How to know which ffmpeg encoders are hardware accelerated?

Question

On any given build of ffmpeg, ffmpeg -encoders will list which encoders can be used for encoding video.

Of the encoders listed, how can I tell which ones use hardware acceleration?

Answer 1

You can tell by the name.

If the encoder or decoder includes _qsv, then it's Intel Quick Sync.

If it contains nvenc or cuda, it's Nvidia

If it includes amf it's AMD AMF

For example, x264_qsv encodes H264 using Intel Quick Sync

(if all of the proper software is installed. Determining that is something that belongs in a different topic, and has probably already been answered).