Hardware decoder or continue using software

[Sambir]

Hello all,

First off all i always follow this forum to gain knowledge about encoding. But today i really need to know your opinions.

Currently i am using an eightcore amd computer with vlc to transcode 1 channel from my settop box with 720p resolution and 50 fps. You would say that my hardware is sufficient. Most of the time it is but it consumes allot of energy and sometimes it stutters. Also the bitrate is not consistent and sometimes even doubles the initial bitrate.

I would like to reduce the load on the cpu using some sort of hardware... Or i would like to buy a professional encoding device from china which on paper should fit the purpose.

So i am in a dilemma not knowing what is best becaus a professional device costs around 1500 dollars but an propper i7 cpu is way cheaper.

So i found this device on aliexpress what do you think about this?
www.aliexpress.com/item/SD-HD-Encoding-Modulator-DMB-958x-series-for-digital-TV-and-broadcasting/909915428.html

Altough kinda expensive it will transcode the input to 720p/1080p hd output with desired bitrate....i would say. And i could use vlc to just change the protocol. So i would pay it if it works propperly.

Second question is...is there a cheaper hardware solution? Keep in mind it needs to be low power consumption and propper stream output. I found a pci card from matrox its called CompressHD which accelerates encoding but will it work with vlc? Or is there any other device which is cheaper than the one on aliexpress?

Thanks in advice guys for the answers


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[Blue_MiSfit]

Don't buy a hardware encoder. That's a dreadful idea. x264 is better than any of them, I promise. You need to configure x264 correctly.

...You're using x264, right?

What settings are you using? Are you streaming over WiFi, or out to the internet to a mobile device or similar? How much bitrate are you allocating?

[benwaggoner]

An 8-core system should be able to do real-time 720p50 with proper tuning. Can you share the x264 parameters you're using?

It's also possible that source decode, deinterlacing or some other preprocessing step in VLC is taking up a lot of the available CPU time, so you may see what you can tune there.