Eighth Annual MSU MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 Video Codec Comparison, 2012.
Seventh Annual MSU MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 Video Codec Comparison, 2011.
Sixth Annual MSU MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 Video Codec Comparison, 2010.
Fifth Annual MSU MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 Video Codec Comparison, 2009.
Fourth Annual MSU MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 Video Codec Comparison, 2007.
Third Annual MSU MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 Video Codec Comparison, 2006.
X264 has won awards in the following codec comparisons:
Macroblock-tree rate control, which controls the quality by tracking how often parts of the frame are used for predicting future frames.
The complexity is measured using a combination of sum-of-squares optimization (SSD) and sum of absolute transformed differences (SATD).
Psychovisual rate–distortion optimization which attempts to maintain a similar complexity.
The second mode, a later addition, adapts the strength per frame in an attempt to improve the quality.
Adaptive quantisation in two modes using VAQ.
X264 contains some psychovisual enhancements which aim to increase the subjective video quality of the encoded video. Further information: H.264/MPEG-4 AVC § Software encoders