when you are unsure of profile and level.
• Keep the source frame size and frame rate unless a spec says otherwise.
• Pick Hardware Encoding when your GPU supports it, and drop to software if you see artifacts.
• Choose High10 for H.264 or Main 10 for HEVC when you need extra color-space options such as Rec. 2020.
• In the H.264 settings, HDR export appears only after Rec. 2020 color primaries are enabled, which in turn needs the High10 profile.
• According to Adobe’s Media Encoder documentation, HEVC export reaches 8K, and H.264 export comes with social media presets.

One current bug deserves a flag. An Adobe Community report describes Media Encoder 2026 tagging H.264 exports with incorrect color metadata at certain non-standard resolutions. The reporter’s test sent a 1536 x 576 source through Media Encoder and found wrong tagging, while a 1920 x 1080 export carried the correct Rec. 709 (1-1-1) tag. If you export unusual dimensions and see a color shift, check the tagged color metadata first. It is a bug report, not a confirmed fix.

DaVinci Resolve 21.1.1

Blackmagic’s official Resolve readme documents the current 21.1.1 line, with DaVinci Resolve 21.1.1 as the free edition and Resolve Studio 21.1.1 as the paid one. The free version includes the same high-quality processing as Studio and handles unlimited resolution media, but it limits mastering and output to Ultra HD or lower and supports one processing GPU on Windows and Linux. Studio adds multi-GPU support, 4K output, noise reduction, HDR tools and AI tools.

The vendor pages checked do not publish a codec matrix, so which H.265 encode options differ between the free and Studio editions is not confirmed here. Open the Deliver page, pick H.265 under MP4 or QuickTime, and confirm the options before you promise a client an HEVC deliverable from the free edition. Match the timeline frame rate and apply the same bitrate discipline you would use anywhere else.

Render settings

When you build a short intro, keep its resolution and frame rate identical to the video it opens. The intro themes list shows resolution, length and frame rate for each theme, which is a quick way to see what you need to match. Mismatched frame rates between an intro and the main video cause stutter faster than any codec choice does.

If you prefer the command line, FFmpeg gives direct control of both codecs. These are starting points to test, not vendor-published targets.

# H.264, broad compatibility
ffmpeg -i master.mov -c:v libx264 -preset slow -crf 18 -pix_fmt yuv420p -c:a aac -movflags +faststart out-h264.mp4

# H.265, smaller file, Apple-friendly tag
ffmpeg -i master.mov -c:v libx265 -preset slow -crf 22 -pix_fmt yuv420p10le -tag:v hvc1 -c:a aac -movflags +faststart out-h265.mp4

The CRF scales differ between the two encoders, so a number that looks right for x264 will not give matching quality in x265. Encode a short section at two or three values, compare them at full screen, and pick the highest CRF that still looks clean to you. The hvc1 tag helps Apple players recognize the stream.

Licensing and cost: who pays for H.264 and H.265

Creators do not pay royalties to export either codec. Patent fees fall on the makers of devices and software, and the editors you use handle that. HEVC patent licensing continues to apply primarily to device and software makers rather than ordinary end users, and free internet video distribution is not charged by the main patent pools.

Via’s published schedule confirms the AVC rates above, and its page also lists higher tiers for large streaming services. TechSpot reported that large streaming implementers faced a tiered structure replacing the former $100,000 annual cap, with a top reported tier of $4.5 million a year. Via’s page confirms the $4.5 million tier but does not fully establish its effective date or how it treats existing licensees. None of this reaches a solo creator, but it shows why large platforms care about codec choice.

HEVC licensing is consolidating. In December 2025 Access Advance announced the purchase of Via LA’s HEVC and VVC program, a step toward a single license. If you read older articles that describe separate competing pools, the picture has simplified. Check current pool pages before quoting rates, since this area changes.

Software price moves matter more to most readers. Blackmagic announced a 20% limited-time discount on Resolve Studio on October 20, 2026, and reports put the price at $236 against a $295 list price through November 20, 2026. The same month, Blackmagic announced price increases attributed to rising memory costs, though the amount and effective date were not confirmed in the pages checked. If you plan to buy Studio, the discount window is the cheaper moment.

Real-world examples: seven creator scenarios

These are common scenarios and the choice each one points to, based on the vendor guidance above. They are illustrations, not case studies of named people.

1. A weekly YouTube channel shooting 1080p talking-head video. The upload is re-encoded anyway, so H.264 High in MP4 with AAC keeps the pipeline simple and fast. HEVC would shrink the upload but not improve what viewers see.
2. A travel filmmaker delivering 4K HDR from a camera that records 10-bit. HEVC Main 10 keeps 10-bit color and holds the master to a manageable size. The filmmaker keeps an H.264 version for sharing links.
3. A streamer who edits highlights and posts them to TikTok and Instagram. Both apps transcode on ingest, so a clean H.264 MP4 at the right size and frame rate avoids a second round of damage.
4. A small studio sending cuts to a corporate client. The review link must open on locked-down laptops. H.264 MP4 goes out for review, and an HEVC master is delivered only if the specification asks for it.
5. A wedding videographer archiving years of footage. HEVC Main 10 copies cut storage while keeping quality headroom. A high-quality master is retained separately, as the HEVC guidance advises.
6. A small business publishing product videos on its own website. An H.264 MP4 is the primary file, and HEVC is offered as an additional source for browsers that can play it. The fallback means no visitor sees a blank player.
7. A creator making short intros and logo stings. These clips run seconds, so file size is irrelevant. An intro exported once from an intro maker as H.264, with a frame rate matched to the main video, beats any codec experiment.

Patterns repeat across the seven. Short, low-resolution or social-bound clips stay on H.264. Long, high-resolution or archival files lean to HEVC. Anything shared with people you cannot support by phone stays on H.264.

Use-case recommendations: which codec for which job

Match the codec to the destination first, then to the file. These six recommendations cover most creator exports.

• YouTube upload: H.264 High, MP4, AAC, matching the timeline. It is the safer direct-upload choice and YouTube re-encodes anyway.
• TikTok and Instagram: H.264 MP4 at the platform’s size and frame rate. Read each app’s help page on export day, since limits change.
• 4K HDR delivery to modern TVs or Apple devices: HEVC Main 10, 10-bit, MP4 or MOV, with playback verified on the target hardware.
• Client review and approval links: H.264 MP4. Compatibility beats size when the viewer is a stranger.
• Long-term archive or mezzanine copies: HEVC Main 10 for the space saving, with a high-quality master kept alongside.
• Website video: H.264 first, HEVC as an optional extra source, and a tested fallback.

If your case is not on the list, ask three questions in order. Who is the viewer, and can you control their device? How long and how large is the file? How much time do you have to render? A known viewer, a large file and spare render time point to HEVC. An unknown viewer, a short file or a tight deadline points to H.264.

Migration guide: moving from H.264 to H.265 safely

Moving from the H264 vs H265 debate to an actual switch means migrating in stages so no deliverable breaks. Start with archives and masters, where compatibility risk is lowest, then test delivery files one platform at a time. The Export & Codecs guides on this site cover related format choices if you also plan to change containers.

1. Inventory what you ship. List each destination, its codec requirement and whether you control the viewer’s device.
2. Check your tools. Confirm your editor and encoder expose HEVC export. Adobe’s Media Encoder documentation lists HEVC export up to 8K, and Resolve offers H.265 on its Deliver page. Check the exact options in your edition.
3. Check your hardware. Look for hardware HEVC encoding and decoding on your GPU or Apple silicon, and update drivers.
4. Run a matched-quality test. Export one representative clip in both codecs, start HEVC at a lower bitrate, and compare by eye at the target resolution and frame rate.
5. Test playback on the worst device. Use a Windows PC without the extension, an older phone and a smart TV. If any fail, keep H.264 for that destination.
6. Migrate masters and archives first. Keep the original files until you have opened the HEVC copies on at least two machines.
7. Add HEVC to web delivery as a second source. Leave the H.264 version as the default.
8. Document your presets. Save export presets with names that include codec, profile and use, so anyone on the team repeats the settings.

Going the other way is just as common. When a collaborator or client cannot open an HEVC file, transcode from your master, not from the HEVC copy. Re-encoding a lossy file stacks generation loss. If the master is gone, transcode at a generous bitrate to limit the damage.

Watch the color tags during migration. The Media Encoder bug report mentioned earlier is a reminder that metadata can drift between exports. After each test export, open the file in a player that shows color information, and confirm the tag matches your timeline’s color space, typically Rec. 709 for standard-dynamic-range work.

Keep a simple log while you migrate. A spreadsheet with one row per destination, the codec you chose, the preset name and the date you last tested playback takes ten minutes to build. It pays off the first time a client asks why a file will not open, because you can answer from the log instead of re-testing from scratch.

Pros and cons of H.264 and H.265

Here is the H.264 vs H.265 balance sheet in one place, drawn from the sections above.

The cons of HEVC are mostly operational, not technical. The codec is mature and well supported by hardware, as the 2022 browser milestones and the 2026 standard update show. The friction comes from the long tail of devices and installs that sit between your export and your viewer.

The cons of H.264 are mostly about efficiency. It will keep working for years, but at 4K and HDR it asks for more bitrate than HEVC to look the same. For most social and web work, that cost is small enough to ignore.

What changed lately: Premiere 26.5, Resolve 21.1.1 and HEVC tooling

The last three months brought tool updates rather than a new codec. The confirmed changes are Premiere 26.5 and 26.5.2 in September 2026 with faster H.264, MKV import for H.264 and AAC, and Blackwell decoding for 4:2:2 10-bit AVC and HEVC in MXF.

On the standards side, MPEG reported on August 12, 2026 a proposed first amendment to the seventh HEVC edition, adding multiview profiles for synchronized-camera video using 4:4:4 chroma sampling and depth maps, plus improvements to SEI message interfaces. Finalization was planned for April 2027, so it was not a finished amendment as of October 30, 2026.

Tooling for immersive video is moving too. MainConcept announced an expansion of its multiview HEVC encoder SDK for Apple Immersive Video, planned for its Codec SDK 16.2. Mux reportedly added HEVC-aware input standardization to its Swift upload SDK, version 1.2.0, including 1440p support and configurable HDR handling. Microsoft also announced an upcoming Windows 365 change for HEVC-accelerated Cloud PCs, with a re-architected encoding path aimed at lower latency and steadier frame rates, and plans for hardware-accelerated HEVC 4:4:4 encoding support.

No newer H.265 revision or new official H.264 edition could be confirmed in that window. No successor to either codec is a settled creator option today, so the choice in this article is the choice you face in late 2026. Newer codecs such as AV1 exist, and Apple’s reportedly announced hardware decodes it, but they deserve their own comparison and are outside this one.

Verdict: H.264 as default, H.265 where size and quality pay off

In the H264 vs H265 contest, H.264 stays the default export for creators in October 2026. H.265 earns its place in 4K, HDR and archive work, where its 30% to 50% bitrate advantage is worth the compatibility checks. The evidence supports that split from every angle: standards research, vendor guidance and current reporting agree on it.

Score the decision on four points. On reach, H.264 wins. On file size at equal quality, H.265 wins, with the gap widest at 4K and HDR. On speed and simplicity, H.264 wins, helped by the Premiere 26.5 rewrite. On long-term value for archives and 10-bit masters, H.265 wins. That is two for each, and the tiebreaker is who is watching.

For a solo creator, the practical plan is simple. Export H.264 MP4 with AAC for anything public or shared. Keep one HEVC Main 10 master or archive per major project if storage is tight. Revisit the plan when your audience’s devices change, not when a blog post says HEVC is the future. The codec you can be sure plays is the better codec for that job.

Common questions

Is H.265 better than H.264?

H.265 compresses better, at roughly 30% to 50% lower bitrate for similar quality, but it is not better in every way. H.264 plays on more devices and encodes faster. Choose by destination.

Does H.265 look better than H.264 at the same bitrate?

Usually it does, because HEVC’s tools use bits more efficiently. The gain depends on content, resolution and encoder settings, so compare a test clip at matched quality before trusting any general figure.

Which codec should I use for YouTube?

H.264 in an MP4 container is the safer direct-upload choice, and YouTube re-encodes the file anyway. Sources differ on H.265 uploads, so check YouTube’s own upload documentation if you want to try HEVC.

Why does my H.265 file show audio but no video on Windows?

The PC probably lacks an HEVC decoder. Microsoft states that H.265 playback is not guaranteed on every Windows device and may need HEVC Video Extensions, which cost $0.99 when not preinstalled. Sending an H.264 version avoids the issue.

Do I have to pay to export H.265?

No. Patent royalties fall on device and software makers, not on ordinary users. You may pay for software such as Premiere or Resolve Studio, and Windows viewers may pay $0.99 for the extension.

Should I export 4K in H.265?

For smaller 4K files, yes, when the destination supports it. HEVC’s biggest gains show at 4K and HDR. Keep an H.264 version for anyone whose device may not decode HEVC.

Which profile do I need for 10-bit or HDR export?

Adobe identifies H.264 High 10 and HEVC Main 10 as the profiles that expose extra color-space options. For H.264 in Media Encoder, HDR export needs Rec. 2020 color primaries enabled, which are available with the High10 profile.

Is H.264 obsolete now?

No. H.264 remains the practical choice when broad playback, upload and device compatibility matter. It is older than HEVC, not retired, and every major editor still exports it.