Every day, millions of videos are recorded using webcams, USB cameras, DSLR cameras, action cameras, IP cameras, smartphones, and professional video equipment. Whether you're creating YouTube videos, hosting webinars, recording online meetings, streaming games, producing online courses, or capturing security footage, one technology works silently behind every video: The video codec. A video codec determines: Video quality File size CPU usage GPU usage Recording performance Streaming bandwidth Playback compatibility Without modern codecs, recording a one-hour Full HD video could require hundreds of gigabytes of storage. Streaming 4K video over the internet would be nearly impossible for most users. Fortunately, modern codecs such as H.264 (AVC) , H.265 (HEVC) , and AV1 have transformed digital video by dramatically reducing file sizes while preserving impressive image quality. Today's webcam recording software increasingly supports multiple codecs, allowing...