Speak of the Handbrake: Version 0.9.4 Released
Two weeks ago I wrote about Handbrake, my favorite cross-platform, open source video conversion application. At the time it had been nearly a year since any updates had been released and I noted how it was “disconcerting” that no update was in sight. Now I feel kind of silly.
Today, exactly one year since the 0.9.3 release, Handbrake was updated to 0.9.4. With this update come a whole slew of changes, both good and, well not bad, but not-so-good.
The most important change is a faster, higher quality conversion engine that outputs files in an optimal size. What’s not to like about that? I personally dislike when a video takes longer to convert than it does to watch, so any improvements in this field are welcome. New features such as soft subtitles (you can now actually turn subtitles on or off when you watch a video if this is enabled) and live preview are also handy for first-time users. Some codecs were dropped in this release due to antiquity, which is understandable but I still wish there was still the option available for whatever crazy video device I might need them for.
Some of my original gripes were also addressed: a new engine allows Handbrake to read more DVDs (which I can only assume means it helps for converting DVDs with newer copyright crap protection) and a better, more refined interface. But my largest gripe is still there: no DVD encoding, so I can’t create a DVD, just rip it.
Overall this release looks like a huge improvement for the software. You can download it from the Handbrake website; let’s just hope it doesn’t take another year for the next version to come out.
