# strukturag/libde265

Open h.265 video codec implementation.

Repository: https://github.com/strukturag/libde265
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/libde265
Language: C++
License: NOASSERTION
License Family: other
Last push: 2026-08-26T19:46:57+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 95/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 87, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 4755, "days_push": 7, "days_rel": 91, "gap_med": 8, "n_releases_24m": 6}
- flags: no_license
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1910, forks 496 (observed 2026-08-28T04:05:53.098272+00:00)

## What it is
libde265 is an open source implementation of the H.265 (HEVC) video codec written from scratch in C++ with a plain C API for easy integration. It supports WPP and tile-based multithreading, SSE optimizations, and includes example programs dec265 and sherlock265.

## Use cases
- decode h.265/hevc video streams in my application
- integrate an HEVC decoder into a media player via a C API
- play raw h.265 bitstream files
- visually inspect h.265 bitstream structures like CU trees and intra prediction modes
- decode 4K HEVC video with multithreaded performance
- add HEVC decoding to a GStreamer pipeline

## When to choose
- you need an open-source HEVC decoder with a simple C API
- you need high-performance multithreaded decoding of Main profile streams
- you want to embed HEVC decoding in C/C++ software without heavy dependencies
- you need to debug or visualize h.265 bitstream internals

## When to avoid
- you need HEVC encoding rather than decoding
- you need a full-featured video player or transcoding framework
- you need profiles or features beyond the Main profile
- you prefer a hardware-accelerated decoder over a software implementation

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: stable
- function: video-processing, image-processing
- domain: media, developer-tools
- platform: windows, cross-platform, cpp, c
- tags: h265, hevc, video-codec, decoder, multithreading, sse-optimizations, c-api, video, linux, macos

## Member repositories
- strukturag/libde265 (main) score 95

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:53.098272+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T03:11:04.897787+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/strukturag/libde265 (fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:53.098272+00:00, sha a47ecb66fb9e)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.