Hardware Acceleration

Recorded uses your computer’s hardware video encoder whenever it can, for both recording and export. There is nothing to configure — encoder selection is automatic, and Recorded falls back to software encoding when no compatible hardware encoder is available.

All video Recorded produces is H.264.

During Export

When you export an MP4 (or a GIF, which is rendered to an intermediate video first), Recorded renders each frame of your edited video and encodes it to H.264:

  1. Recorded checks whether a hardware H.264 encoder supports the output resolution and frame rate.
  2. If one does, it is used. If not, Recorded automatically uses a software H.264 encoder instead.
  3. Audio is mixed and the final MP4 is written.

macOS

  • Encoding uses Apple VideoToolbox, the hardware media engine built into Apple Silicon chips.
  • The final MP4 file is also written with VideoToolbox.

Windows

  • Encoding uses your GPU’s hardware H.264 encoder (NVIDIA, AMD, or Intel graphics) when the graphics driver provides one, and software encoding otherwise.
  • The encoded video stream is packaged into the final MP4 without being re-encoded, which keeps the last step fast.

Optimize File Size

If you enable Optimize File Size in the export dialog, Recorded creates an extra compressed copy with the platform’s hardware encoder — Apple VideoToolbox on macOS or Windows Media Foundation on Windows.

During Recording

Your screen is encoded to H.264 in real time while you record:

  • macOS: Apple VideoToolbox.
  • Windows: Recorded tests the available hardware encoders with a tiny test encode and uses the first one that works, in this order:
    1. NVIDIA NVENC (NVIDIA GeForce, Quadro, and RTX GPUs)
    2. Intel Quick Sync Video (Intel integrated graphics)
    3. AMD AMF (AMD Radeon GPUs)
    4. OpenH264 — a software encoder used when no hardware encoder is available or working

Troubleshooting

Export Is Slow

If exporting is much slower than expected, hardware encoding may not be available:

  • Update your GPU drivers (Windows) — outdated drivers are the most common reason a hardware encoder fails to initialize. Download the latest drivers from NVIDIA, AMD, or Intel.
  • Lower the resolution — 4K, Original, and Retina exports take noticeably longer than 1080p, and some hardware encoders don’t support very large frames, which forces the slower software path.
  • Close GPU-intensive applications — games, 3D tools, and other video apps compete for the same encoder and GPU.

Export Fails

  • Try exporting at a lower resolution (for example, 1080p instead of 4K).
  • Check that you have enough free disk space and memory.
  • If the problem continues, contact support from Settings > Contact Us and describe your GPU and the export settings you used.