Picture

These settings are on the Video page. Leave them at the starting values until a recording gives you a reason to change them.

NitroWarp Video page. H.264 in an MP4, quality 90, system audio on, and the microphone off.

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Setting	Starts at	What it means
Codec	H.264 (AVC)	How the picture is compressed.
Container	MP4	The kind of file that holds the picture and the sound.
Frame rate	60	How many pictures are saved each second.
Quality	90	How hard the picture is squeezed. Higher keeps more detail and makes a larger file.

Hardware encoding

For H.264, NitroWarp tries the graphics card before it uses the CPU. The order is NVIDIA, then AMD, then Intel. If those cannot encode, the CPU does it. You do not pick the card yourself. The Metrics page can show how busy the encode engine was.

Codec

A codec is the method that turns the raw screen into a smaller file. It is separate from the container. The container is only the wrapper.

H.264 (AVC) is the one to keep. It is fast, especially on a graphics card, the files are a practical size, and they play on phones, editors, browsers, and YouTube. This is the right choice for tutorials, gameplay, and anything you will share.

H.265 is not in the list. It often needs an extra decoder license. H.264 plays in the same places without that.

AV1 makes smaller files than H.264 at a similar picture. Encoding can work the CPU harder unless the graphics card supports it. Use it for long archives when file size matters more than encoding speed.
VP9 is smaller than H.264 and usually easier on the CPU than AV1. Use it with WebM when the video is meant for a web page.
VP8 is the older version of VP9. Use it only when an older tool asks for it.
MPEG-4 Visual is the older DivX and Xvid era. Use it only for a very old program. Prefer H.264 for a new recording.
Motion JPEG stores every frame as its own JPEG. Editing a single frame is easy, and the files are much larger. Use it as a working copy, not as the file you upload.
WMV is an older Windows format. Use it only when an older Windows tool requires it.

Container

A container holds the compressed picture, the sound, and the timestamps. People often call this the format. MP4 is the one to keep.

MP4 plays almost everywhere: phones, browsers, YouTube, editors, and email. Pair it with H.264.
MOV is the QuickTime wrapper. It is the right file when the next step is a Mac editor such as Final Cut. Other computers usually need a player such as VLC.
MKV can hold almost any codec, extra audio tracks, and chapters. A file that was interrupted is often still playable. Use it for a long session or an archive, then make an MP4 when you want to share it.
WebM is the web wrapper. Pair it with VP8, VP9, or AV1, and with Opus audio. It is a poor choice when the file has to play on every phone and every social site.
AVI is a 1990s wrapper. Use it only for very old Windows software.

Start with MP4 and H.264. Use MKV when you want the extra safety on a long take, MOV for Apple editing, and WebM when the video is only for the web.

Frame rate

Frame rate is how many pictures are captured each second. A higher number is smoother and makes a larger file. NitroWarp starts at 60 so the cursor, scrolling, and games look fluid.

24, 25, 30 are enough for a tutorial, a demo, or a slide. 30 is the useful step down when you want a smaller file and a lighter load.
48, 50, 60 are for motion. 60 is the starting value and the right one for most recordings.
90, 120, 144, 165, 240 match fast monitors. Use one of these only when that motion has to be in the file. Most people watching a normal video will not see a benefit past 60.
360, 480, 600, 720 are there for tests. The desktop usually cannot produce that many new pictures, so the file repeats frames and grows large.

If the screen barely moves, 30 is enough. If the mouse or a game moves quickly, stay at 60.

Quality

Quality runs from 10 to 100, in steps of 10. A higher number keeps more detail and makes a larger file. A lower number squeezes harder. Small text can go soft.

NitroWarp starts at 90 so text and color stay close to the screen. That is the right default. Use 70 or 80 when the files are larger than you want and the picture still looks clear. 100 is the ceiling, for a master you will edit. Below 50, the picture is visibly softer. Use that only when the file must be very small.

Screen pictures of text compress well, so 100 is often unnecessary. Record a short sample at 90, watch it, and drop toward 70 only if you need the space.

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