---
name: "libavcodec"
section: "3"
platform: "linux"
package: "ffmpeg"
version: "2:9.0.2-2"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://carta.tech/man/libavcodec"
---

# libavcodec(3)

media streams decoding and encoding library

## NAME

libavcodec - media streams decoding and encoding library

## DESCRIPTION

The libavcodec library provides a generic encoding/decoding framework and contains multiple decoders and encoders for audio, video and subtitle streams, and several bitstream filters.

The shared architecture provides various services ranging from bit stream I/O to DSP optimizations, and makes it suitable for implementing robust and fast codecs as well as for experimentation.

## SEE ALSO

[**ffmpeg**(1)](/man/ffmpeg/1.md), [**ffplay**(1)](/man/ffplay/1.md), [**ffprobe**(1)](/man/ffprobe/1.md), [**ffmpeg-codecs**(1)](/man/ffmpeg-codecs/1.md), [**ffmpeg-bitstream-filters**(1)](/man/ffmpeg-bitstream-filters/1.md), [**libavutil**(3)](/man/libavutil/3.md)

## AUTHORS

The FFmpeg developers.

For details about the authorship, see the Git history of the project (https://git.ffmpeg.org/ffmpeg), e.g. by typing the command **git log** in the FFmpeg source directory, or browsing the online repository at \<**https://git.ffmpeg.org/ffmpeg**\>.

Maintainers for the specific components are listed in the file *MAINTAINERS* in the source code tree.