For a while I have been using a build of ffmpeg from 2019:
ffmpeg version N-94150-g231d0c819f Copyright (c) 2000-2019 the FFmpeg developers
built with gcc 9.1.1 (GCC) 20190621
configuration: --enable-gpl --enable-version3 --enable-sdl2 --enable-fontconfig --enable-gnutls --enable-iconv --enable-libass --enable-libdav1d --enable-libbluray --enable-libfreetype --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libopencore-amrnb --enable-libopencore-amrwb --enable-libopenjpeg --enable-libopus --enable-libshine --enable-libsnappy --enable-libsoxr --enable-libtheora --enable-libtwolame --enable-libvpx --enable-libwavpack --enable-libwebp --enable-libx264 --enable-libx265 --enable-libxml2 --enable-libzimg --enable-lzma --enable-zlib --enable-gmp --enable-libvidstab --enable-libvorbis --enable-libvo-amrwbenc --enable-libmysofa --enable-libspeex --enable-libxvid --enable-libaom --enable-libmfx --enable-amf --enable-ffnvcodec --enable-cuvid --enable-d3d11va --enable-nvenc --enable-nvdec --enable-dxva2 --enable-avisynth --enable-libopenmpt
libavutil 56. 30.100 / 56. 30.100
libavcodec 58. 53.101 / 58. 53.101
libavformat 58. 28.101 / 58. 28.101
libavdevice 58. 7.100 / 58. 7.100
libavfilter 7. 55.100 / 7. 55.100
libswscale 5. 4.101 / 5. 4.101
libswresample 3. 4.100 / 3. 4.100
libpostproc 55. 4.100 / 55. 4.100
I recently tried out this version:
ffmpeg version 2021-07-14-git-ca56299fb3-full_build-www.gyan.dev Copyright (c) 2000-2021 the FFmpeg developers
built with gcc 10.3.0 (Rev2, Built by MSYS2 project)
configuration: --enable-gpl --enable-version3 --enable-static --disable-w32threads --disable-autodetect --enable-fontconfig --enable-iconv --enable-gnutls --enable-libxml2 --enable-gmp --enable-lzma --enable-libsnappy --enable-zlib --enable-librist --enable-libsrt --enable-libssh --enable-libzmq --enable-avisynth --enable-libbluray --enable-libcaca --enable-sdl2 --enable-libdav1d --enable-libzvbi --enable-librav1e --enable-libsvtav1 --enable-libwebp --enable-libx264 --enable-libx265 --enable-libxvid --enable-libaom --enable-libopenjpeg --enable-libvpx --enable-libass --enable-frei0r --enable-libfreetype --enable-libfribidi --enable-libvidstab --enable-libvmaf --enable-libzimg --enable-amf --enable-cuda-llvm --enable-cuvid --enable-ffnvcodec --enable-nvdec --enable-nvenc --enable-d3d11va --enable-dxva2 --enable-libmfx --enable-libglslang --enable-vulkan --enable-opencl --enable-libcdio --enable-libgme --enable-libmodplug --enable-libopenmpt --enable-libopencore-amrwb --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libshine --enable-libtheora --enable-libtwolame --enable-libvo-amrwbenc --enable-libilbc --enable-libgsm --enable-libopencore-amrnb --enable-libopus --enable-libspeex --enable-libvorbis --enable-ladspa --enable-libbs2b --enable-libflite --enable-libmysofa --enable-librubberband --enable-libsoxr --enable-chromaprint
libavutil 57. 0.100 / 57. 0.100
libavcodec 59. 3.101 / 59. 3.101
libavformat 59. 4.100 / 59. 4.100
libavdevice 59. 0.100 / 59. 0.100
libavfilter 8. 0.103 / 8. 0.103
libswscale 6. 0.100 / 6. 0.100
libswresample 4. 0.100 / 4. 0.100
libpostproc 56. 0.100 / 56. 0.100
I decided to compare the output files I get when using each version of ffempg above:
ffmpeg -i inpath -y -c:v libx264 -x264-params "nal-hrd=cbr" -b:v 120M -minrate 120M -maxrate 120M -bufsize 2M -pix_fmt yuv420p out.mov
They look visually similar and are only a few bytes different in file size. However, the binaries are not identical and the compression isn't the same. For example, here is the pixelwise difference between the output .mov files from each version of ffmpeg using the same input file (with the brightness increased for visibility of the artifacts):
Looking at the difference in the header of the file binaries, I see this:
(this is not the only difference between the files, just in the header)
Apparently the older version is using "core 157" while the newer version is using "core 164." I can't find any information about these when I search them online. What is difference between these two codecs? Why aren't the artifacts identical given the input file and the settings are the same?
stringsormediainfoto extract the x264 version/config-options string. As for pixel differences, the default is--deterministicso different runs of the same version should be the same (not dependent on thread scheduling). But across different versions, the encoding choices it makes could differ due to a different order of looking at frames or something. Your binary diff shows no difference in config options for the default "medium" preset you were using ('slow' changed somewhat recently from me=umh to trellis=2 as the thing that's different from 'medium'.)