HandBrake 1.9.0 Delivers ALAC and AV1 SCC Support

The latest release of HandBrake, version 1.9.0, delivers significant improvements for video and audio enthusiasts, making it one of the most feature-rich updates to date.

Among the highlights is the addition of the Apple Lossless Audio Codec (ALAC) encoder, providing users with a high-quality, lossless audio format for preserving sound without compression artifacts.

On the video front, the update includes support for Intel QSV’s hardware decoder for the VVC codec, a technology aimed at enhancing decoding performance for modern media formats.

Furthermore, the AV1 encoding ecosystem has received a boost with an option to enable Screen Content Coding (SCC) on Intel’s Lunar Lake QSV encoders, optimized for screen capture scenarios.

In a move that excites advanced users, the release introduces lossless encoding for the VP9 codec, allowing creators to maintain video quality without compression losses.

ARM device users aren’t left out either, as HandBrake now supports the AV1 Media Foundation encoder on these platforms, reflecting the software's growing versatility.

This release also resolves long-standing bugs, such as memory leaks in the x265 codec, and introduces Linux Flatpak improvements, solidifying HandBrake’s position as a leading tool for transcoding across platforms.