Which media standards and formats does GPAC support?

Updated

GPAC is an open-source "ultramedia" infrastructure project distributed at gpac.io. Its documented release notes show support for streaming standards, encryption schemes, container formats, and a filter-based processing pipeline. The clearest evidence comes from the GPAC 26.07 release changelog, which lists work across MPEG-DASH, HLS, encryption, and filters. If you need a tool that handles DASH/HLS packaging, MP4 and IAMF muxing/demuxing, and configurable media filters, GPAC is designed for that scope.

Streaming standards: MPEG-DASH and HLS

GPAC's changelog groups its streaming work under "MPEG-DASH & HLS," covering both packaging and client behavior:

  • Discontinuities — improved support in the packager and client.
  • sfrag tolerance — generates segments with a fixed number of fragments but variable-duration fragments.
  • dashif.ingest profile — added for DASH-IF Live Ingest.
  • SCTE35 and MPD events — inband and out-of-band events, plus HLS support (documented in the project wiki).
  • DASH-L3D and LL-HLS — improved support.
  • Timeshift buffer cleanup — supported in manifests for multi-period cases.

These items indicate GPAC works with DASH manifest events, low-latency HLS, and live ingest profiles rather than only basic file packaging.

Encryption

The 26.07 release notes list two encryption-related additions:

  • EVP support in encryption for hardware AES — relevant if you need hardware-accelerated AES.
  • AV1 scalable ID filtering — temporal and/or spatial.

The changelog also notes an option to switch Periods when a new encryption key is encountered, which matters for multi-period DASH content with key rotation.

Filters

GPAC's processing model is filter-based. Documented filter changes include:

Filter / area Change
reframer and dasher Discontinuity detection
mediaserver Improved MABR repair option
SourceID matching Now possible by prefix
Period switching Option added when a new encryption key is encountered
mp4dmx Allow DREF URL override
flist Accept empty initial playlist
Source loading Can use custom source filters other than JS
GHI demuxer Improved for manifest regeneration
ffavf Can be used as a source
mp4mx Tolerance for sfrag mode to align to SAP frames

Containers and muxing/demuxing

  • Raw IAMF — mux to and demux from MP4.
  • MP4Box — added an option for automatic track reordering.
  • GF_Blob and gfio from mem — test modes in the GPAC CLI; gfio from mem was refined to allow multiple concurrent users, which some demuxers need.

Other infrastructure notes

  • Remote monitoring web app now supports inspecting from logs (start recording with -rmt -rmt-log).
  • Light formatting syntax added to filter status.
  • Switch to QJS 26-06.
  • More configuration options for H2 and H3, with improved QUIC support.
  • Many bug fixes and security patches.

How to decide

If your work involves DASH/HLS packaging with SCTE35 or MPD events, low-latency HLS, hardware AES encryption, or MP4/IAMF conversion through a filter pipeline, the documented feature set covers those areas. Installers for common platforms are available on gpac.io, and the project publishes a full changelog with each release for verifying specific capabilities before you commit to a workflow.