-={ 2021-06-14 01:42:56.429351293+00:00 }=-
Hey Mike!
My video player of choice is vlc.
It does get around.  I am unsure how to get vlc to report what codecs it has available to it but have heard that H.265 is possible.  As of this writing I cannot say the same for mplayer which is what I am using here.
I think you have that last bit re:bloat backwards.
That is entirely possible.  I am just going by a conversion I did once using ffmpeg comparing H.264 with H.265 output.
The same size video file that will hold nearly 20 minutes when
H.265 is enabled will only hold 3 minutes of video if H.264 mode
is used.  That is why I am trying to use it.
I am guessing both were created by the camera.
For the record 'ffmpeg -codecs' reports this interesting line in it's output;
 DEV.L. hevc                 H.265 / HEVC (High Efficiency Video Coding) (decoders: hevc hevc_v4l2m2m ) (encoders: libx265 hevc_v4l2m2m )
I believe libx265 is used by vlc as well.
Life is good,
Maurice
... Jag har ekorrar i mina byxor!
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 * Origin: Little Mikey's Brain - Ladysmith BC, Canada (1:153/7001)