See the difference
Codec debates end faster with pixels and numbers on the same page. Every comparison here is a real encode you can drag a slider across, with the methodology stated and the pipeline in the open.
H.265 vs H.264 The most common upgrade question, answered at equal bitrate: what HEVC buys over AVC, and what it costs in playback reach. AV1 vs H.264 The same clip at the same bitrate, two codec generations apart. VMAF-scored. AV1 vs H.265 The two modern codecs head to head: the royalty-free one against the licensed one, same budget, same frames. VP9 vs H.264 The WebM codec against the MP4 baseline: how much VP9 saves, and why YouTube has shipped it for a decade. JPEG vs WebP vs AVIF vs JPEG XL Four image formats, one byte budget. Drag the slider; the metrics are underneath. AVIF vs WebP The two formats every browser now decodes, at the same byte budget: where AVIF pulls ahead and where WebP holds its own. JPEG XL vs AVIF The two next-generation image formats compared on the same bytes, with the browser-support reality stated plainly. What your browser decodes A live probe of the browser you are using right now: image formats, playback, WebCodecs.
Want to run the encoders yourself? The image lab encodes your own files live in your browser, and the encoder benchmark races every video codec your machine can encode.