Bandicam codec vs. External codec

Bandicam codecs are able to compress the video while recording and use much lower CPU/GPU/RAM than other codecs.

However, if you want to get better quality videos or make smaller videos, you could try the [External Codec] option of Bandicam.

Bandicam 1.8.2 or a higher version supports the third party VFW (Video for Windows) codec - External codec.


A comparison between Bandicam Codec and External Codec

The table below shows the file sizes when Bandicam records a 1024x768 resolution video for one minute.

* Bandicam Codec

Codec Size Quality Description
HEVC (Nvidia® NVENC) 24 MB Better Better than the NVENC H.264 encoder at compression
H.264 (GPU)

(NVIDIA NVENC, NVIDIA CUDA, AMD APP,
Intel Quick Sync video)

28 MB Better Best codec for advanced users
High Speed/Quality/Compression ratio
Xvid 34 MB Good Best codec for most users
MPEG-1 27 MB Good Better compression ratio than Xvid
Motion JPEG 222 MB Normal Best codec for video editing software
YV12 2,053 MB Best Lossless codec
RGB24 4,144 MB Best Lossless codec

- Comparison of codec speed: RGB24 (Fastest) > YV12 > Motion JPEG > Xvid > MPEG-1 (Normal)

- H.264 (Nvidia® CUDA™) or H.264 (Intel® Quick Sync video) may be faster than Motion JPEG with high performing computers.

* External Codec

Codec Size Quality Description
Xvid 16 MB Good DivX/Galaxy Smartphone
x264 28 MB Better Best codec for a high-end computer
(High quality, Smaller files, Recommended)
Lagarith 686 MB Best Best codec for video-editing software
(High quality, Lossless video codec)

You need a high-end computer to use an external codec because most external codecs use much more system resources than the Bandicam codec.


To choose the best video codec, visit http://www.bandicam.com/support/tips/best-codec/




Using an External codec

To use an external codec, click the [Settings] button under the Video tab, and click the [...] button after selecting [- External Codec -]

bandicam external codec for recording


Choose a codec from the codec list, and then click the Configure button.

bandicam external codec setting for recording

There are a lot of different codecs out there, and the following codecs/settings illustrate how you can use an external codec.



1. x264 codec settings for video recording

x264 is a free software library for encoding video streams into the H.264/MPEG-4 AVC format.

x264 is a far superior codec and can provide better picture quality at a smaller file size than XviD/DivX.

If you have a very fast and powerful computer, you should try the x264 codec.




Check "Ultrafast", "Zero Latency", "x264" and "None" at the configuration window to get the best result.

- If you want to edit with Sony Vegas or Adobe Premiere, enter "--keyint 1" in the extra command line box. » Screenshot

- If you can't see the "x264vfw-H.264/MPEG-4 AVC codec' menu from Bandicam, install both the x264vfw and the x264vfw64 codecs from http://sourceforge.net/projects/x264vfw/files/, manually start the x264 configure window, and then check the options like above.




2. Xvid codec settings for video recording

Xvid is an open-source compression codec based on the MPEG-4 ISO format.

It permits the compressing and decompressing of digital video in order to reduce the required bandwidth of video data for transmission over computer networks. If you use DivX player or Galaxy Smartphone, you could try this codec.




1. Click "more..." at the Quality preset, and choose "0-None" under the Motion tab.

2. Click "Other Options...", and uncheck "Display encoding status."

For more information about the Xvid external codec, visit http://forum.bandicam.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1673




3. Lagarith lossless codec settings for video recording

Lagarith is a lossless video codec intended for video editing and archiving. This codec can provide better picture quality than Motion JPEG (MJPEG), and the recorded file size is much smaller than Bandicam's lossless codecs (YV12, RGB24). If you use video editing software (Sony Vegas, Adobe Premiere or Pinnacle Studio), you should try this codec.



Choose "YV12" mode to increase the recording speed of Bandicam.

**Use Multithreading: If you use a high-end computer, check this option. It will improve the recording speed.



* You can also use other third party VFW (Video for Windows) codecs such as MagicYUV.