Upcoming Maxwell GPUs Will Support H.265, But VP9 Is Uncertain

[phoronix]

Phoronix: Upcoming Maxwell GPUs Will Support H.265, But VP9 Is Uncertain

NVIDIA launched their GeForce GTX 750 graphics cards back in February as their first products based upon their new Maxwell architecture. Sadly those GPUs didn't support any H.265 or VP9 acceleration, but at least it looks like the former will be supported by the next round of Maxwell GPUs...

http://www.phoronix.com/vr.php?view=MTY4NTg

[Calinou]

Too bad, we definitely need VP8 or VP9 (preferably) hardware support.

[deanjo]

Too bad, we definitely need VP8 or VP9 (preferably) hardware support.

From an end user POV, I can't see it being a "need" more than being a "bonus" as there are not too many (if any at all) VP8/9 exclusive sites.

[zanny]

From an end user POV, I can't see it being a "need" more than being a "bonus" as there are not too many (if any at all) VP8/9 exclusive sites.

If you live in the US, and are encoding video, say to put on youtube, you are violating MPEG-LA licensing terms by using x264, for example. And how many commercial h.264 encoders are people using? The entire industry seems to be x264 anyway, and it is basically a time bomb waiting to blow whenever MPEG-LA goes all Oracle on everyone, or at least x264 distributors.

We need an open codec that isn't a legal black hole. I'm still hoping Dalaa can be accelerated with openCL enough to do a good job, because vp9 is more of a stop gap based on old tech and it isn't really competitive with either h.264/5 at all.

[mmstick]

Too bad, we definitely need VP8 or VP9 (preferably) hardware support.

Even better, what we really need is Daala.

[plonoma]

If there won't be dedicated support in Maxwell GPU's for VP9, an OpenCL video decoder could be developed and used as a fall-back solution.

[Calinou]

If you live in the US, and are encoding video, say to put on youtube, you are violating MPEG-LA licensing terms by using x264, for example. And how many commercial h.264 encoders are people using? The entire industry seems to be x264 anyway, and it is basically a time bomb waiting to blow whenever MPEG-LA goes all Oracle on everyone, or at least x264 distributors.

We need an open codec that isn't a legal black hole. I'm still hoping Dalaa can be accelerated with openCL enough to do a good job, because vp9 is more of a stop gap based on old tech and it isn't really competitive with either h.264/5 at all.

For once, someone is not defending H.264/H.265 too much.

The main issue I have with VP8 (I don't use VP9 currently) is the encoding times (in OpenShot), but that's not a problem if I just record a video using SimpleScreenRecorder without editing it.

Even better, what we really need is Daala.

It's not quite ready yet.

If there won't be dedicated support in Maxwell GPU's for VP9, an OpenCL video decoder could be developed and used as a fall-back solution.

Would it work in all applications, or would it have to be implemented for each application?

[zanny]

Would it work in all applications, or would it have to be implemented for each application?

It would be a part of the encoder / decoder most likely, rather than built int vaapi or vdpau. You would just have an opencl based Dalaa or vp9 encoder / decoder that you ship as a gstreamer plugin or get into ffmpeg, and everyone would be able to use it from there.

[deanjo]

If you live in the US, and are encoding video, say to put on youtube, you are violating MPEG-LA licensing terms by using x264, for example.

Sorry but that is pure FUD. There is absolutely no violation in such case.

http://www.engadget.com/2010/08/26/mpeg-la-makes-h-264-video-royalty-free-forever-as-long-as-its/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.264/MPEG-4_AVC#Patent_licensing

[plonoma]

It would be a part of the encoder / decoder most likely, rather than built int vaapi or vdpau. You would just have an opencl based Dalaa or vp9 encoder / decoder that you ship as a gstreamer plugin or get into ffmpeg, and everyone would be able to use it from there.

Exactly, applications can choose to have the OpenCL encoder / decoder built in or use a video codec framework e.g. gstreamer or ffmpeg. Even offer the user the choice between different built in and not built in framework codec encoders / decoders.