Avid DNxHD
avid codec DNxHD
Avid DNxHD ("Digital Nonlinear Extensible High Definition") was a lossy high-definition video post-production codec developed by Avid for multi-generation compositing with reduced storage and bandwidth requirements, incorporating the initial version of the SMPTE VC-3 standard . The latest version (2026) of this standard is now incorporated by the Avid DNxHR codec, which completely contains Avid DNxHD.
Overview
DNxHD is a video codec intended to be usable as both an intermediate format suitable for use while editing and as a presentation format. DNxHD data is typically stored in an MXF container, although it can also be stored in a QuickTime container.
On February 13, 2008, Avid reported that DNxHD was approved as compliant with the SMPTE VC-3 standard.
DNxHD is intended to be an open standard, but as of March 2008, has remained effectively a proprietary Avid format. The source code for the Avid DNxHD codec is freely available from Avid for internal evaluation and review, although commercial use requires Avid licensing approval. It has been commercially licensed to a number of companies including Ikegami, FilmLight, Harris Corporation, JVC, Seachange, EVS Broadcast Equipment.
On September 14, 2014, at the Avid Connect event in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Avid announced the DNxHR codec to support resolutions greater than 1080p, such as 2K and 4K.
On December 22, 2014, Avid Technology released an update for Media Composer that added support for 4K resolution, the Rec. 2020 color space, and a bit rate of up to 3,730 Mbit/s with the DNxHR codec.
Implementations
DNxHD was first supported in Avid DS Nitris (Sept 2004), then Avid Media Composer Adrenaline with the DNxcel option (Dec 2004) and finally by Avid Symphony Nitris (Dec 2005).
“Avid DNxHD” enters the record as avid codec DNxHD. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Avid, DNxHD and avid can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 30, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1154709. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2026, 2008, 2014 and 2020.
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This entry incorporates text from “Avid DNxHD” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.