Skip to main content Tech Radar Pro Tech Radar Gaming Tech Radar Pro TechRadar the business technology experts Search TechRadar View Profile België (Nederlands) Deutschland North America US (English) Australasia New Zealand Expert Insights Website builders Web hosting Best web hosting Best office chairs Best website builder Best antivirus Expert Insights Recommended reading Netflix explains how it's quietly upgraded the image quality of your favorite movies and TV shows – and it's all about film grain Chinese CPU vendor swaps AMD Zen architecture for homegrown one to deliver 128-core monster to give EPYC and Xeon a run for their money Artificial Intelligence Google can now generate your AI videos more quickly than ever 16-Core AMD EPYC 4005 CPU is almost 3X faster than AMD's first server flagship - and I can't believe what a bargain that is Some data centers are deliberately slowing possibly tens of thousands of AI GPUs to avoid blackouts - but this company may have a solution AI chip war heats up as AMD unveils its Nvidia Blackwell competitor Asus brings Nvidia's fastest superchip to a very boring desktop PC chassis, but there's even a DVD player and a mysterious slot Ancient way of coding helps boost popular video encoder by 100x — but is it too good to be true? Efosa Udinmwen 23 July 2025 Extreme FFmpeg speedup is real, weird, and probably useless to many people When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. (Image credit: FFmpeg) FFmpeg’s biggest speedup yet affects only one function few people will have heard of Handwritten Assembly makes a comeback in a niche filter that most users will never even touch AVX512 gives FFmpeg an absurd 100x gain - but only if your CPU supports it The FFmpeg project, known for powering some of the most widely used video editing software and media tools, is making headlines again. Developers claim to have achieved what they call “the biggest speedup so far,” delivering a 100x performance gain in a recent update. The catch? It only applies to a single, obscure function, and the means of achieving it is raising eyebrows - handwritten Assembly code, a technique largely seen as outdated by most of today’s developers. You may like Netflix explains how it's quietly upgraded the image quality of your favorite movies and TV shows – and it's all about film grain Chinese CPU vendor swaps AMD Zen architecture for homegrown one to deliver 128-core monster to give EPYC and Xeon a run for their money Google can now generate your AI videos more quickly than ever Assembly coding sparks both nostalgia and skepticism Assembly language, once essential for getting the most out of limited hardware in the 1980s and 1990s, has become a niche practice. Yet FFmpeg developers continue to rely on it for extreme optimization, calling themselves “assembly evangelists.” In their latest patch, they rewrote a filter called rangedetect8_avx512 using AVX512 instructions, part of a modern SIMD (Single Instruction, Multiple Data) toolkit that helps CPUs perform multiple tasks in parallel. On systems without AVX512 support, the AVX2 variant still delivers a 65.63% improvement. Are you a pro? Subscribe to our newsletter Sign up to the TechRadar Pro newsletter to get all the top news, opinion, features and guidance your business needs to succeed! Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. As the team points out, “It’s a single function that’s now 100x faster, not the whole of FFmpeg.” This news follows a similar boost reported in November 2024, where another patch brought certain operations up to 94x faster. In that case, part of the earlier performance gap stemmed from mismatched filter complexity: the generic C version used an 8-tap convolution, while the SIMD version used a simpler 6-tap approach. Even compiling the C version in release mode with a better compiler like Clang could close over 50% of the gap, suggesting that some of the claimed speed gains may have been exaggerated by comparing worst-case with best-case conditions. “Register allocator sucks on compilers,” the devs quipped on social media, highlighting compiler inefficiencies. Despite the caveats, this renewed focus on low-level coding has sparked fresh conversations around performance optimization. FFmpeg powers everything from VLC Media Player to countless YouTube downloader tools, so even small improvements in isolated filters can ripple through widely used software. However, it’s worth noting that such results are often difficult to replicate and apply across broader parts of the codebase. While these kinds of deep optimizations are impressive, they may not reflect real-world improvements for everyday users editing footage with video editing software. Unless other core functions receive similar treatment, the promise of a faster FFmpeg might remain limited to technical benchmarks. Via TomsHardware You might also like US government wants to ban Chinese technology in submarine cables These are the best NAS devices around We've also rounded up the best cloud storage platforms on offer Efosa Udinmwen Freelance Journalist Efosa has been writing about technology for over 7 years, initially driven by curiosity but now fueled by a strong passion for the field. He holds both a Master's and a PhD in sciences, which provided him with a solid foundation in analytical thinking. Efosa developed a keen interest in technology policy, specifically exploring the intersection of privacy, security, and politics. His research delves into how technological advancements influence regulatory frameworks and societal norms, particularly concerning data protection and cybersecurity. Upon joining TechRadar Pro, in addition to privacy and technology policy, he is also focused on B2B security products. Efosa can be contacted at this email: udinmwenefosa@gmail.com You must confirm your public display name before commenting Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name. Netflix explains how it's quietly upgraded the image quality of your favorite movies and TV shows – and it's all about film grain Chinese CPU vendor swaps AMD Zen architecture for homegrown one to deliver 128-core monster to give EPYC and Xeon a run for their money Google can now generate your AI videos more quickly than ever 16-Core AMD EPYC 4005 CPU is almost 3X faster than AMD's first server flagship - and I can't believe what a bargain that is Some data centers are deliberately slowing possibly tens of thousands of AI GPUs to avoid blackouts - but this company may have a solution AI chip war heats up as AMD unveils its Nvidia Blackwell competitor Latest in Pro Dangerous new malware exploits Windows accessibility tools to hijack banking accounts This devious RFQ scam is letting hackers steal real-life goods European healthcare giant AMEOS reveals data breach - millions of users warned to be on their guard, here's what we know Transformation fatigue: the silent barrier to AI success I am an AI expert and here's what businesses should know about using popular AI chatbots for writing content OpenAI says it has proof its tools are making workers more productive Latest in News The DCU's most unlikely TV show is reportedly moving forward at HBO Max as Booster Gold finds its showrunner Prime Video’s The Summer I Turned Pretty season 3 episode 3 has just created the next viral meme of the summer This nifty iPhone case gives your old model a USB-C upgrade to free you from dongle headaches Proton reaffirms commitment to security in independent audit Hate Windows 11 and don't want to upgrade? 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