Evaluation of HEVC decoders (SW, Hybrid and HW) [Archive] - Page 24

leonccyiu

3rd June 2016, 01:00

@GTPVHD
8k nobody needs.
This is just a measure for the GPU manufacturers. It is not practical value for consumers.

I'd disagree, watching youtube's 4k vp9 on a 55 inch 4k tv, it's clearly a step back from the high bit-rate demo clips. I watch 4k on youtube downscaled to 1080p on my monitor and it looks like perfect 1080p, any combing/aliasing artifacts are likely present in the source. Since the video is 4:2:0, when downscaled it'd be 4:4:4 as well.

Since youtube already has 8k vp9, and that'll likely remain the only source of 8k for a while, 8k hevc and vp9 would provide a sharper 4k image.

leonccyiu

3rd June 2016, 01:04

Only 8 bit support in hardware for Bristol Bridge?

Has anyone seen what hardware decoding capabilities are in Polaris?

I certainly hope Polaris is capable of 10 bit HEVC decoding at >60fps.

vivan

3rd June 2016, 07:09

I'd disagree, watching youtube's 4k vp9 on a 55 inch 4k tv, it's clearly a step back from the high bit-rate demo clips. I watch 4k on youtube downscaled to 1080p on my monitor and it looks like perfect 1080p, any combing/aliasing artifacts are likely present in the source. Since the video is 4:2:0, when downscaled it'd be 4:4:4 as well.The only reason it looks better is because it has higher bitrate. Still it's bitstarved to death and any challenging content turns it into shit regardless of the resolution. If that 1080p video had that bitrate it would look much better.

So no, stressing hardware and wasting bandwitch just because one service cares only about marketing is a terrible reason. And it's really sad how upscaling and watching downscaled upscaled content becomes a norm because of this.

Yups

8th June 2016, 19:15

A confirmation from the updated Media SDK release notes that Kabylake supports 10 Bit HEVC and VP9:

HW HEVC Encode: Full HW HEVC encode MAIN10 profile supported on 7th Generation
Intel® Core™ and Core M platforms

HW HEVC Decode: Full HW HEVC decode MAIN10 supported on 7th Generation Intel® Core™ and Core-M platforms.

HW VP9 Decode: Full HW VP9 8 bit and 10 bit decode supported on 7th Generation
Intel® Core™ and Core-M platforms

NikosD

10th June 2016, 08:52

A more interesting detail in release notes is this:

MFX_CODEC_VP9 and MFX_PROFILE_VP9_0, MFX_PROFILE_VP9_1, MFX_PROFILE_VP9_2, MFX_PROFILE_VP9_3 added for VP9 HW decode support.

If Kabylake supports all VP9 profiles, then according to wikipedia:

Profile 0 allows for a bit depth of 8-bits per sample and supports 4:2:0 chroma subsampling.

Profile 1, which is optional for hardware, adds support for 4:2:2 chroma subsampling, 4:4:4 chroma subsampling, alpha channel support, and depth channel support.

Profile 2 allows for a bit depth of 10-bits to 12-bits per sample and supports 4:2:0 chroma subsampling.

Profile 3 adds support for 4:2:2 chroma subsampling, 4:4:4 chroma subsampling, and alpha channel support.

leonccyiu

14th June 2016, 02:53

— Next-generation display technologies – Radeon™ RX Series includes support for next-generation HDR gaming and video on new HDR monitors and TVs. The Radeon™ RX Series also supports HDMI™ 2.0b and DisplayPort 1.3/1.4 supporting the new generation of high-resolution HDR and high-refresh displays. The Radeon™ RX Series features exceptional accelerated H.265 encoding and decoding, enabling effortless streaming or recording of 10-bit 4K video at 60 FPS4.

http://videocardz.com/61028/amd-announces-radeon-rx-470-and-rx-460

Confirmation that the next generation AMD cards do 10 bit H.265 decoding. Will have to wait for more details, and about VP9

NikosD

14th June 2016, 08:37

P.J

14th June 2016, 08:44

Too late :rolleyes:

Waiting for 8K...

Stereodude

14th June 2016, 16:54

http://videocardz.com/61028/amd-announces-radeon-rx-470-and-rx-460

Confirmation that the next generation AMD cards do 10 bit H.265 decoding. Will have to wait for more details, and about VP9
There is no clear statement about the decode capabilities. It says, "The Radeon™ RX Series features exceptional accelerated H.265 encoding and decoding, enabling effortless streaming or recording of 10-bit 4K video at 60 FPS." I guess "streaming" means playback... :confused:

Is 12-bit HEVC decode necessary for any existing content / format yet?

NikosD

17th June 2016, 07:48

More and more HW manufacturers are moving to VP9, favoring their components with full decode/encode support of all or main (8bit/10 bit) VP9 profiles.

So, after Intel which seems to support all VP9 profiles (for decoding) with Kabylake, now ARM releases Egil Video processor with full support of 4K decode/encode VP9 (both 8bit/ 10bit)

According to anandtech and a lot of other people, the patent-free nature of VP9 vs the strict and complex license scheme of HEVC could be a reason for that.

http://www.anandtech.com/print/10428/arm-announces-mali-egil-video-processor

Yups

29th June 2016, 15:56

Looks very fast, but from the comparison tables Skylake is missing.

Of course, Polaris (10 & 11) and Kabylake are the real rivals for Pascal, regarding video decoding/ encoding.

https://www.computerbase.de/2016-06/radeon-rx-480-test/7/#diagramm-videos-abspielen-h265-codec-lav-filters

There are some decoding benchmarks of Polaris. AMD can't compete with Pascal.

NikosD

29th June 2016, 16:36

We need DXVA screenshots of both Pascal and Polaris in order to check video HW acceleration capabilities.

Like HEVC 8bit/10bit & VP9 8bit/10bit and resolution too, like 8K.

And then we can talk about our favorite subject, benchmarks of course.

Yups

29th June 2016, 16:51

http://scr3.golem.de/screenshots/1606/Radeon-RX-480-Test/thumb620/Test-Radeon-RX-480-17.png

It's pretty clear that HEVC 8/10 bit decoding will be supported and VP9 only 8 bit, both up to 4k.

Encoding is unclear: http://scr3.golem.de/screenshots/1606/Radeon-RX-480-Test/thumb620/Test-Radeon-RX-480-18.png

There is no mention of 10 bit HEVC.

DXVA screenshot is here: http://www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-Radeon-RX-480-Review-The-fastest-Polaris-desktop-card-at-launch.168250.0.html

The new H.265 decoder handles a 4K 10-bit video at 72 fps and 2 % CPU load.

NikosD

29th June 2016, 16:55

Someone has to tell them to update the DXVA Checker version.

They are using an ancient one where 8K is not represented separately, but as 4KUHD.

Not that I think that Polaris supports 8K though.

nevcairiel

29th June 2016, 16:57

DXVA screenshot is here: http://www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-Radeon-RX-480-Review-The-fastest-Polaris-desktop-card-at-launch.168250.0.html

There is no VP9 in that list yet, at least not under the official Microsoft DXVA VP9 specification.
Guess future drivers will tell.

huhn

29th June 2016, 17:29

huhn

29th June 2016, 18:48

and the decoder is slower than maxwell(950, 960) but still so fast that the speed doesn't really matter.

nevcairiel

29th June 2016, 19:19

6GB is plenty on that level of performance, honestly. The real world performance and price in the end is what matters then.

mandarinka

29th June 2016, 19:48

this german page claims it supports VP9 and HEVC 10 bit.

but this page is talking about 2 pass encoding for live streaming and that is an "interesting" claim...

http://www.pcgameshardware.de/AMD-Radeon-Grafikkarte-255597/Specials/RX-480-Test-1199839/

performance and power consumption are underwhelming. i had so much hope for this card...

In the architecture press materials, it is stated that VP9 is "to be enabled in a later driver release". It is not working yet (and is probably shader/GPGPU-based).

huhn

29th June 2016, 19:50

In the architecture press materials, it is stated that VP9 is "to be enabled in a later driver release". It is not working yet (and is probably shader/GPGPU-based).

that would be a little bit sad.

most CPU can handle VP9 easily because it is mostly used on youtube with very low bitrate. not a deal breaker in my eyes.

P.J

29th June 2016, 20:04

Waiting for 1050/1060 :rolleyes:

sneaker_ger

29th June 2016, 23:58

If my main use is video, I'd choose the 1060 for VP9 10 bit and better efficiency (imagine Youtube would offer 10 bit for all new VP9 streams...).
Who said it will support 10 bit VP9? :confused:

aufkrawall

30th June 2016, 00:07

I confused it with 12 bit HEVC, nevermind.

NikosD

30th June 2016, 18:37

From Tom's Hardware it seems that Polaris could support VP9 Profile 2 (10bit)

AMD lists HEVC decode at up to 4K60 using the Main 10 profile, which allows for a 10-bit 4:2:0 format (it all goes back to making HDR possible).

VP9 decode is supported by the hardware, though AMD’s drivers don’t expose it yet—we only know the feature is planned for a future update.

Assume at least profile 2 compatibility if AMD wants to match HEVC’s 10-bit/4:2:0 chroma subsampling for HDR.

Less consequential, perhaps, is hardware-based acceleration of the M-JPEG format at up to 4K30.

Yups

30th June 2016, 19:11

From Tom's Hardware it seems that Polaris could support VP9 Profile 2 (10bit)

I don't think so, otherwise AMD would have told so.

huhn

1st July 2016, 20:07

only 6 GB every should throw there flag ship fury nano fury X out of the window they only have 4 GB...

P.J

1st July 2016, 21:36

GTX950/960 are fine for people who don't game :)

P.J

3rd July 2016, 19:30

GTX950/960 are fine for people who don't game :)

I meant for 4K HEVC 10-bit playback since i5/i7 can't handle it :)

Plutotype

10th July 2016, 18:40

So what is the status of DXVA on RX480 for 10bit/12bit HEVC?
Thanks

Trevonn

11th July 2016, 22:34

10-bit videos are decoded in hardware just fine. I don't have any 12-bit videos to test sorry.

Plutotype

12th July 2016, 02:45

10-bit videos are decoded in hardware just fine. I don't have any 12-bit videos to test sorry.
HEVC 2160 10-bit?

Trevonn

12th July 2016, 20:29

HEVC 2160 10-bit?

Yes that works too

http://i.imgur.com/xqQ7WSt.png

NikosD

12th July 2016, 20:31

Can you give us some benchmark figures in order to show us the performance ?

Do you know how to do that ?

Trevonn

12th July 2016, 21:05

Can you give us some benchmark figures in order to show us the performance ?

Do you know how to do that ?

I have DXVA Checker etc but I don't know of the top of my head. If you could point me to a tutorial I'd be more than capable of following that.

p.s I'm a long time lurker

NikosD

17th July 2016, 20:31

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160717/8bc6b1c07063febe3f1ab30879c3ade8.jpg

It seems from the official presentation of Polaris cards that they support 4K VP9 acceleration.

In the picture the 9 note of the slide says:

"Hardware-accelerated VP9 decode support is planned for enhancement in a future Radeon Software driver release"

I hope that hardware-accelerated VP9 decode support to be fixed function and not hybrid though.

Trevonn

18th July 2016, 02:28

Can you give us some benchmark figures in order to show us the performance ?

Do you know how to do that ?

I have figured out how to benchmark. Are there any clips you would like to me test?

NikosD

18th July 2016, 05:53

I have figured out how to benchmark. Are there any clips you would like to me test?

OK, that's good.

We haven't seen any fast H.264 decoder since R9 285 (Tonga), the first 4K120fps H.264 decoder from AMD, so let's start with H.264 files first.

1) H.264 -1080p-108Mbps
ftp://helpedia.com/pub/multimedia/x264/testvideos/2012%20-%2001%20-%20QuickSync%20vs%20UVD%202.2%20vs%20VP4/9.Ducks.Take.Off.1080p30fpsRef5-108Mbps.mkv

2) H.264 - 2160p-370Mbps
ftp://helpedia.com/pub/multimedia/x264/testvideos/2160p%20samples/DucksTakeOff_2160p50.x264.CRF24.mkv

3) H.265 8bit -1080p-80Mbps
http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/samsung-nx1/FULLRES/yvid_SAM_0230-ProQuality.MP4

4) H.265 8bit -1080p-80Mbps
http://imaging-resource.com/PRODS/samsung-nx1/FULLRES/yvid_SAM_0235-UHD_Sample1.MP4

5) H.265 10bit - 2160p-140Mbps
http://jell.yfish.us/media/jellyfish-140-mbps-4k-uhd-hevc-10bit.mkv

6) H.265 10bit -2160p-400Mbps
http://jell.yfish.us/media/jellyfish-400-mbps-4k-uhd-hevc-10bit.mkv

Please use latest DXVA Checker v3.14.0 - LAV x64 video 0.68.1.x in DXVA native mode and in decode mode.

If you have time, include also playback mode results using the 1280 x 720 resolution

Run each benchmark 3 to 5 times and always exclude the first run, because it reads the file from the disk.

For each file, post the average of your runs in this form min (fps) /avg(fps) /max (fps)

For example:

1) H.264 -1080p-108Mbps

Decode:
RX 480 160/164/168

Playback:
RX 480 147/155/160

Have fun!

NikosD

19th July 2016, 18:20

According to the latest official docs from Nvidia, Pascal supports on selected models 8K x 8K HEVC and VP9 HW decoding.

Also Pascal has a lot faster H.264 HW decoder than the fastest Maxwell 960 GTX and even faster HEVC HW decoder.

Maybe for the first time since Sandybridge, Nvidia managed to outperform Intel in HW decoding speed on all codecs.

P.J

19th July 2016, 19:30

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/geforce_gtx_1060_review,1.html
https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/GeForce_GTX_1060/

Trevonn

24th July 2016, 03:04

I have sold my Reference RX 480. So I won't be able to provide benchmarks for it sorry. In the near future I will purchase a GTX 1060 as I feel it will better suit my encoding, decoding needs.

nsnhd

29th July 2016, 12:31

Hi All, my first post here.
After updating the latest Intel driver, I did benchmark this file on my htpc with Win 10 x64 (10586.494)-I5-4440-iGPU HD 4600 (v.4463)

H.265 10bit - 2160p-140Mbps
http://jell.yfish.us/media/jellyfish...hevc-10bit.mkv

Results with DXVA Checker v3.14.0 LAV x64 video 0.68.1 as follows:
Decode:
CPU 12/21/27
Playback:
CPU 10/18/22

However, when this file was played with MPC-HC 1.7.10, LAV x64 video 0.68.1 using Enhance Video Renderer output, it managed to reach
29.97 fps steadily in CPU mode.

So, what may cause this difference of result between two apps ?

__________________
Win 10 x64 (10586.494) - Core i5-4440- iGPU HD 4600 (v.4463)

kral2008

31st July 2016, 20:24

I have download a small cut of "Men In Black 1997 WEB DL" 2160Pp, 90Mbps, HEVC 10 bit, 23.976FPS
Here is some result:

CPU Core i7 740QM
VGA: 425M Nvidia
Native DXVA2 Enabled:

Decoder: LAV Video Decoder
[1]
Decoder Device: -
Processor Device: 6CB69578-7617-4637-91E5-1C02DB810285
Frames: 746
Time: 43.808 sec
FPS: 17.029 [0-25] fps
CPU Usage: 92 [26-100] %
GPU Usage: 1 [0-7] %
Video Engine Usage: 0 [0-0] %
[2]
Decoder Device: -
Processor Device: 6CB69578-7617-4637-91E5-1C02DB810285
Frames: 746
Time: 42.552 sec
FPS: 17.532 [0-24] fps
CPU Usage: 95 [32-100] %
GPU Usage: 1 [0-7] %
Video Engine Usage: 0 [0-0] %
[3]
Decoder Device: -
Processor Device: 6CB69578-7617-4637-91E5-1C02DB810285
Frames: 746
Time: 42.673 sec
FPS: 17.482 [0-26] fps
CPU Usage: 95 [28-100] %
GPU Usage: 1 [0-3] %
Video Engine Usage: 0 [0-0] %

As you see I can't reach to 23.9 FPS and that mean I can't play smoothly.

One of my friend bought a laptop with Core i5 6200U processor equipped by the Intel Graphics 520 [which can decode HEVC and HEVC Main10] and 920M Geforce VGA. I decided to test my file on his device. But when I checked it with DXVA checker and Native DXVA2 option enabled it gives me only 15.5 FPS.

What happened there? Why using H/W accelerating of HD 520 graphics gives me less FPS than my old core i7 740QM [which has not any integrated GPU].
Does the power of the CPU effect the decoding performance?

I have old Core i7 920 in my desktop PC, I planned to sell it and buy a Xeon X5690 processor. What is your opinion about this processor for decoding 4K HEVC? Is it strong enough to decode high bitrates of HEVC encoded videos with acceptable FPS?

PS: I'll provide you some information about decoding performance using intel xeon 2600 V3 , 2600 V4 and 1200 V5 series if I can install a Geforce 210 GTX vga card in HP Proliant Dl380 G9 server. I have installed windows 10 in DL380 and I couldn't get any good info because its Matrox VGA can not give me proper output.

sneaker_ger

31st July 2016, 20:52

At least desktop Skylake only does CPU/GPU hybrid 10 bit HEVC decoding. Only 8 bit is using powerful fixed-function hardware. Kaby Lake will improve on that.
(I'm not 100% about the mobile chips. They can sometimes be ahead of the desktop ones in such things.)

I have old Core i7 920 in my desktop PC, I planned to sell it and buy a Xeon X5690 processor. What is your opinion about this processor for decoding 4K HEVC? Is it strong enough to decode high bitrates of HEVC encoded videos with acceptable FPS?
No, you can run into troubles with high bitrate/60fps/50fps material. Don't buy such outdated hardware.

P.J

31st July 2016, 20:54

Don't waste energy to decode via CPU, get a GTX 950 instead ;)
Intel Graphics 520 can't decode 10bit, only hybrid.

kral2008

31st July 2016, 21:40

At least desktop Skylake only does CPU/GPU hybrid 10 bit HEVC decoding. Only 8 bit is using powerful fixed-function hardware. Kaby Lake will improve on that.
(I'm not 100% about the mobile chips. They can sometimes be ahead of the desktop ones in such things.)

No, you can run into troubles with high bitrate/60fps/50fps material. Don't buy such outdated hardware.

@ P.J

But in the first post of this topic it was mentioned that Skylake 530 gives more FPS than 960.
Is there any discrepancy between 520 and 530?

sneaker_ger

31st July 2016, 22:07

The first post makes it abundantly clear it's talking about 8 bit decoding. 10 bit is a different matter. Skylake does not have the hardware for it, GTX 950 does. (New Pascal cards even have 12 bit support)

Trevonn

1st August 2016, 04:36

1) H.264 -1080p-108Mbps (ftp://helpedia.com/pub/multimedia/x264/testvideos/2012%20-%2001%20-%20QuickSync%20vs%20UVD%202.2%20vs%20VP4/9.Ducks.Take.Off.1080p30fpsRef5-108Mbps.mkv) - This video is decoded in two seconds that is why the results are a bit weird

Decode:
GTX 1060 - 249/257/249

Playback:
GTX 1060 - 249/259/249

2) H.264 - 2160p-370Mbps (ftp://helpedia.com/pub/multimedia/x264/testvideos/2160p%20samples/DucksTakeOff_2160p50.x264.CRF24.mkv)

Decode:
GTX 1060 - 93/99/104

Playback:
GTX 1060 - 93/99/104

3) H.265 8bit -1080p-80Mbps (http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/samsung-nx1/FULLRES/yvid_SAM_0230-ProQuality.MP4)

Decode:
GTX 1060 - 171/172/176

Playback:
GTX 1060 - 172/174/177

4) H.265 8bit -1080p-80Mbps (http://imaging-resource.com/PRODS/samsung-nx1/FULLRES/yvid_SAM_0235-UHD_Sample1.MP4)

Decode:
GTX 1060 - 183/185/188

Playback:
GTX 1060 - 185/187/190

5) H.265 10bit - 2160p-140Mbps (http://jell.yfish.us/media/jellyfish-140-mbps-4k-uhd-hevc-10bit.mkv)

Decode:
GTX 1060 - 149/168/190

Playback:
GTX 1060 - 148/168/189

6) H.265 10bit -2160p-400Mbps (http://jell.yfish.us/media/jellyfish-400-mbps-4k-uhd-hevc-10bit.mkv)

Decode:
GTX 1060 - 60/76/99

Playback:
GTX 1060 - 61/77/100

7) LG_4K_View-the-Feeling.mp4 (http://demo-uhd3d.com/fiche.php?cat=uhd&id=101)

Decode:
GTX 1060 - 211/218/234

Playback:
GTX 1060 - 215/221/224