MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 video codecs list

DmitriyV2 · 16th June 2005, 20:20

We publish 3-rd h.264 codecs comparison test.
Also we collect information about current available codecs and there stage. If you have ANY new information about H.264 codecs please replay this message!

LIST of MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 VIDEO CODECS
(Last updated 21 June 2007 - 68 items now!)

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SOFTWARE CODECS:
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Ateme H.264/MPEG-4 AVC Codec (Ateme)
Participant of our codecs tests
No download on the original site:
http://www.ateme.com/BB_encoder_pc.php
See 30 day trial of Nero Digital (with Nero Recode) available from:
http://www.nerodigital.com/eng/index.html
---
Elecard Elecard Mobile Converter v 2.0 with AVC support (Elecard)
21-day free trial. Have H.264 SDK. Participant of our codecs test.
http://elecard.com/products/products...deo-converter/
---
Mainconcept H.264 (MainConcept AG)
Trial available on download page. Participant of our codecs tests.
http://www.mainconcept.com/site/?id=4786
Use Elecard Encoder H.264 from March 2005.
---
QuickTime 7 H.264 (Apple Computer, Inc.)
Integrated. Participant of our test-2006.
http://www.apple.com/quicktime/technologies/h264/
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Intel IPP H.264 codec (Intel Corporation)
Higher quality codecs are promised in v6.0. Participant of our test-2006.
http://www.intel.com/cd/software/pro.../ipp/index.htm
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VSS H.264 Video Codec (Vanguard Software Solutions, Inc.)
No download now. Participant of our codecs tests.
http://www.vsofts.com/h264/
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Sorenson AVC Pro (part of Sorenson Squeeze 4) (Sorenson Media, Inc.)
No download. Converter. Participant of our codecs test.
http://www.sorensonmedia.com/pages/?pageID=2
---
SONY Video Editor Vegas 6c with AVC support (Sony Corp.)
30-days evaluation.
http://www.sonymediasoftware.com/pro...ct.asp?PID=965
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FastVDO H.264 (FastVDO LLC)
Demo has decode time limit of 5 min.
http://www.fastvdo.com/H.264.html
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LEAD H.264 Video codec (LEAD Technologies)
Only demo, but you can buy codec online (100$). Who test it? They did not answer to our testing invitations!
http://www.leadcodecs.com/Codecs/LEAD-H264.htm
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PowerEncoder MPEG-4 AVC (CyberLink Corp.)
Available in online shop. Who test it? They did not replay to invitations to test.
http://www.cyberlink.com/multi/produ...in_43_ENU.html
---
AMD ATI Avivo H.264 (ATI Technologies Inc. - now part of Advanced Micro Devices Inc.)
No download. Software only +HW support. VERY fast codec by our tests.
Nero 7 Ultra Edition begun to use ATI HW support.
http://ati.amd.com/technology/avivo/h264.html
---
Mpegable AVC Codec (dicas digital image coding GmbH)
No download, Encoder/decoder is a part of 'mpegable DS'
http://www.mpegable.com/mpegableDSsuite
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Expert H.264 (PixelTools Corporation)
Download on request
http://www.pixeltools.com/experth264.html
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MPEG-2/HDV/H.264 software (KDDI R&D Labs. Inc.)
No download. H.264 HP support
http://avs.kddilabs.jp/en/mpeg/mpfs/41/index.html
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MiraVid Inc. H.264 decoder (MiraVid Inc.)
Decodec only, demo only available for OEM companies
http://www.miravid.com/product_avcDec.html
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bSoft ltd MPEG-X/H.26X Encoder and Decoder (bSoft ltd.)
Demo available on request.
http://www.bsoft.info/products/video.html
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Fraunhofer IIS H.264 Codec (Fraunhofer IIS)
No download. Participant of our tests.
http://www.iis.fraunhofer.de/fhg/iis...ideo/index.jsp
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Scientific Atlanta - UBLive-264-C64 (Scientific Atlanta (was UB Video Incorporated))
Demo available on request.
http://www.scientificatlanta.com/pro...rs/UBvideo.htm
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Roxio Popcorn with AVC encoder (Sonic Solutions)
No trial. Online shop (50$).
http://www.roxio.com/enu/products/po.../features.html
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NEX VISION H.264 (NEX VISION)
No download.
http://www.nexvision.fr/html/products.htm
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Video Labs H.264/AVC (Video Laboratories Ltd was Imagicity, UK)
No download. Speed optimization claimed.
http://www.vid-labs.com/products/products.htm
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SPIRIT H.264 Video Codec (SPIRIT)
No download. x86 & ARM9E platforms
http://www.spiritdsp.com/products/co...o_codecs/h264/
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CoreAVC H.264 Video Codec (CoreCodec, Inc.)
HP H.264. DirectX filter. 10$ & 20$ versions download available
http://www.coreavc.com/
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CINEMA CRAFT HD encoder (Omni Communications.)
Demo on request.
http://www.omnidvdmedia.com/products...crafthde.shtml
---

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OPEN SOURCE:
---------------------
x264 HP encoder (free, supported by VideoLAN)
OPEN SOURCE. We recommend this encoder. Developers declare "early development stage", but encode results are one of the best.
http://developers.videolan.org/x264.html
http://x264.nl/ (unofficial)
---
JM 9.6 reference H.264 encodec (free, supported by Joint Video Team ISO&ITU-T)
OPEN SOURCE. Can be used only for comatibility tests and research.
http://bs.hhi.de/~suehring/tml/
---
libavcodec H.264 Decoder (Project FFMPEG)
OPEN SOURCE. Permanently updated decoder.
http://ffmpeg.mplayerhq.hu/
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Minimal H.264 decoder (by Martin Fiedler)
OPEN SOURCE. Basic decoder.
http://keyj.s2000.ws/?page_id=41
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Hdot264 Pre-Alpha (Project Hdot264)
OPEN SOURCE. Non active.
http://sourceforge.net/projects/hdot264/
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t264 (Project t264)
OPEN SOURCE. Non active.
http://sourceforge.net/projects/t264
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See also Software Developments Kits for software codec usage:
---
1. Elecard AVC&MPEG2 Encoder SDK (Elecard)
  H.264 Video Encoder and Decoders within the DirectShow SDK.
  http://www.elecard.com/products/encoder_sdk.shtml
2. MainConcept H.264 SDK (MainConcept AG)
  Windows, Apple, Linux and TI DSP supported.
  http://www.mainconcept.com/site/?id=4786
3. LEADTOOLS Multimedia Developer SDKs (LEAD Technologies, Inc)
  Support for many-many formats, including H.264 http://www.leadtools.com/SDK/Multime...Products-n.htm
4. MPEG SDK "MP-Factory" (KDDI R&D Labs. Inc.)
  SDK with H.264, HDV, MPEG-1,-2, and -4 support
  http://avs.kddilabs.jp/mpeg/mpfs32/indexe.html
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HARDWARE IMPLEMENTED:
---------------------
Sony PlayStation Portable (Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.)
Product: Support H.264/MPEG-4 AVC Main Profile Level3 decoding.
http://www.us.playstation.com/PSP/System
Try also "Sony Image Converter 2 Plus" with AVC support.
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VSX 300 Videoconferencing Terminal with H.264 support (Polycom Inc)
Product: Biggest HW videoconferencing company, prepare many solutions with 264 support
http://www.polycom.com/products_serv...5-6197,00.html
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Tandberg EN5930 SD/EN5990 HD Encoders (Tandberg Television)
Product: Television SD & HD encoders.
http://www.tandbergtv.com/products/products.asp?range=3
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Tandberg Telecom - video communication (Tandberg Telecom)
Product for videoconferencing, supports H.264 baseline profile.
http://www.tandberg.net/our_story/h264.jsp
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4Caster MPEG-4 / H.264 Encoder (Envivio, Inc.)
Product: Hardware box encoder
http://www.envivio.com/solutions/ipt...television.php
http://www.envivio.com/products/bshd...0_software.php (software, no download)
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Tut Systems MPEG-4 AVC (Tut Systems, Inc.)
Product: Hardware transcoder box.
http://www.tutsys.com/digitalheadend...iacp/mpeg4avc/
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Hardware MGW 5100 (Optibase, Inc.)
Product: Hardware box encoder
http://www.optibase.com/Content.aspx?id=38
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Harmonic DiviComR MV 100 Encoder (Harmonic Inc. )
Product: Several hardware SD and HD Broadcast AVC encoders
http://www.harmonicinc.com/view_csd_...m?classID=1010
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E42 - H264 DVB over IP Broadcast Encoder (StreamTel Corporation)
Product: Hardware box encoder. Broadcast-Grade real time H264 DVB IP streaming encoder
http://www.streamtel.com/streamtel/p...st_Encoder.htm
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Darim MV401EXP-H264 Encoder and MV410EXP Decoder (Darim Vision Co., Ltd.)
Product: Hardware box Encoding/Streaming systems
http://www.darimmedia.com/products/mv401exp-h264.php
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Mayah I [io] 8000 series (MAYAH Communications)
Product: Hardware box. Plan AVC availability in Q3 '05.
http://www.mayah.com/products/io-8000a.htm
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Thales ARGOS MPEG-4 Encoder (Thales Broadcast & Multimedia, Inc.)
Product: Hardware box. Plan AVC from July 05.
http://www-db.thomcastcom.ext.coltfr..._ID=1&P_ID=221
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TI TMS320DM64x DSP ( Texas Instruments Incorporated)
Chip: SD BP encoder+decoder, MP decoder
http://focus.ti.com/dsp/docs/dspspla...contentId=1573
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ViBE MPEG-4 AVC (Thomson)
Chip: modular hardware series of encoders
http://www.thomsongrassvalley.com/pr...encoder_mpeg4/
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Broadcom chips (Broadcom Corp. former Sandvideo)
Chip with H.264 HD / decoding only
http://websearch.broadcom.com/query.html?qt=AVC
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Sentivision H.264/AVC Decoders (Sentivision, Japan)
Chip/products with H.264 HD / decoding only / only for TI DSP's
http://www.sentivision.com/
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SD MPEG-2/AVC encoder (Scientific Atlanta now part of Cisco)
Product: Transmission system (for satellite TV)
http://www.saeurope.com/products/customerhome.htm
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LSI H.264 VLE4000 (LSI Logic Corp. former: VideoLocus)
Chips with 264 support
http://www.lsi.com/consumer_home/pro...der/index.html
Domino[X] transcoding technology:
http://www.lsi.com/insight_center/te...dia/index.html
---
Modulus Video SDTV, HDTV Encoder (Modulus Video, Inc.)
Chips. Declarations only now. License H.264 from LSI Logic.
http://modulusvideo.com/main.php?Page=12
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BSP 15 (System-on-chip) (Pixelworks Inc - was Equator Technologies, Inc.)
Chips. No info about Equator H.264 on site now.
---
Surveillance Real Time H.264 Encoders (DSP Research, Inc.)
Several chips implementation.
http://www.dspr.com/www/products/overview_video.htm
http://www.dspr.com/www/support/down...o_download.htm
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VP3-PMC / Hardware TwinPEG Pro (Vitec Multimedia)
Chips. TMS320DM642TMDSP & etc
http://www.vitecmm.com/product.php?id=41
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WWComs H.264 Codecs (W&W Communications Inc.)
Several chips implementation (TI DM64x, C64xx, Freescale DSPs).
http://www.wwcoms.com/products/h264_codec.htm
http://www.wwcoms.com/products/codec/bc264.htm
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CX2418x H.264 Video Decoder IC (Conexant Systems, Inc.)
HW Decoder with Main & High Profile (on CX24182)
http://www.conexant.com/products/entry.jsp?id=109
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Sigma Designs HD decoder (Sigma Designs, Inc.)
HW HD Decoder based on SMP8630 family
http://www.sigmadesigns.com/public/P...30_series.html
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Cradle Technologies H.264 (Cradle Technologies, Inc.)
HW Main profile Encoder based on CT3600 MDSP family
http://www.cradle.com/products/asw_ct3600_h264.shtml
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STMicroelectronics H.264 (STMicroelectronics)
HW HD High Profile decoder
http://www.st.com/stonline/stappl/pr...2006/t2052.htm
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PacketVideo H.264 (PacketVideo Corp.)
HW Base Profile encoder/decoder on ARM/OMAP/DM642
http://www.packetvideo.com/page.asp?prmid=16
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Softstream H.264/MPEG-4 (Media Excel Inc.)
SD H.264 MP Level 3 HW
http://www.mediaexcel.com/ss_hera_3000.php
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H.264 Engine for Mobile Devices (ASTRI - Applied Science and Technology Research Institute Company Limited)
http://www.astri.org/en/ic_mtm01_apv.php
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CEVA Mobile-Media2000 (CEVA, Inc.)
Chip,Base Profile encoder/decoder
http://www.ceva-dsp.com/products/pla...bile-media.php
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Micronas DeCypher 8100 (Micronas)
Chip,decoder with support for H.264/AVC
http://www.micronasusa.com/products/...ons/index.html
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Allegro H.264 encoder and ranscoder (Allegro, France)
Chip& IP cores for mobile TV and IPTV
http://www.allegrodvt.com/encoding.html
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Mobilygen's H.264 Chipset (Mobilygen Corp.)
Baseline encoder and decoder chip
http://mobilygen.com/products.htm
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4i2i's H.264 encoder and decoder IP cores (4i2i Communications Ltd.)
H.264 BP encoder, MP&HP decoder
http://www.4i2i.com/h264highbroadcastipcore.htm
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Hughes Network Systems H.264 (Hughes Network Systems, LLC)
Now only press-release with Envivio on site
http://www.envivio.com/news/press_release.php?id=53
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Telairity BE8000 1-RU HD H.264 Encoder (Telairity Inc)
Now only few words on site
http://www.telairity.com/solutions.html
---

If you know any more information about H.264 codecs, please add information to Compression-links.info H.264 page.

bond · 16th June 2005, 20:23

nice overview!

i hope you had a look at my mpeg-4 sticky, cause there you will find hopfully uptodate descriptions of the features supported in all publically available avc codecs

acidsex · 16th June 2005, 20:25

Excellent list. Would be nice to somehow be able to rank them among quality but I am sure it would take Doom9 at least a year.

I also wonder how many of the software encoders are fine tuned and optimized.

bob0r · 16th June 2005, 20:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by DmitriyV2

x264 (free, supported by VideoLAN)
OPEN SOURCE. In early beta stage
http://www.videolan.org/x264.html

x264 is not beta.
x264 is just as it is, its being developed but you can only label it by revision.
http://trac.videolan.org/x264/browser/trunk/ for current revision number.

When the time is right, i am sure x264 developers may go for a beta 1,2,3 etc.. then release candidate 1,2,3 etc.. and hopelly a "stable", which may be dubbed as "1.0", will amerge.

"In early development stage" will be a better way to name it,
http://videolan.org/x264.html > BIG FAT WARNING: x264 is still in early development stage

SeeMoreDigital · 16th June 2005, 20:59

Great list Dmitriy,

By the way Ateme have/had a hardware std-def 'Developement Kit' called Thunder....

Cheers

DmitriyV2 · 16th June 2005, 21:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by bond

nice overview!

i hope you had a look at my mpeg-4 sticky, cause there you will find hopfully uptodate descriptions of the features supported in all publically available avc codecs

Thanks for comment and your mpeg-4 sticky! I found 3 new links there!

DmitriyV2 · 16th June 2005, 21:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by acidsex

Excellent list. Would be nice to somehow be able to rank them among quality but I am sure it would take Doom9 at least a year.

We collect this list especially for next 264 codecs testing!

Quote:

I also wonder how many of the software encoders are fine tuned and optimized.

Sure!

DmitriyV2 · 16th June 2005, 21:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by bob0r

x264 is not beta.
"In early development stage" will be a better way to name it...

No problem! Fixed.

bob0r · 16th June 2005, 22:26

@DmitriyV2
Cool.

I forgot to tell you, great list!

Would be nice if you keep it up to date in the future!

bond · 16th June 2005, 22:52

the moonlight/elecard encoder is the same (defacto these two companies are only one company)

the avc alliance decoder is written by philips (a not uninteresting fact imho)

sony's psp also supports avc decoding

Quote:

Originally Posted by bob0r

x264 is not beta.
"In early development stage" will be a better way to name it,
http://videolan.org/x264.html

uhm, even if it still says "early development" i doubt that x264 is not a serious codec

defacto its the only publically available avc high profile encoder, its supports as good as all main profile features (an exception is interlacing)

and its quality is definitely one of the best (ok, lets not tell the results of the comparison in advance

)

so all-in-all i dont see the point why there should be any comment like "early development" be added to it...
in contrary it should be mentioned explicitely that its the only publically available high profile encoder...

bob0r · 17th June 2005, 00:03

@bond

Tell that to VideoLAN

But, its still early, x264 will become A LOT and A LOT better, i am sure!

But more seriously, yes x264 is getting better and better, but i just quoted what is on the videolan website.

"early" is objective, for some its early, for some its very mature.

DmitriyV2 · 17th June 2005, 01:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by bond

the moonlight/elecard encoder is the same (defacto these two companies are only one company)
the avc alliance decoder is written by philips (a not uninteresting fact imho)
sony's psp also supports avc decoding

Thanks! Added!

Quote:

defacto its the only publically available avc high profile encoder, its supports as good as all main profile features (an exception is interlacing)
and its quality is definitely one of the best (ok, lets not tell the results of the comparison in advance

)

Ok!

Reasonable.

Also thanks to bob0r!

Gusto · 17th June 2005, 09:28

There are really plenty HW encoders down there:
- Harmonic
- Tut-Systems (formely VideoTele)
- Modulus
- Tandberg (mentioned)
- SCI Atlanta (mentioned)

I see really no point in comparing these against software ones. Their main purpose is really to be used by professional broadcasters to deliver Cable/SAT live TV, thus its all CBR, with narrow marigin for bitrate variablitiy. They also make extended use of SEI signalling like "pict_struct" to adapt to the source (automatic telecine detection, field duplication, etc.). I guess you can't really find any decent software CBR encoder down there to compare to HW ones (well, Nero uses Atheme which of course supports CBR, but it's not exposed in the Nero's gui).
Also have in mind that HW encoders most commonly use SDI input for video feed, so you would have to arrange some kind of SDI streaming HW (I recomend BlackMagic Decklink), which will arise questions as to how really those frames are passed to the encoder and if they arrive untouched.

The next thing is that you would need a decoder which really supports streams generated by those encoders (MBAFF/PAF, open GOP, SEI), which you'll find really hard to acquire (well, impossible at the Open Source market right now).

The last thing is that you'll probably run into difficulties into while trying to acquire those encoders, since they are pretty all in their prototyping stage, and trust me or not, those Vendors don't really like to compare them just yet.

Best,

DmitriyV2 · 17th June 2005, 12:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by SeeMoreDigital

Great list Dmitriy, By the way Ateme have/had a hardware std-def 'Developement Kit' called Thunder....

Thanks!
I found only SDK for chips only, not for PC codec. Can you send URL?

DmitriyV2 · 17th June 2005, 12:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gusto

There are really plenty HW encoders down there:
- Harmonic
- Tut-Systems (formely VideoTele)
- Modulus
- Tandberg (mentioned)
- SCI Atlanta (mentioned)

Harmonic was in software (fixed), Modulus - mentioned, Tut-Systems - added, thanks!

Quote:

I see really no point in comparing these against software ones. ... I guess you can't really find any decent software CBR encoder down there to compare to HW ones.
The last thing is that you'll probably run into difficulties into while trying to acquire those encoders, since they are pretty all in their prototyping stage, and trust me or not, those Vendors don't really like to compare them just yet.

Sure! Even software companies with 264 codec now did not want to be compared.

But I think anyway it's resonable to add such companies to the end of this list.

SeeMoreDigital · 17th June 2005, 12:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by DmitriyV2

Thanks!
I found only SDK for chips only, not for PC codec. Can you send URL?

Here's a link to Ateme's Thunder Hardware device.

I've just been reading today in one of my satellite magazines that there's a world-wide shortage of Mpeg4 AVC chip-sets for the up-coming European HDTV set-top boxes.

Apparently there are only a few hundred "near-prototype" boxes available for testing. Premiere may have to delay their planned November 1 launch date. Euro 1080 (HD1 and 2) plan to start Mpeg4 AVC HD in September. BskyB are in a flap because they can't get chips.... And Sigma (the chip-set manufacturer) have completely missed the boat, as their Mpeg4 AVC HD chip-set wont be available until Aug/Sep 05.

Cheers

DmitriyV2 · 17th June 2005, 22:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by SeeMoreDigital

Here's a link to Ateme's Thunder Hardware device.

Apparently there are only a few hundred "near-prototype" boxes available for testing. Premiere may have to delay their planned November 1 launch date. Euro 1080 (HD1 and 2) plan to start Mpeg4 AVC HD in September. BskyB are in a flap because they can't get chips.... And Sigma (the chip-set manufacturer) have completely missed the boat, as their Mpeg4 AVC HD chip-set wont be available until Aug/Sep 05.

Yes, I see this link, this is not software codecs, unfortunatelly.

It's really difficult to compare HW codecs, so I collect there links, but for testing...

sasam · 19th June 2005, 17:24

DmitriyV2 when do you plan to begin this testing?

Keng! · 21st June 2005, 05:57

Hi!
Great to hear that the comparison is coming back for 2nd round! Here is my suggestion, how about include the codecs's compressibility and performance (speed) in the comparison? Coz in the last comparison, only the codecs's quality is tested. In my opinion, the compressibility and performance also is an important part of the codec (also the part we interested, besides quality). In the last comparison, you guys said is too early to test the codecs's compatibility, so how about this time? In last comparison, Ateme MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 beat all the codecs who took part, let see what will happens this time when x264 kick in!

DmitriyV2 · 24th June 2005, 20:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by sasam

DmitriyV2 when do you plan to begin this testing?

Now we define codecs list and tune new public metric (it's more correct to make all measurements on publically available tool).

BTW Intel fellow offer us to use Intel codecs from IPP (thay support H.264 decoder in 5.0 beta and going to support encoder). Of course, they suggest to add time measurements.

16th June 2005, 20:20	#1 \| Link
DmitriyV2 MSU G&M Lab Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: MSU G&M Lab Posts: 318	MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 video codecs list We publish 3-rd h.264 codecs comparison test. Also we collect information about current available codecs and there stage. If you have ANY new information about H.264 codecs please replay this message! LIST of MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 VIDEO CODECS (Last updated 21 June 2007 - 68 items now!) ---------------------------------------------------------- SOFTWARE CODECS: --------------------- Ateme H.264/MPEG-4 AVC Codec (Ateme) Participant of our codecs tests No download on the original site: http://www.ateme.com/BB_encoder_pc.php See 30 day trial of Nero Digital (with Nero Recode) available from: http://www.nerodigital.com/eng/index.html --- Elecard Elecard Mobile Converter v 2.0 with AVC support (Elecard) 21-day free trial. Have H.264 SDK. Participant of our codecs test. http://elecard.com/products/products...deo-converter/ --- Mainconcept H.264 (MainConcept AG) Trial available on download page. Participant of our codecs tests. http://www.mainconcept.com/site/?id=4786 Use Elecard Encoder H.264 from March 2005. --- QuickTime 7 H.264 (Apple Computer, Inc.) Integrated. Participant of our test-2006. http://www.apple.com/quicktime/technologies/h264/ --- Intel IPP H.264 codec (Intel Corporation) Higher quality codecs are promised in v6.0. Participant of our test-2006. http://www.intel.com/cd/software/pro.../ipp/index.htm --- VSS H.264 Video Codec (Vanguard Software Solutions, Inc.) No download now. Participant of our codecs tests. http://www.vsofts.com/h264/ --- Sorenson AVC Pro (part of Sorenson Squeeze 4) (Sorenson Media, Inc.) No download. Converter. Participant of our codecs test. http://www.sorensonmedia.com/pages/?pageID=2 --- SONY Video Editor Vegas 6c with AVC support (Sony Corp.) 30-days evaluation. http://www.sonymediasoftware.com/pro...ct.asp?PID=965 --- FastVDO H.264 (FastVDO LLC) Demo has decode time limit of 5 min. http://www.fastvdo.com/H.264.html --- LEAD H.264 Video codec (LEAD Technologies) Only demo, but you can buy codec online (100$). Who test it? They did not answer to our testing invitations! http://www.leadcodecs.com/Codecs/LEAD-H264.htm --- PowerEncoder MPEG-4 AVC (CyberLink Corp.) Available in online shop. Who test it? They did not replay to invitations to test. http://www.cyberlink.com/multi/produ...in_43_ENU.html --- AMD ATI Avivo H.264 (ATI Technologies Inc. - now part of Advanced Micro Devices Inc.) No download. Software only +HW support. VERY fast codec by our tests. Nero 7 Ultra Edition begun to use ATI HW support. http://ati.amd.com/technology/avivo/h264.html --- Mpegable AVC Codec (dicas digital image coding GmbH) No download, Encoder/decoder is a part of 'mpegable DS' http://www.mpegable.com/mpegableDSsuite --- Expert H.264 (PixelTools Corporation) Download on request http://www.pixeltools.com/experth264.html --- MPEG-2/HDV/H.264 software (KDDI R&D Labs. Inc.) No download. H.264 HP support http://avs.kddilabs.jp/en/mpeg/mpfs/41/index.html --- MiraVid Inc. H.264 decoder (MiraVid Inc.) Decodec only, demo only available for OEM companies http://www.miravid.com/product_avcDec.html --- bSoft ltd MPEG-X/H.26X Encoder and Decoder (bSoft ltd.) Demo available on request. http://www.bsoft.info/products/video.html --- Fraunhofer IIS H.264 Codec (Fraunhofer IIS) No download. Participant of our tests. http://www.iis.fraunhofer.de/fhg/iis...ideo/index.jsp --- Scientific Atlanta - UBLive-264-C64 (Scientific Atlanta (was UB Video Incorporated)) Demo available on request. http://www.scientificatlanta.com/pro...rs/UBvideo.htm --- Roxio Popcorn with AVC encoder (Sonic Solutions) No trial. Online shop (50$). http://www.roxio.com/enu/products/po.../features.html --- NEX VISION H.264 (NEX VISION) No download. http://www.nexvision.fr/html/products.htm --- Video Labs H.264/AVC (Video Laboratories Ltd was Imagicity, UK) No download. Speed optimization claimed. http://www.vid-labs.com/products/products.htm --- SPIRIT H.264 Video Codec (SPIRIT) No download. x86 & ARM9E platforms http://www.spiritdsp.com/products/co...o_codecs/h264/ --- CoreAVC H.264 Video Codec (CoreCodec, Inc.) HP H.264. DirectX filter. 10$ & 20$ versions download available http://www.coreavc.com/ --- CINEMA CRAFT HD encoder (Omni Communications.) Demo on request. http://www.omnidvdmedia.com/products...crafthde.shtml --- ---------------------------------------------------------- OPEN SOURCE: --------------------- x264 HP encoder (free, supported by VideoLAN) OPEN SOURCE. We recommend this encoder. Developers declare "early development stage", but encode results are one of the best. http://developers.videolan.org/x264.html http://x264.nl/ (unofficial) --- JM 9.6 reference H.264 encodec (free, supported by Joint Video Team ISO&ITU-T) OPEN SOURCE. Can be used only for comatibility tests and research. http://bs.hhi.de/~suehring/tml/ --- libavcodec H.264 Decoder (Project FFMPEG) OPEN SOURCE. Permanently updated decoder. http://ffmpeg.mplayerhq.hu/ --- Minimal H.264 decoder (by Martin Fiedler) OPEN SOURCE. Basic decoder. http://keyj.s2000.ws/?page_id=41 --- Hdot264 Pre-Alpha (Project Hdot264) OPEN SOURCE. Non active. http://sourceforge.net/projects/hdot264/ --- t264 (Project t264) OPEN SOURCE. Non active. http://sourceforge.net/projects/t264 --- See also Software Developments Kits for software codec usage: --- Elecard AVC&MPEG2 Encoder SDK (Elecard) H.264 Video Encoder and Decoders within the DirectShow SDK. http://www.elecard.com/products/encoder_sdk.shtml MainConcept H.264 SDK (MainConcept AG) Windows, Apple, Linux and TI DSP supported. http://www.mainconcept.com/site/?id=4786 LEADTOOLS Multimedia Developer SDKs (LEAD Technologies, Inc) Support for many-many formats, including H.264 http://www.leadtools.com/SDK/Multime...Products-n.htm MPEG SDK "MP-Factory" (KDDI R&D Labs. Inc.) SDK with H.264, HDV, MPEG-1,-2, and -4 support http://avs.kddilabs.jp/mpeg/mpfs32/indexe.html ---------------------------------------------------------- HARDWARE IMPLEMENTED: --------------------- Sony PlayStation Portable (Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.) Product: Support H.264/MPEG-4 AVC Main Profile Level3 decoding. http://www.us.playstation.com/PSP/System Try also "Sony Image Converter 2 Plus" with AVC support. --- VSX 300 Videoconferencing Terminal with H.264 support (Polycom Inc) Product: Biggest HW videoconferencing company, prepare many solutions with 264 support http://www.polycom.com/products_serv...5-6197,00.html --- Tandberg EN5930 SD/EN5990 HD Encoders (Tandberg Television) Product: Television SD & HD encoders. http://www.tandbergtv.com/products/products.asp?range=3 --- Tandberg Telecom - video communication (Tandberg Telecom) Product for videoconferencing, supports H.264 baseline profile. http://www.tandberg.net/our_story/h264.jsp --- 4Caster MPEG-4 / H.264 Encoder (Envivio, Inc.) Product: Hardware box encoder http://www.envivio.com/solutions/ipt...television.php http://www.envivio.com/products/bshd...0_software.php (software, no download) --- Tut Systems MPEG-4 AVC (Tut Systems, Inc.) Product: Hardware transcoder box. http://www.tutsys.com/digitalheadend...iacp/mpeg4avc/ --- Hardware MGW 5100 (Optibase, Inc.) Product: Hardware box encoder http://www.optibase.com/Content.aspx?id=38 --- Harmonic DiviComR MV 100 Encoder (Harmonic Inc. ) Product: Several hardware SD and HD Broadcast AVC encoders http://www.harmonicinc.com/view_csd_...m?classID=1010 --- E42 - H264 DVB over IP Broadcast Encoder (StreamTel Corporation) Product: Hardware box encoder. Broadcast-Grade real time H264 DVB IP streaming encoder http://www.streamtel.com/streamtel/p...st_Encoder.htm --- Darim MV401EXP-H264 Encoder and MV410EXP Decoder (Darim Vision Co., Ltd.) Product: Hardware box Encoding/Streaming systems http://www.darimmedia.com/products/mv401exp-h264.php --- Mayah I [io] 8000 series (MAYAH Communications) Product: Hardware box. Plan AVC availability in Q3 '05. http://www.mayah.com/products/io-8000a.htm --- Thales ARGOS MPEG-4 Encoder (Thales Broadcast & Multimedia, Inc.) Product: Hardware box. Plan AVC from July 05. http://www-db.thomcastcom.ext.coltfr..._ID=1&P_ID=221 --- TI TMS320DM64x DSP ( Texas Instruments Incorporated) Chip: SD BP encoder+decoder, MP decoder http://focus.ti.com/dsp/docs/dspspla...contentId=1573 --- ViBE MPEG-4 AVC (Thomson) Chip: modular hardware series of encoders http://www.thomsongrassvalley.com/pr...encoder_mpeg4/ --- Broadcom chips (Broadcom Corp. former Sandvideo) Chip with H.264 HD / decoding only http://websearch.broadcom.com/query.html?qt=AVC --- Sentivision H.264/AVC Decoders (Sentivision, Japan) Chip/products with H.264 HD / decoding only / only for TI DSP's http://www.sentivision.com/ --- SD MPEG-2/AVC encoder (Scientific Atlanta now part of Cisco) Product: Transmission system (for satellite TV) http://www.saeurope.com/products/customerhome.htm --- LSI H.264 VLE4000 (LSI Logic Corp. former: VideoLocus) Chips with 264 support http://www.lsi.com/consumer_home/pro...der/index.html Domino[X] transcoding technology: http://www.lsi.com/insight_center/te...dia/index.html --- Modulus Video SDTV, HDTV Encoder (Modulus Video, Inc.) Chips. Declarations only now. License H.264 from LSI Logic. http://modulusvideo.com/main.php?Page=12 --- BSP 15 (System-on-chip) (Pixelworks Inc - was Equator Technologies, Inc.) Chips. No info about Equator H.264 on site now. --- Surveillance Real Time H.264 Encoders (DSP Research, Inc.) Several chips implementation. http://www.dspr.com/www/products/overview_video.htm http://www.dspr.com/www/support/down...o_download.htm --- VP3-PMC / Hardware TwinPEG Pro (Vitec Multimedia) Chips. TMS320DM642TMDSP & etc http://www.vitecmm.com/product.php?id=41 --- WWComs H.264 Codecs (W&W Communications Inc.) Several chips implementation (TI DM64x, C64xx, Freescale DSPs). http://www.wwcoms.com/products/h264_codec.htm http://www.wwcoms.com/products/codec/bc264.htm --- CX2418x H.264 Video Decoder IC (Conexant Systems, Inc.) HW Decoder with Main & High Profile (on CX24182) http://www.conexant.com/products/entry.jsp?id=109 --- Sigma Designs HD decoder (Sigma Designs, Inc.) HW HD Decoder based on SMP8630 family http://www.sigmadesigns.com/public/P...30_series.html --- Cradle Technologies H.264 (Cradle Technologies, Inc.) HW Main profile Encoder based on CT3600 MDSP family http://www.cradle.com/products/asw_ct3600_h264.shtml --- STMicroelectronics H.264 (STMicroelectronics) HW HD High Profile decoder http://www.st.com/stonline/stappl/pr...2006/t2052.htm --- PacketVideo H.264 (PacketVideo Corp.) HW Base Profile encoder/decoder on ARM/OMAP/DM642 http://www.packetvideo.com/page.asp?prmid=16 --- Softstream H.264/MPEG-4 (Media Excel Inc.) SD H.264 MP Level 3 HW http://www.mediaexcel.com/ss_hera_3000.php --- H.264 Engine for Mobile Devices (ASTRI - Applied Science and Technology Research Institute Company Limited) http://www.astri.org/en/ic_mtm01_apv.php --- CEVA Mobile-Media2000 (CEVA, Inc.) Chip,Base Profile encoder/decoder http://www.ceva-dsp.com/products/pla...bile-media.php --- Micronas DeCypher 8100 (Micronas) Chip,decoder with support for H.264/AVC http://www.micronasusa.com/products/...ons/index.html --- Allegro H.264 encoder and ranscoder (Allegro, France) Chip& IP cores for mobile TV and IPTV http://www.allegrodvt.com/encoding.html --- Mobilygen's H.264 Chipset (Mobilygen Corp.) Baseline encoder and decoder chip http://mobilygen.com/products.htm --- 4i2i's H.264 encoder and decoder IP cores (4i2i Communications Ltd.) H.264 BP encoder, MP&HP decoder http://www.4i2i.com/h264highbroadcastipcore.htm --- Hughes Network Systems H.264 (Hughes Network Systems, LLC) Now only press-release with Envivio on site http://www.envivio.com/news/press_release.php?id=53 --- Telairity BE8000 1-RU HD H.264 Encoder (Telairity Inc) Now only few words on site http://www.telairity.com/solutions.html --- If you know any more information about H.264 codecs, please add information to Compression-links.info H.264 page. __________________ With regards Dmitriy Vatolin www.compression.ru/video/ (Last updates: MSU Video Quality Metric 10.1 - faster&more useful) Last edited by DmitriyV2; 21st June 2007 at 13:44. Reason: Update!

16th June 2005, 20:23	#2 \| Link
bond Registered User Join Date: Nov 2001 Posts: 9,770	nice overview! i hope you had a look at my mpeg-4 sticky, cause there you will find hopfully uptodate descriptions of the features supported in all publically available avc codecs __________________ Between the weak and the strong one it is the freedom which oppresses and the law that liberates (Jean Jacques Rousseau) I know, that I know nothing (Socrates) MPEG-4 ASP FAQ \| AVC/H.264 FAQ \| AAC FAQ \| MP4 FAQ \| MP4Menu stores DVD Menus in MP4 (guide) Ogg Theora \| Ogg Vorbis use WM9 today and get Micro$oft controlling the A/V market tomorrow for free

16th June 2005, 20:59	#5 \| Link
SeeMoreDigital Life's clearer in 4K UHD Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Notts, UK Posts: 12,244	Great list Dmitriy, By the way Ateme have/had a hardware std-def 'Developement Kit' called Thunder.... Cheers __________________ \| I've been testing hardware media playback devices and software A/V encoders and decoders since 2001 \| My Network Layout & A/V Gear \|

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16th June 2005, 20:25	#3 \| Link
acidsex Registered User Join Date: Dec 2002 Posts: 492	Excellent list. Would be nice to somehow be able to rank them among quality but I am sure it would take Doom9 at least a year. I also wonder how many of the software encoders are fine tuned and optimized.

16th June 2005, 22:26	#9 \| Link
bob0r Pain and suffering Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 1,337	@DmitriyV2 Cool. I forgot to tell you, great list! Would be nice if you keep it up to date in the future!

17th June 2005, 00:03	#11 \| Link
bob0r Pain and suffering Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 1,337	@bond Tell that to VideoLAN But, its still early, x264 will become A LOT and A LOT better, i am sure! But more seriously, yes x264 is getting better and better, but i just quoted what is on the videolan website. "early" is objective, for some its early, for some its very mature.

17th June 2005, 09:28	#13 \| Link
Gusto Registered User Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Warsaw, Poland Posts: 8	There are really plenty HW encoders down there: - Harmonic - Tut-Systems (formely VideoTele) - Modulus - Tandberg (mentioned) - SCI Atlanta (mentioned) I see really no point in comparing these against software ones. Their main purpose is really to be used by professional broadcasters to deliver Cable/SAT live TV, thus its all CBR, with narrow marigin for bitrate variablitiy. They also make extended use of SEI signalling like "pict_struct" to adapt to the source (automatic telecine detection, field duplication, etc.). I guess you can't really find any decent software CBR encoder down there to compare to HW ones (well, Nero uses Atheme which of course supports CBR, but it's not exposed in the Nero's gui). Also have in mind that HW encoders most commonly use SDI input for video feed, so you would have to arrange some kind of SDI streaming HW (I recomend BlackMagic Decklink), which will arise questions as to how really those frames are passed to the encoder and if they arrive untouched. The next thing is that you would need a decoder which really supports streams generated by those encoders (MBAFF/PAF, open GOP, SEI), which you'll find really hard to acquire (well, impossible at the Open Source market right now). The last thing is that you'll probably run into difficulties into while trying to acquire those encoders, since they are pretty all in their prototyping stage, and trust me or not, those Vendors don't really like to compare them just yet. Best,

19th June 2005, 17:24	#18 \| Link
sasam Registhreaded User Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Serbia Posts: 94	DmitriyV2 when do you plan to begin this testing?

21st June 2005, 05:57	#19 \| Link
Keng! Registered User Join Date: May 2005 Location: Malaysia! Posts: 11	Hi! Great to hear that the comparison is coming back for 2nd round! Here is my suggestion, how about include the codecs's compressibility and performance (speed) in the comparison? Coz in the last comparison, only the codecs's quality is tested. In my opinion, the compressibility and performance also is an important part of the codec (also the part we interested, besides quality). In the last comparison, you guys said is too early to test the codecs's compatibility, so how about this time? In last comparison, Ateme MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 beat all the codecs who took part, let see what will happens this time when x264 kick in!