diff --git a/lib/ffmpeg.rb b/lib/ffmpeg.rb
index d3baeef..eded024 100644
--- a/lib/ffmpeg.rb
+++ b/lib/ffmpeg.rb
@@ -3,6 +3,9 @@
 $LOAD_PATH.unshift File.dirname(__FILE__)
 
 require 'logger'
+require 'net/http'
+require 'open3'
+require 'uri'
 
 require_relative 'ffmpeg/version'
 require_relative 'ffmpeg/encoding_options'
@@ -11,7 +14,15 @@
 require_relative 'ffmpeg/media'
 require_relative 'ffmpeg/stream'
 require_relative 'ffmpeg/transcoder'
-require_relative 'ffmpeg/utils'
+
+if RUBY_PLATFORM =~ /(win|w)(32|64)$/
+  begin
+    require 'win32/process'
+  rescue LoadError
+    'Warning: ffmpeg is missing the win32-process gem to properly handle hung transcodings. ' \
+    'Install the gem (in Gemfile if using bundler) to avoid errors.'
+  end
+end
 
 # The FFMPEG module allows you to customise the behaviour of the FFMPEG library.
 #
@@ -20,6 +31,8 @@
 #   FFMPEG.ffprobe_binary = '/usr/local/bin/ffprobe'
 #   FFMPEG.logger = Logger.new(STDOUT)
 module FFMPEG
+  SIGKILL = RUBY_PLATFORM =~ /(win|w)(32|64)$/ ? 1 : 'SIGKILL'
+
   # FFMPEG logs information about its progress when it's transcoding.
   # Jack in your own logger through this method if you wish to.
   #
@@ -60,6 +73,30 @@ def self.ffmpeg_binary
     @ffmpeg_binary || which('ffmpeg')
   end
 
+  # Safely captures the standard output and the standard error of the ffmpeg command.
+  #
+  # @return [[String, String, Process::Status]] the standard output, the standard error, and the process status
+  # @raise [Errno::ENOENT] if the ffmpeg binary cannot be found
+  def self.ffmpeg_capture3(*args)
+    stdout, stderr, status = Open3.capture3(ffmpeg_binary, *args)
+    FFMPEG::IO.force_encoding(stdout)
+    FFMPEG::IO.force_encoding(stderr)
+    [stdout, stderr, status]
+  end
+
+  # Starts a new ffmpeg process with the given arguments.
+  # Yields the the standard input (#<FFMPEG::IO>), the standard output (#<FFMPEG::IO>)
+  # and the standard error (#<FFMPEG::IO>) streams, as well as the child process Thread
+  # to the specified block.
+  #
+  # @return [void]
+  # @raise [Errno::ENOENT] if the ffmpeg binary cannot be found
+  def self.ffmpeg_popen3(*args, &block)
+    Open3.popen3(ffmpeg_binary, *args) do |stdin, stdout, stderr, wait_thr|
+      block.call(stdin, FFMPEG::IO.new(stdout), FFMPEG::IO.new(stderr), wait_thr)
+    end
+  end
+
   # Get the path to the ffprobe binary, defaulting to what is on ENV['PATH']
   #
   # @return [String] the path to the ffprobe binary
@@ -82,6 +119,30 @@ def self.ffprobe_binary=(bin)
     @ffprobe_binary = bin
   end
 
+  # Safely captures the standard output and the standard error of the ffmpeg command.
+  #
+  # @return [[String, String, Process::Status]] the standard output, the standard error, and the process status
+  # @raise [Errno::ENOENT] if the ffprobe binary cannot be found
+  def self.ffprobe_capture3(*args)
+    stdout, stderr, status = Open3.capture3(ffprobe_binary, *args)
+    FFMPEG::IO.force_encoding(stdout)
+    FFMPEG::IO.force_encoding(stderr)
+    [stdout, stderr, status]
+  end
+
+  # Starts a new ffprobe process with the given arguments.
+  # Yields the the standard input (#<FFMPEG::IO>), the standard output (#<FFMPEG::IO>)
+  # and the standard error (#<FFMPEG::IO>) streams, as well as the child process Thread
+  # to the specified block.
+  #
+  # @return [void]
+  # @raise [Errno::ENOENT] if the ffprobe binary cannot be found
+  def self.ffprobe_popen3(*args, &block)
+    Open3.popen3(ffprobe_binary, *args) do |stdin, stdout, stderr, wait_thr|
+      block.call(stdin, FFMPEG::IO.new(stdout), FFMPEG::IO.new(stderr), wait_thr)
+    end
+  end
+
   # Get the maximum number of http redirect attempts
   #
   # @return [Integer] the maximum number of retries
@@ -101,6 +162,33 @@ def self.max_http_redirect_attempts=(value)
     @max_http_redirect_attempts = value
   end
 
+  # Sends a HEAD request to a remote URL.
+  # Follows redirects up to the maximum number of attempts.
+  #
+  # @return [Net::HTTPResponse, nil] the response object
+  # @raise [FFMPEG::HTTPTooManyRedirects] if the maximum number of redirects is exceeded
+  def self.fetch_http_head(url, max_redirect_attempts = max_http_redirect_attempts)
+    uri = URI(url)
+    return unless uri.path
+
+    conn = Net::HTTP.new(uri.host, uri.port)
+    conn.use_ssl = uri.port == 443
+    response = conn.request_head(uri.request_uri)
+
+    case response
+    when Net::HTTPRedirection
+      raise HTTPTooManyRedirects if max_redirect_attempts.zero?
+
+      redirect_uri = uri + URI(response.header['Location'])
+
+      fetch_http_head(redirect_uri, max_redirect_attempts - 1)
+    else
+      response
+    end
+  rescue SocketError, Errno::ECONNREFUSED
+    nil
+  end
+
   # Cross-platform way of finding an executable in the $PATH.
   #
   #   which('ruby') #=> /usr/bin/ruby
diff --git a/lib/ffmpeg/io.rb b/lib/ffmpeg/io.rb
index 9433e4a..9fea0ff 100644
--- a/lib/ffmpeg/io.rb
+++ b/lib/ffmpeg/io.rb
@@ -3,39 +3,65 @@
 require 'English'
 require 'timeout'
 
-if RUBY_PLATFORM =~ /(win|w)(32|64)$/
-  begin
-    require 'win32/process'
-  rescue LoadError
-    'Warning: ffmpeg is missing the win32-process gem to properly handle hung transcodings. ' \
-    'Install the gem (in Gemfile if using bundler) to avoid errors.'
-  end
-end
+module FFMPEG
+  # The IO class is a simple wrapper around IO objects that adds a timeout
+  # to all read operations and fixes encoding issues.
+  class IO
+    attr_accessor :timeout
+
+    def self.force_encoding(chunk)
+      chunk[/test/]
+    rescue ArgumentError
+      chunk.force_encoding('ISO-8859-1')
+    end
 
-# Monkey Patch timeout support into the IO class...
-class IO
-  def each_with_timeout(pid, seconds, separator = $INPUT_RECORD_SEPARATOR)
-    last_tick = Time.now
-    current_thr = Thread.current
-    timeout_thr = Thread.new do
-      loop do
-        sleep 0.1
-        current_thr.raise Timeout::Error.new('output wait time expired') if last_tick - Time.now < -seconds
+    def initialize(target)
+      @target = target
+    end
+
+    %i[
+      getc
+      gets
+      readchar
+      readline
+    ].each do |symbol|
+      define_method(symbol) do |*args|
+        Timeout.timeout(timeout) do
+          output = @target.send(symbol, *args)
+          self.class.force_encoding(output)
+          output
+        end
       end
     end
 
-    each(separator) do |buffer|
-      last_tick = Time.now
-      yield buffer
+    %i[
+      each
+      each_char
+      each_line
+    ].each do |symbol|
+      read = symbol == :each_char ? :getc : :gets
+      define_method(symbol) do |*args, &block|
+        until eof?
+          output = send(read, *args)
+          block.call(output)
+        end
+      end
     end
-  rescue Timeout::Error
-    if RUBY_PLATFORM =~ /(win|w)(32|64)$/
-      Process.kill(1, pid)
-    else
-      Process.kill('SIGKILL', pid)
+
+    def readlines(*args)
+      lines = []
+      lines << gets(*args) until eof?
+      lines
+    end
+
+    private
+
+    def respond_to_missing?(symbol, include_private = false)
+      @target.respond_to?(symbol, include_private)
+    end
+
+    def method_missing(symbol, *args)
+      @target.send(symbol, *args)
     end
-    raise
-  ensure
-    timeout_thr.kill
   end
 end
diff --git a/lib/ffmpeg/media.rb b/lib/ffmpeg/media.rb
index d0b32c7..34d043d 100644
--- a/lib/ffmpeg/media.rb
+++ b/lib/ffmpeg/media.rb
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 
 require 'multi_json'
 require 'net/http'
+require 'uri'
 
 module FFMPEG
   # The Media class represents a multimedia file and provides methods
@@ -18,7 +19,7 @@ def initialize(path)
 
       # Check if the file exists and get its size
       if remote?
-        response = Utils.fetch_http_head(path)
+        response = FFMPEG.fetch_http_head(path)
 
         unless response.is_a?(Net::HTTPSuccess)
           raise Errno::ENOENT, "the URL '#{path}' does not exist or is not available (response code: #{response.code})"
@@ -32,11 +33,10 @@ def initialize(path)
       end
 
       # Run ffprobe to get the streams and format
-      command = [FFMPEG.ffprobe_binary, '-i', path,
-                 '-print_format', 'json', '-show_format', '-show_streams', '-show_error']
-      stdout, stderr, _status = Open3.capture3(*command)
-      Utils.force_iso8859(stdout)
-      Utils.force_iso8859(stderr)
+      stdout, stderr, _status = FFMPEG.ffprobe_capture3(
+        '-i', path, '-print_format', 'json',
+        '-show_format', '-show_streams', '-show_error'
+      )
 
       # Parse ffprobe metadata
       begin
diff --git a/lib/ffmpeg/transcoder.rb b/lib/ffmpeg/transcoder.rb
index d5c1422..e02528c 100644
--- a/lib/ffmpeg/transcoder.rb
+++ b/lib/ffmpeg/transcoder.rb
@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
 # frozen_string_literal: true
 
-require 'open3'
+require 'timeout'
 
 module FFMPEG
   # The Transcoder class is responsible for transcoding multimedia files.
   # It accepts a Media object or a path to a multimedia file as input.
   class Transcoder
-    attr_reader :command, :output, :errors, :input_path, :output_path
+    attr_reader :args, :output, :errors, :input_path, :output_path
 
     @timeout = 30
 
@@ -53,7 +53,11 @@ def initialize(
       prepare_resolution
       prepare_screenshot
 
-      @command = [FFMPEG.ffmpeg_binary, '-y', *@input_options, '-i', @input_path, *@options.to_a, @output_path]
+      @args = ['-y', *@input_options, '-i', @input_path, *@options.to_a, @output_path]
+    end
+
+    def command
+      [FFMPEG.ffmpeg_binary, *@args]
     end
 
     def run(&block)
@@ -139,44 +143,36 @@ def validate_output_file
       end
     end
 
-    # frame= 4855 fps= 46 q=31.0 size=   45306kB time=00:02:42.28 bitrate=2287.0kbits/
     def execute
       FFMPEG.logger.info("Running transcoding...\n#{@command}\n")
 
       @output = String.new
 
-      Open3.popen3(*@command) do |_stdin, _stdout, stderr, wait_thr|
+      FFMPEG.ffmpeg_popen3(*@args) do |_stdin, stdout, stderr, wait_thr|
         yield(0.0) if block_given?
 
-        handler = proc do |line|
-          Utils.force_iso8859(line)
+        if timeout
+          stdout.timeout = timeout
+          stderr.timeout = timeout
+        end
+
+        stderr.each do |line|
           @output << line
 
-          if line.include?('time=')
-            time = if line =~ /time=(\d+):(\d+):(\d+.\d+)/ # ffmpeg 0.8 and above style
-                     (Regexp.last_match(1).to_i * 3600) +
-                       (Regexp.last_match(2).to_i * 60) +
-                       Regexp.last_match(3).to_f
-                   else # better make sure it wont blow up in case of unexpected output
-                     0.0
-                   end
-
-            if @media
-              progress = time / @media.duration
-              yield(progress) if block_given?
-            end
-          end
-        end
+          next unless @media
+          next unless block_given?
+          next unless line =~ /time=(\d+):(\d+):(\d+.\d+)/ # time=00:02:42.28
 
-        if timeout
-          stderr.each_with_timeout(wait_thr.pid, timeout, 'size=', &handler)
-        else
-          stderr.each('size=', &handler)
+          time = (::Regexp.last_match(1).to_i * 3600) +
+                 (::Regexp.last_match(2).to_i * 60) +
+                 ::Regexp.last_match(3).to_f
+          yield(time / @media.duration)
         end
 
         @errors << 'ffmpeg returned non-zero exit code' unless wait_thr.value.success?
       rescue Timeout::Error
-        FFMPEG.logger.error "Process hung...\n@command\n#{@command}\nOutput\n#{@output}\n"
+        Process.kill(FFMPEG::SIGKILL, wait_thr.pid)
+        FFMPEG.logger.error "Process hung...\n#{@command}\nOutput\n#{@output}\n"
         raise Error, "Process hung. Full output: #{@output}"
       end
     end
diff --git a/lib/ffmpeg/utils.rb b/lib/ffmpeg/utils.rb
deleted file mode 100644
index b8ce361..0000000
--- a/lib/ffmpeg/utils.rb
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,37 +0,0 @@
-# frozen_string_literal: true
-
-require 'net/http'
-require 'uri'
-
-module FFMPEG
-  # Utility methods
-  class Utils
-    def self.force_iso8859(output)
-      output[/test/]
-    rescue ArgumentError
-      output.force_encoding('ISO-8859-1')
-    end
-
-    def self.fetch_http_head(url, max_redirect_attempts = FFMPEG.max_http_redirect_attempts)
-      uri = URI(url)
-      return unless uri.path
-
-      conn = Net::HTTP.new(uri.host, uri.port)
-      conn.use_ssl = uri.port == 443
-      response = conn.request_head(uri.request_uri)
-
-      case response
-      when Net::HTTPRedirection
-        raise FFMPEG::HTTPTooManyRedirects if max_redirect_attempts.zero?
-
-        redirect_uri = uri + URI(response.header['Location'])
-
-        fetch_http_head(redirect_uri, max_redirect_attempts - 1)
-      else
-        response
-      end
-    rescue SocketError, Errno::ECONNREFUSED
-      nil
-    end
-  end
-end
diff --git a/lib/ffmpeg/version.rb b/lib/ffmpeg/version.rb
index 8b1d3cb..490e822 100644
--- a/lib/ffmpeg/version.rb
+++ b/lib/ffmpeg/version.rb
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 # frozen_string_literal: true
 
 module FFMPEG
-  VERSION = '4.0.0'
+  VERSION = '4.1.0'
 end
diff --git a/spec/ffmpeg/transcoder_spec.rb b/spec/ffmpeg/transcoder_spec.rb
index 606a095..5be6ccf 100644
--- a/spec/ffmpeg/transcoder_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/ffmpeg/transcoder_spec.rb
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ module FFMPEG
         let(:output_ext) { 'mpg' }
         let(:options) { { target: 'ntsc-vcd' } }
 
-        before { Transcoder.timeout = false }
+        before { Transcoder.timeout = nil }
         after { Transcoder.timeout = 30 }
 
         it 'should still work with NTSC target' do
@@ -141,7 +141,7 @@ module FFMPEG
         context 'when ffmpeg freezes' do
           before do
             Transcoder.timeout = 1
-            FFMPEG.ffmpeg_binary = "#{fixture_path}/bin/ffmpeg-audio-only"
+            FFMPEG.ffmpeg_binary = "#{fixture_path}/bin/ffmpeg-audio-hanging"
           end
 
           after do
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@ module FFMPEG
           end
 
           it 'should fail when the timeout is exceeded' do
-            expect { subject.run }.to raise_error(FFMPEG::Error, /Errors: no output file created/)
+            expect { subject.run }.to raise_error(FFMPEG::Error, /Process hung/)
           end
         end
       end
diff --git a/spec/fixtures/bin/ffmpeg-audio-only b/spec/fixtures/bin/ffmpeg-audio-hanging
similarity index 96%
rename from spec/fixtures/bin/ffmpeg-audio-only
rename to spec/fixtures/bin/ffmpeg-audio-hanging
index 5d38e58..7469fa9 100755
--- a/spec/fixtures/bin/ffmpeg-audio-only
+++ b/spec/fixtures/bin/ffmpeg-audio-hanging
@@ -54,10 +54,8 @@ if ARGV.length > 2 # looks like we're trying to transcode
     Stream #0:1 -> #0:0 (aac -> libmp3lame)
   Press [q] to stop, [?] for help
   OUTPUT
-  3.times do
-    $stderr.write "size=   51953kB time=02:27:46.48 bitrate=  48.0kbits/s\r"
-    sleep 0.5
-  end
+  $stderr.write "size=   51953kB time=02:27:46.48 bitrate=  48.0kbits/s\r"
+  loop { sleep 1 }
 else
   warn 'At least one output file must be specified'
 end
diff --git a/spec/fixtures/bin/ffmpeg-hanging b/spec/fixtures/bin/ffmpeg-hanging
index 2aac1ce..8695ba7 100755
--- a/spec/fixtures/bin/ffmpeg-hanging
+++ b/spec/fixtures/bin/ffmpeg-hanging
@@ -38,8 +38,8 @@ if ARGV.length > 2 # looks like we're trying to transcode
     Stream #0:1 -> #0:1 (aac -> libfaac)
   Press [q] to stop, [?] for help
   OUTPUT
-  warn 'frame=   72 fps=0.0 q=32766.0 Lsize=     115kB time=00:00:07.00 bitrate= 134.6kbits/s'
-  loop { sleep 1 } # omg hang!
+  $stderr.write 'frame=   72 fps=0.0 q=32766.0 Lsize=     115kB time=00:00:07.00 bitrate= 134.6kbits/s'
+  loop { sleep 1 }
 else
   warn 'At least one output file must be specified'
 end