Input and output formats handled
The heart of the matter: what can you convert into to what else?
One key aspect of video encoding software is the range of formats it can handle, both input and output. Most of the programs score well in this area when reading from files, but only VLC and Handbrake offer easy reading from optical discs.
Shutter Encoder has a DVD Rip function, but it didn’t seem to do anything beyond throwing out a Java error.
Encoding options are a lot more varied. Most of these use FFmpeg for the actual processing and FFmpeg has a lot of options as well as several filters. It also means that they can support all of the input and output codecs that FFmpeg handles. The question with GUI programs that try to make transcoding more accessible to non-gurus is how much of this do you expose to the user?
Avidemux offers a choice of video and audio codecs as well as a number of container formats. Configuring output can be as simple as selecting a quality level or enabling the advanced options for detailed control. Filters for processing or resizing the video are also available. When you have a configuration that and you’re happy, you can save it for future use. Avidemux also has a limited number of preset output formats.
VLC offers a similar choice of output formats, but without the more advanced control options of Avidemux. This may be a good or bad thing, depending on your requirements.
Handbrake has a lot of conversion options, but it also comes with many output presets that set all the parameters for a particular type of conversion. There are presets for all sorts of media hardware as well as web and general desktop formats. If the list is not all you need, you can create your own presets, or tweak one of the existing ones.
For such a simple-looking program, Curlew has quite a few options in its advanced settings. Shutter Encoder allows a fair bit of configuration and has a reasonable number of preset output functions. It, and to an extent Avidemux, occupy the middle ground between the flexibility of Handbrake and the simplicity of VLC and Curlew. However, while all can adjust bit rate or quality, codecs used and so on, only Handbrake and Shutter Encoder enable you to select a different resolution for the resultant video.