---
updatedAt: 2026-02-04T11:43:25.000Z
agentTools:
  siteIndex: https://developer.bitmovin.com/llms.txt
  projectIndex: https://developer.bitmovin.com/encoding/llms.txt
---

# H264 Presets

# Live Quality Preset Configurations

| Live Quality Presets         | LIVE\_STANDARD        | LIVE\_HIGH\_QUALITY   | LIVE\_VERYHIGH\_QUALITY | LIVE\_ULTRAHIGH\_QUALITY |
| ---------------------------- | --------------------- | --------------------- | ----------------------- | ------------------------ |
| adaptiveQuantizationMode     | VARIANCE              | VARIANCE              | VARIANCE                | VARIANCE                 |
| adaptiveQuantizationStrength | 1                     | 1                     | 1                       | 1                        |
| adaptiveSpatialTransform     | TRUE                  | TRUE                  | TRUE                    | TRUE                     |
| bAdaptiveStrategy            | FAST                  | FAST                  | FAST                    | FULL                     |
| bPyramid                     | NORMAL                | NORMAL                | NORMAL                  | NORMAL                   |
| bframes                      | 3                     | 3                     | 3                       | 3                        |
| cabac                        | TRUE                  | TRUE                  | TRUE                    | TRUE                     |
| encodingMode                 | SINGLE\_PASS          | SINGLE\_PASS          | SINGLE\_PASS            | TWO\_PASS                |
| fastSkipDetectionPFrames     | TRUE                  | TRUE                  | TRUE                    | TRUE                     |
| macroblockTreeRatecontrol    | TRUE                  | TRUE                  | TRUE                    | TRUE                     |
| mixedReferences              | FALSE                 | TRUE                  | TRUE                    | TRUE                     |
| motionEstimationMethod       | HEX                   | HEX                   | HEX                     | UMH                      |
| mvPredictionMode             | SPATIAL               | SPATIAL               | SPATIAL                 | AUTO                     |
| mvSearchRangeMax             | 16                    | 16                    | 16                      | 16                       |
| nalHrd                       | NONE                  | NONE                  | NONE                    | NONE                     |
| partitions                   | "I4X4,I8X8,P8X8,B8X8" | "I4X4,I8X8,P8X8,B8X8" | "I4X4,I8X8,P8X8,B8X8"   | "I4X4,I8X8,P8X8,B8X8"    |
| profile                      | HIGH                  | HIGH                  | HIGH                    | HIGH                     |
| rcLookahead                  | 20                    | 30                    | 40                      | 50                       |
| refFrames                    | 2                     | 2                     | 3                       | 5                        |
| sceneCutThreshold            | 0                     | 0                     | 0                       | 0                        |
| subMe                        | QPEL4                 | RD\_IP                | RD\_ALL                 | RD\_REF\_IP              |
| trellis                      | ENABLED\_FINAL\_MB    | ENABLED\_FINAL\_MB    | ENABLED\_FINAL\_MB      | ENABLED\_FINAL\_MB       |
| weightedPredictionBFrames    | TRUE                  | TRUE                  | TRUE                    | TRUE                     |
| weightedPredictionPFrames    | SIMPLE                | SIMPLE                | SMART                   | SMART                    |

`-` means that the default value of the codec configuration is used. Please see the [API reference](https://developer.bitmovin.com/encoding/reference/postencodingconfigurationsvideoh264) for the respective value.

***

# Live Low Latency Preset Configurations

| Live Low Latency Presets     | LIVE\_LOW\_LATENCY    | LIVE\_LOWER\_LATENCY | LIVE\_VERYLOW\_LATENCY |
| ---------------------------- | --------------------- | -------------------- | ---------------------- |
| adaptiveQuantizationMode     | VARIANCE              | VARIANCE             | DISABLED               |
| adaptiveQuantizationStrength | 1                     | 1                    | 0                      |
| adaptiveSpatialTransform     | TRUE                  | TRUE                 | FALSE                  |
| bAdaptiveStrategy            | FAST                  | FAST                 | NONE                   |
| bPyramid                     | NORMAL                | NORMAL               | NORMAL                 |
| bframes                      | 3                     | 3                    | 0                      |
| cabac                        | TRUE                  | TRUE                 | FALSE                  |
| encodingMode                 | SINGLE\_PASS          | SINGLE\_PASS         | SINGLE\_PASS           |
| fastSkipDetectionPFrames     | TRUE                  | TRUE                 | TRUE                   |
| macroblockTreeRatecontrol    | TRUE                  | FALSE                | FALSE                  |
| mixedReferences              | FALSE                 | FALSE                | FALSE                  |
| motionEstimationMethod       | HEX                   | DIA                  | DIA                    |
| mvPredictionMode             | SPATIAL               | SPATIAL              | SPATIAL                |
| mvSearchRangeMax             | 16                    | 16                   | 16                     |
| nalHrd                       | NONE                  | NONE                 | NONE                   |
| partitions                   | "I4X4,I8X8,P8X8,B8X8" | "I4X4,I8X8"          | NONE                   |
| profile                      | HIGH                  | HIGH                 | BASELINE               |
| rcLookahead                  | 10                    | 0                    | 0                      |
| refFrames                    | 1                     | 1                    | 1                      |
| sceneCutThreshold            | 0                     | 0                    | 0                      |
| subMe                        | SATD                  | SAD                  | FULLPEL                |
| trellis                      | DISABLED              | DISABLED             | DISABLED               |
| weightedPredictionBFrames    | TRUE                  | TRUE                 | FALSE                  |
| weightedPredictionPFrames    | SIMPLE                | SIMPLE               | DISABLED               |

`-` means that the default value of the codec configuration is used. Please see the [API reference](https://developer.bitmovin.com/encoding/reference/postencodingconfigurationsvideoh264) for the respective value.

# Conformance with H264 Profiles

The majority of the profiles listed above set the H264 profile to `HIGH`, and use codec capabilities that target decoders that support this profile. The H264 High profile is by far the most common and has been widely supported for many years.

If your application requires the use of lower profiles, such as `BASELINE` or `MAIN`, you will need to overwrite some of the codec configuration parameters after applying the preset. Note however that the output quality may be reduced in doing so, and file sizes and bandwidth requirements may increase.

## To set the profile to `MAIN`

* Overwrite `adaptiveSpatialTransform` to False

## To set the profile to `BASELINE`

* Overwrite `adaptiveSpatialTransform` to False
* Overwrite `bFrames` to 0
* Overwrite `cabac` to False
* Overwrite `weightedPredictionPFrames` to DISABLED

Conversely, if your selected preset sets the profile to `MAIN` and you want to ensure that the output uses `HIGH`, you can make a simple change:

## To force the profile to `HIGH`

* Overwrite `adaptiveSpatialTransform` to True