HandBrake’s first major release of 2026 introduces professional ProRes and DNxHR encoders, MOV export support, and AV1 hardware encoding, strengthening the capabilities of the popular open-source video transcoder.
HandBrake has released version 1.11.0, marking the first major update of 2026 for the free and open-source video transcoder available across Linux, macOS, and Windows. The release introduces professional-grade video encoding capabilities, new container support, and platform improvements aimed at production workflows and archival use.
The headline addition is support for ProRes and DNxHR encoders, listed in the software as “Production ProRes” and “Production DNxHR.” Both include presets such as standard, high-quality, and proxy variants, with support for resolutions up to 4K. The new encoders can export directly to the MOV container, which is also newly supported in this release.
ProRes encoding in HandBrake is implemented using the ProRes encoder from FFmpeg’s libavcodec library. The release also updates several core components, including FFmpeg to v8.0.1, libdav1d to v1.5.3 for AV1 decoding, and SVT-AV1 to v4.0.1 for software-based AV1 encoding.
Hardware acceleration receives a boost with the addition of an AMD VCN AV1 10-bit encoder featuring a 4K preset. The encoder supports AMD 9000-series GPUs and newer, while 7000-series GPUs can also run it, though output dimensions may vary due to hardware limitations.
The update expands Preservation FFV1 presets, widely used in digitisation and archival workflows. Institutions such as the Library of Congress rely on the FFV1 lossless codec for preserving video collections. New FLAC and PCM audio preset variants provide additional storage options, and FFV1 can now be muxed into MP4 alongside the commonly used MKV format.
Linux users benefit from improved Flatpak integration, enabling transcoded files to open correctly with default applications such as VLC media player. Additional interface improvements include preview frame navigation buttons, enhanced file-size displays, a disk-space check fix, and the option to set the interface language independently of the system language.
On Windows, the release replaces .NET 8 with .NET Desktop Runtime 10.0.x, while macOS receives minor fixes, notification sounds for completed tasks, and improved queue file-name display.
HandBrake 1.11.0 is available from the project’s official website, its GitHub repository, and as a verified Flatpak package on Flathub.
