Evaluation of HEVC decoders (SW, Hybrid and HW)

[huhn]

Now, about HEVC specifically I have to say that all those samples from ASTRA and HOTBIRD are real world samples of Satellite broadcast video.

What is more real file than that ?

I don't see a test channel 99.9% of all TV can't display as a real world problem at least not now.
after UHD BD specs and a way to watch these disc on a PC I see this as a real world problem.

[cyberbeing]

Look at the results to see what exactly I was saying about Null/ EVR/ EVR-CP renderers
...
Benchmarks:
LAV x64 CPU DXVA Decoding (Null) 47/62/66 CPU Usage 98%

LAV x64 CPU DXVA Processing (EVR) 33/49/52 CPU Usage 95%
...
Playback:
In realworld playback using MPC-HC x64 v1.7.7 and EVR-CP the clip has a jitter of ~9-10ms and it can't go more than 44fps-45fps and a few dropped frames.

You're EVR-CP perf is usually low, which suggests either a GPU problem or a MPC-HC settings problem. Try 'Right-click->Renderer Settings->Reset->Reset to Default Renderer Settings' and see if things improve.

No issue like that here on my 3570K @4.4Ghz.

LAV x64 CPU DXVA Decoding (Null) 57/68/72 CPU Usage 98%

LAV x64 CPU DXVA Processing (EVR) 57/67/72 CPU Usage 97%

Solid 50.000fps & 0ms jitter with EVR-CP Playback in MPC-HC x64 v1.7.7

[NikosD]

You're EVR-CP perf is usually low, which suggests either a GPU problem or a MPC-HC settings problem. Try 'Right-click->Renderer Settings->Reset->Reset to Default Renderer Settings' and see if things improve.

Solid 50.000fps & 0ms jitter with EVR-CP Playback in MPC-HC x64 v1.7.7

I did the reset to Default Renderer Settings and nothing changed.

I wouldn't call it a GPU problem, it's a performance issue.

The iGPU HD 4600 is simply not fast enough for EVR-CP and such clips which are in the upper limit of performance of CPU decoding (null).

The same processor with a faster GPU, would decode in software using EVR-CP that clip in realtime with no jitter.

[Littleman]

Hi there,
First post since 2008 (yay! had to create a new account...)

I've just bought a lenovo y50 with an nvidia GTX 860m card linked via optimus to an intel HD 4600 igp.

The laptop has a 4k screen, so I had this crazy idea that I would decode 4K files...

I've tried a variety of files and players but it's often a hit or miss so far.
Big Bucks Bunny (http://distribution.bbb3d.renderfarming.net/video/mp4/bbb_sunflower_2160p_60fps_normal.mp4.torrent) in 4k doesn't play smoothly for instance.
Activating the hevc option in players seems to have no effect whatsoever.

I've started digging further into the matter and it seems that all images from the nvidia card go through intel's igp anyway, except when using the hdmi port (no tv, can't try that). What's bugging me so far is that I can't seem to have a solution to force the nvidia chip to decode video and I don't know if it's a harware limitation / optimus limitation or driver limitation...

Any clue to get me started? (all drivers are up to date - intel generic driver, not lenovo and latest nvidia too).
I'm willing to experiment "exotic" solutions if needed.

[NikosD]

I think you can get more help there, after you read that thread:

http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1687796

[Littleman]

I think you can get more help there, after you read that thread:

http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1687796

Yeah, thanks for the link. I had already read the thread but found no solutions that work for me there, but I'll post in their thread and see if they can help.

[P.J]

I think the new Nvidia 344.48 driver works better.

[NikosD]

I have installed Windows 10 Technical Preview x64 on an old hardware (laptop) and today I installed latest build 9860.

Win 10 has built-in support of MKV and HEVC decoding but during my tests I found out these:


1) There is no DS support, only MFT, so you can forget all known codecs/players besides Windows Media Player and Microsoft's MFT decoders of course.


2) MKV is working for H.264 codec, but not for H.265. I couldn't manage to decode H.265 .MKV files with Microsoft's MFT decoders.


3) Microsoft's MFT H.265 decoder has only CPU support, no DXVA for HEVC yet.


Also I did some benchmarking tests with my laptop's CPU and DXVA Checker x64 v3.2.1

I used LAV x64 0.63.5 and Microsoft's MFT H.265 decoder using Merom T7600 CPU (Core 2 Duo@2.33GHz) and the Gravity 2048x864 HEVC trailer which is in .mp4 format.


DXVA decoding didn't work with Microsoft's H265 decoder so I used DXVA processing.


Gravity 2048x864 HEVC - DXVA Processing - 1280 x720


Microsoft's MFT H.265 20/34/59 CPU Usage: 90%


LAV x64 0.63.5 15/21/23 CPU Usage: 67%



Well, the numbers speak for themselves!

I can't believe such difference with LAV x64 which is very fast, but Microsoft made a miracle with its own decoder!

P.S
I managed to find another .mp4 clip and the difference is much smaller, but still MS MFT is faster again.

The huge difference of the file above is probably due to the encoding process and the not optimised decoding process of LAV for that specific clip.

[huhn]

Microsoft pays there programmer so this decoder is most likely a "finished" product and updates are more for bug not performance in the future. free decoder like openHEVC will catch up in the feature.
and the decoder in lavfilter for HEVC isn't very fast it is just a lot faster than the older version or a different decoder.

[NikosD]

Win 10 is in very early stages and it would be a very big surprise if HEVC decoder is at final stage.

I'll check again both decoders (LAV, MS MFT) in the future to see their progress on the same and other clips.

[kasper93]

Win 10 is in very early stages and it would be a very big surprise if HEVC decoder is at final stage.

If it is deployed that mean it is finished, and only fixes and smaller changes will be incorporated. It is not like open source, company like Microsoft can't afford spending time on improving something that works. It works, it is fast enough, job done.

[huhn]

they just release 9879. feel free to try it out.

[NikosD]

I have to repeat myself that Win 10 is in early stage of development.

Probably H.265 codec is in early stage too.

It's not in a ready state status.

Only RTM version is final product and still changes happen, even in performance not only bugs, via updates.

One thing that makes me sure that it's not final product, it's the fact that no DXVA acceleration is included in this version.

[NikosD]

Does anyone have .mp4 H265 files, but below 3840x2160 resolution ?

I have only two!

[huhn]

a software decoder has usually nothing to do with the DXVA version. the software for a DXVA decoder is just a software that talks to the "GPU driver".

about mp4 maybe ffmpeg can remux to it.

[huhn]

i did a test with the UHD beauty sample. using native resolution
ms mf 9879 85/94/97 76%
lavfilter x64 63.0 71/87/95 69%

doesn't look that special...

[NikosD]

Check Gravity trailer and you will confirm the performance difference above.

Unfortunately on my old laptop I can't check any 4K file, not even H.264

[huhn]

i don't have that file.

[nevcairiel]

There are plenty optmizations for SSE4 and AVX in ffmpeg/LAV, which a Core 2 Duo wouldn't be able to utilize, so its quite possible the performance gap may shrink quite a bit on a newer CPU.

[NikosD]

I don't think so.

I'm pretty sure that such optimizations are already included in MS MFT.

The performance gap will probably be the same regardless of CPU architecture.

The difference is in the clips and the optimizations of specific HEVC decoding parts of the algorithm.

[huhn]

TEARS OF STEEL remux 720p source http://www.h265files.com/

lav 63.0 with 16 threads 821 fps 66 % CPU usage
lav 63.0 with auto 842 fps 60 % cpu usage
ms mf 732 fps 67 % cpu usage

ShakeNDry_3840x2160_120fps_420_8bit_HEVC_RAW.hevc 300 frames remux to mp4 i got this file on a page with tons of samples in all size and codec even lossless YUV. is a long time ago can't find it right now.

lav auto threads 87 fps 76 % CPU
MS MF 90 FPS 85 % CPU

120 FPS game recoding created by HUHN

lav 63.0 366 FPS 53% CPU
ms MF 363 84%

i don't see a clear winner but huge potential in thread optimization for the decoder in Lavfilter

[NikosD]

I upgraded Win 10 to the latest build 9879 and I got a little performance boost for HEVC decoding:

Microsoft's MFT H.265 20/36/60 CPU Usage: 90%

LAV x64 0.63.5 15/21/23 CPU Usage: 67%

I tried LAV with Auto Threads and 8 threads with no performance difference.

I uploaded the clip tested here, in order more people to check it out.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/1aaex4

[huhn]

lav 63.0 117/159/405 61%
ms mf 150/204/292 72%

something about this file i haven't see something like this with every other file.

[NikosD]

Maybe because it's a 10 bit file.

If you have another one, you could try.

[huhn]

i don't have one time to create one.

[xooyoozoo]

This site (http://demo-uhd3d.com/categorie.php?tag=hevc) has a couple 20+mbps 10-bit 4K HEVC demos: Eutelsat (http://demo-uhd3d.com/files/4k/Eutelsat.Demo.HEVC.ts) and Astra (http://demo-uhd3d.com/files/4k/Astra.SES.Demo.HEVC.ts).

You may need to remux.

[P.J]

Interesting, would you try 10-bit 4K with both MS and LAV?

[huhn]

i try it later. but i haven't found a way to get hevc stream out of the TS. so i may go and simply create a 10 bit video should be faster.

[P.J]

Doesn't WMP play TS HEVC?

[Kurtnoise]

i try it later. but i haven't found a way to get hevc stream out of the TS.
did you try with the last version of TsMuxer ?

[huhn]

did you try with the last version of TsMuxer ?

yes it find the stream with Eutelsat.Demo.HEVC.ts but it can't find the fps of the file and an option for 50 is not part of the GUI.
i tried the CLI didn't got it working.
if i remux the stream to m2ts, mmg detects the video stream as AC3/EAC3 X-).

Astra.SES.Demo.HEVC.ts doesn't work at all the stream is not found only audio.

[huhn]

Doesn't WMP play TS HEVC?

no and would be pointless in this case. i don't need it to work in a player i need it to work with a benchmark tool and that's not the case.

[xooyoozoo]

It played in a Win10 VM through the Video app after

ffmpeg (http://ffmpeg.zeranoe.com/builds/) -i $FILE -map 0:0 -c:v copy -movflags faststart $FILE.mp4

.

Edit: Well, I uploaded a remuxed version of the Astra clip (https://mega.co.nz/#!RdlCCL7Z!MtXILmyRrMHE2n5TZJF6mqV24OWUCY8sYXBDJrqokGo).

[huhn]

astra mp4 remux
ms mf 52/58/66 63%
lav 63.0 57/74/117 77%
that's that i guess.
no i didn't mixed them up

[xooyoozoo]

The results for Astra looks great! But it brings up the question of why LAV does poorer on the 10bit Gravity clip.

something about this file i haven't see something like this with every other file.

So I went through and looked at the parameter sets in a few of the clips here, and compared to the others, that clip (Gravity Trailer) has two "unique" features: weighted-prediction and wavefront parallelism.

I hope that either one isn't the sticking point for the LAV decoder, but just to check, can you also try this clip (https://mega.co.nz/#!dEkTDKIC!BJuMB3Gu-Q_pgMnQ9zR6qrFHsoJFM2HbmCDilGqKblo)? It's a 90-seconds 10bit 16Mbps 4K encode with WPP and weighted-pred.

[huhn]

lav 63.0 46/56/68 93%
ms mf 36/48/54 85%

i guess it's wavefront parallelism then.

[xooyoozoo]

WPP is shorthand for wavefront parallelism, so that feature is already turned on.

In any case, the two 10bit-4K clips's results are enough to allay my doubts about LAV's decoder optimizations.

[huhn]

for some reason lav is a lot faster with UHD content but why.

maybe the cabac is faster in ms mf?

[NikosD]

I tried every clip posted here, but unfortunately as I have said before, my laptop probably due to graphics card or DXVA Checker's bug can't benchmark 4K HEVC files (not even 4K H.264), at least under Win 10.

But I uploaded for you another non 4K HEVC file to run a benchmark.

Once again for me, MS MFT 9879 is faster than LAV

TOS sample

MS MFT x64 9879 11/23/36 CPU: 91%
LAV x64 0.63.5 12/19/31 CPU: 91%

Same CPU utilization, MS MFT faster than LAV (about 21%).

You can download the clip here:
https://www.sendspace.com/file/uq8osh

[NikosD]

So I went through and looked at the parameter sets in a few of the clips here, and compared to the others, that clip (Gravity Trailer) has two "unique" features: weighted-prediction and wavefront parallelism.


How did you do that ?

How did you find the encoding parameters of the Gravity trailer and the other clips ?

Is there a tool ?

Thanks!

[huhn]

lav 63 85/120/136 76%
ms mf 102/131/174 93%

ms mf is faster with this file here but usage a lot more CPU.
this file use a lot of cabac with is avg 31 mbit up to 94 mbit unlike the gravity file that has 5 mbit in it name.

[xooyoozoo]

How did you find the encoding parameters of the Gravity trailer and the other clips ?

Is there a tool ?

You'd need a bitstream analyzer that can read the various VPS/SPS/PPS flags. Pretty much all of them can do that, but you might have to read between the lines to match a flag to a colloquially-termed feature.

[NikosD]

Can you name a few ?

Are there any free analysers capable of doing that ?

[NikosD]

I have a new beta of DXVA Checker and for the first time I can benchmark 4K files with my old laptop under Win 10, in "Decode performance" as it's the new name of DXVA decoding.

I can't do the same thing with DXVA processing or "Playback performance" as it is called now, because my iGPU 945G can only output 4K files using VMR7 and not VMR9/EVR needed by DXVA Checker.

Beauty-2160p@30fps-12.3Mbps

MS MFT 9879 8/15/20 CPU usage: 92%

LAV x64 0.63.5 3/9/11 CPU usage: 95%


Once again MS MFT is faster than LAV (about 67% !) and it seems we have a clear winner, at least for Core 2 Duo HEVC decoding.

[Dethis]

It would be interesting to include samples fron Samsung NX1 in the benchmarks HQ (40Mbps) and ProQuality (80mbps)
http://www.imaging-resource.com/news/2014/11/19/samsung-nx1-4k-video-samples-and-new-full-res-frame-grabs-available-for-do

[NikosD]

I downloaded all 5 clips.

It's a little pity for the Mac users to have a new iMac with a 4GHz quad-core Core i7 and AMD Radeon R9 M295X, but still can't play the clips, according to the reviewer of the article.

With signature system and HD 4600@1500MHz I had problems using DXVA Checker and MPC-HC x64 v1.7.7.128 using HW decoding with Intel's HEVC decoder.

I got black screen or nothing.

But using latest official PotPlayer x64, I got DXVA acceleration for all 5 clips and I could play relatively easy all 5 clips, besides the ProQuality@80Mbps clip.

But even the other 80Mbps clip, could be decoded properly by HD 4600 in HW acceleration and ~20% CPU usage@4.0GHz.

I saw the GPU memory usage to 1.5 GB which is unexplainable because from BIOS I can assign up to 1 GB GPU memory!

Using CPU (SW decoder) all clips can be handled easily by all players.

Here is a benchmark for the most difficult clip with DXVA Checker x64 v.3.2.1 and LAV 0.63.5, using DXVA processing at 1280x720:

yvid_SAM_0230-ProQuality-UHD@30fps-80Mbps


LAV x64 0.63.5 CPU 20/43/47 CPU usage: 86 %

[foxyshadis]

Can you name a few ?

Are there any free analysers capable of doing that ?

HEVC Visa (http://hevcvisa.codecian.com/) is good when it works, but lately that hasn't often been the case. The free trial of CodecVisa long since ran out for me.

I thought there was a way to use gstreamer or ffmpeg to display all data, but nothing is working. I guess there's still room for someone to improve ffprobe.

[NikosD]

Thanks for the reply.

From all the apps you mentioned, I have only tried ffprobe which definitely is not enough for analysing HEVC.

Probably I'll have to wait for a more complete app to come up.

[P.J]

I downloaded all 5 clips.

It's a little pity for the Mac users to have a new iMac with a 4GHz quad-core Core i7 and AMD Radeon R9 M295X, but still can't play the clips, according to the reviewer of the article.

With signature system and HD 4600@1500MHz I had problems using DXVA Checker and MPC-HC x64 v1.7.7.128 using HW decoding with Intel's HEVC decoder.

I got black screen or nothing.

But using latest official PotPlayer x64, I got DXVA acceleration for all 5 clips and I could play relatively easy all 5 clips, besides the ProQuality@80Mbps clip.

But even the other 80Mbps clip, could be decoded properly by HD 4600 in HW acceleration and ~20% CPU usage@4.0GHz.

I saw the GPU memory usage to 1.5 GB which is unexplainable because from BIOS I can assign up to 1 GB GPU memory!

Using CPU (SW decoder) all clips can be handled easily by all players.

Here is a benchmark for the most difficult clip with DXVA Checker x64 v.3.2.1 and LAV 0.63.5, using DXVA processing at 1280x720:

yvid_SAM_0230-ProQuality-UHD@30fps-80Mbps


LAV x64 0.63.5 CPU 20/43/47 CPU usage: 86 %
HD4600 can't use more than 512MB as dedicated memory.
And the last clip (ProQuality) doesn't play good with PotPlayer.
(i3 4330) CPU: 25% GPU: 50% Dynamic memory usage: 850MB Dedicated memory usage: 24MB

[NikosD]

No, HD 4600 can use 1GB RAM, that's the max setting of BIOS and if you see my first post with the benchmark details, I have specific numbers for GPU RAM utilisation during benchmarking.

I did the test again monitoring real main memory RAM of my system and GPU RAM and during playing back of one of the samsung clips, GPU RAM went as high as 1.5GB

About Pro quality clip, did you read my post you quoted ?