The Tool Desk
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What’s new in GStreamer 1.26?
The GStreamer project describes 1.26 as a major feature release in its stable 1.x API series. Its highlighted changes include codec support across parsing and container handling, new video-processing paths, and expanded caption tools. The detailed feature and maintenance notes are available in the official GStreamer 1.26 release notes.
Does GStreamer 1.26 support H.266/VVC?
Yes. GStreamer 1.26 adds support for H.266, also known as Versatile Video Coding (VVC), the successor to H.265/HEVC standardized as ISO/IEC 23090-3. The support spans codec parsing and container handling, with several possible decoder paths; it does not mean every GStreamer installation can decode H.266, particularly in hardware.
Parsing, APIs, and containers
The release adds the h266parse element, parsing API, typefinding, codec utility functions in gst-plugins-base, and a hardware decoder base class. It also adds H.266 muxing and demuxing support for MP4, Matroska, and MPEG-TS.
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Decoder options depend on the build and system
Release notes identify a VA-API hardware-accelerated decoder, an FFmpeg decoder when built with FFmpeg 7.0 or later, and a VVdeC-based decoder element in the Rust plugins. These are different implementation paths, not a guarantee that all are installed or usable on a particular machine. In particular, GStreamer says VA element availability depends on the platform and driver.
How does GStreamer handle LCEVC?
Low Complexity Enhancement Video Coding (LCEVC), standardized as MPEG-5 Part 2, adds an enhancement layer on top of a base codec; H.264 is one example. GStreamer 1.26 adds encoder and decoder elements based on V-Nova SDK libraries. The release also extends h264parse to extract an LCEVC enhancement layer from H.264 so it can be decoded through lcevch264decodebin. A pipeline therefore needs the relevant LCEVC elements and a compatible base-codec path; the release notes do not imply that LCEVC is available in every build.
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Can I extract captions without decoding the video?
GStreamer 1.26 adds closed-caption extractors and inserters for H.264 and H.265. The extractors address a timing issue in streams with B-frames: caption data associated with coded frames may not arrive in presentation order. Using caption metadata supplied by the parser, the elements reorder frames to extract captions in presentation order without decoding the video itself.
Caption elements and conversion
The release highlights the H.264/H.265 extractors and inserters, cea708overlay, and cea708mux. It also adds tttocea708, which converts timed text to CEA-708, and a schedule-timeout option for timing out captions when no end-of-stream (EOS) event arrives. The notes also cite other improvements and specification-compliance fixes.
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Is GStreamer 1.26 still supported?
The official release notes state that the GStreamer 1.26 stable series has been superseded by the 1.28 stable series. They list 1.26.11, released on 10 March 2026, as the latest 1.26 bug-fix release and say it includes security and bug fixes, recommending an update at the earliest opportunity. Highlighted fixes include security fixes in JPEG, H.265, and H.266 parsers and several demuxers, as well as stability improvements. That is the status reported in those 1.26 notes; it should not be read as a recommendation that 1.26.11 is the right version for every deployment. Check the project’s current guidance before selecting or maintaining a branch.
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