MSU MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 2011 Video Codec Comparison - CALL FOR CODECS

[Dyomich]

Dear video codec developers,

Moscow State University Graphics & Multimedia Laboratory
starts next seventh annual H.264 video codecs comparison.

New this year features:

Videoconference Encoding Analysis
Due to the fact that videocoference encoding has some specific
that is quite different to transcoding tasks we plan to perform
special analysis for videoconference encoding.

New Metrics
We will use new objective quality metrics MS-SSIM and 3-SSIM
in addition to classical SSIM and PSNR.

GPU Analysis
This year we want to add GPU-encoders analysis to the comparison.
For this analysis we plan to use top GPU, e.g.
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580.

HRD Compliance
We consider the possibility to perform HRD compliance test for
video codecs that support this feature.

Transcoding Analysis
Also we want to propose developers to take part in special
additional testing mode - transcoding analysis.
Developer sends us a pair (MPEG-2 decoder + H.264 encoder)
and we will test it for transcoding use-case we will take
MPEG-2 source video sequecnes to encode
them with H.264 encoder.


Important Dates
February, 1 - Deadline for receipt of a H.264 codec with presets
February, 14 - Deadline for settling technical problems with codec
March, 15 - Report's draft will be sent to all participants
March, 22 - Deadline for reception of comments to the draft
April, 7 - Comparison report release

The full text of Call for Codecs is available at
http://compression.ru/video/codec_comparison/call_for_codecs_11.html

Variants of Participation
There are two variants for companies to participate in our comparison:

Participation for free. All results of your codec will be
published, except special cases of measurements
problems due to codec instability.

Private participation. A special report will be prepared only
for your company. This report contains:

Your codec results and all material from the free version
Special additional analysis of your codec



If you are interested in the private participation,
please contact us for details.

Useful Links

Call for codecs-2011
http://compression.ru/video/codec_comparison/call_for_codecs_11.html

Sixth Annual MSU MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 Video Codec Comparison
http://www.compression.ru/video/codec_comparison/h264_2010

Options Analysis of MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 Codec x264
http://compression.ru/video/codec_comparison/x264_options_analysis_08_en.html


-----
Best regards,
Dr. Dmitriy Kulikov,
Moscow State University (MSU)
Graphics&Media Lab
Videocodec Testing Team
videocodec-testing@graphics.cs.msu.ru

[kieranrk]

HRD Compliance
We consider the possibility to perform HRD compliance test for
video codecs that support this feature.


I would argue there isn't such thing as "HRD compliance". It's more of a case of whether a particular analyzer doesn't complain that a file is not compliant.

(In my opinion Pengvado was right not to allow a HRD patch in x264 for many years since compliance is a totally arbitrary concept)

I think you should check VBV compliance instead.

[IgorC]

http://compression.ru/video/codec_comparison/h264_2011/

[CruNcher]

Is this a joke they didn't compared Nvidias GPU Encoder ? i mean even a ex MSU guy is working on that geez, and didn't they said if we dont have at least 3 GPU Encoder we wont compare GPU Encoder @ all ?

Though nothing new ;) http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1477694#post1477694

[nm]

Is this a joke they didn't compared Nvidias GPU Encoder ? i mean even a ex MSU guy is working on that geez, and didn't they said if we dont have at least 3 GPU Encoder we wont compare GPU Encoder @ all ?

Maybe they tested it but didn't get permission to publish the results. Wouldn't be surprising, considering how the MainConcept CUDA encoder fared.

[mandarinka]

It's in the pdf. Page 99 and further (in the free to download pdf).

[nm]

It's in the pdf. Page 99 and further (in the free to download pdf).

MainConcept's CUDA encoder is there, not others. CruNcher wanted to see nvcuvenc results.

[me7]

Too bad QuickTime wasn't included, I'd like to see how it fares compared to a recent build of x264;)

[Blue_MiSfit]

If I was Apple, I sure as hell wouldn't want anyone doing proper testing of my H.264 encoder! :devil:

[CruNcher]

If I was Apple, I sure as hell wouldn't want anyone doing proper testing of my H.264 encoder! :devil:

HiHi :D

MainConcept's CUDA encoder is there, not others. CruNcher wanted to see nvcuvenc results.

Yes that was what i meant, sad that there is also nowhere a reference about which Cuda Encoder was tested from Mainconcept (settings,version)
just a -> MainConcept H.264 (CUDA based encoder) <- that's not much if they said Mainconcept Provided us with the latest High Profile Encoder it would be clear but this way it could be also just the Main Profile encoder, without adaptive b-frames, no 8x8dct (FreXt), no hadamard, no weighted prediction ?

[henryho_hk]

I am afraid XviD encoding parameters (if anyone cares) are not well selected.

In my own SSIM tests of SD size, XviD 1.3(.1)'s "-qpel" is always counter-productive under "-qtype 0 -vhqmode 4". Only when under "-vhqmode 1" and within a certain "mid" bitrate range (40 to 70 under Teegdeck's comp-test), "-qpel" produces a slightly higher SSIM (but probably not high enough to justify the speed impact). Further, under a low bitrate situation (15 to 35), we should use the "EQM v3 LR" custom matrix (without -qpel).