Intel Working On VA-API AV1 Acceleration For FFmpeg

[phoronix]

Phoronix: Intel Working On VA-API AV1 Acceleration For FFmpeg

With Intel Xe LP / Tigerlake adding AV1 accelerated video decode, the Intel open-source developers are working to expose their AV1 hardware acceleration through the Video Acceleration API (VA-API) for usage by the likes of FFmpeg and other multimedia software...

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Intel-AV1-VA-API-FFmpeg

[rickst29]

If Intel's GREAT programmers will create a VAAPI encoder for Xe, then I will be delighted to buy one of their cards. I'm cash-strapped, but I need that functionality.

It's interesting that the author included support for 12-bit color depth, as well as 8-bit and 10-bit HDR.

[ms178]

The support in FFmpeg is a start, but it is not enough, e.g. Google still refuses to accept VAAPI enabling patches for Chromium on Linux. If video content platforms starts to spread AV1 content more widely, I wonder if Linux users will be kept in the dark without hardware video decode for the next decade. It is bad enough even with h.264 and vp9 for laptop users already but with av1 also desktop systems could struggle doing all of the decode work on the CPU. I hope the Linux community will scream and shout louder to get them to finally sort this out.

[ezst036]

The support in FFmpeg is a start, but it is not enough, e.g. Google still refuses to accept VAAPI enabling patches for Chromium on Linux. If video content platforms starts to spread AV1 content more widely, I wonder if Linux users will be kept in the dark without hardware video decode for the next decade. It is bad enough even with h.264 and vp9 for laptop users already but with av1 also desktop systems could struggle doing all of the decode work on the CPU. I hope the Linux community will scream and shout louder to get them to finally sort this out.

Firefox is moving along very well in the direction of leveraging hardware video decode.

https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Firefox-80-VA-API-X11

https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Firefox-80-Released

https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Firefox-75-Wayland-Great-Shape

[M@GOid]

The support in FFmpeg is a start, but it is not enough, e.g. Google still refuses to accept VAAPI enabling patches for Chromium on Linux. If video content platforms starts to spread AV1 content more widely, I wonder if Linux users will be kept in the dark without hardware video decode for the next decade. It is bad enough even with h.264 and vp9 for laptop users already but with av1 also desktop systems could struggle doing all of the decode work on the CPU. I hope the Linux community will scream and shout louder to get them to finally sort this out.

I believe a user pointed out that hardware acceleration is on the way, but will take a couple releases to appear in the stable channel.

And as pointed above, Firefox got there first. Is still experimental, sure, but is working and available on the stable channel.

[MadeUpName]

The support in FFmpeg is a start, but it is not enough, e.g. Google still refuses to accept VAAPI enabling patches for Chromium on Linux. If video content platforms starts to spread AV1 content more widely, I wonder if Linux users will be kept in the dark without hardware video decode for the next decade. It is bad enough even with h.264 and vp9 for laptop users already but with av1 also desktop systems could struggle doing all of the decode work on the CPU. I hope the Linux community will scream and shout louder to get them to finally sort this out.

Maybe before freaking out about how Linux has completely failed at supporting hardware decoding of AV1 maybe there should actually be AV1 hardware decoders available. NVidia's newly announced and not even shipping yet Ampere cards don't support it. AMD in a few months will release RDNA2 and I have zero expectations that they will have support for hardware AV1. Yes there are chips designed for cell phones and TVs but are those shipping yet?

In the mean time software 4k decode @24fps is working great for me in Firefox. My system chokes on 4k @60 but I am not a fan of high frame rate video out side of sports which I don't watch on my computer. Decode isn't the problem encode is.

[lu_tze]

NVidia's newly announced and not even shipping yet Ampere cards don't support it.

Do you know something that Nvidia doesn't?

https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/news/rtx-30-series-av1-decoding/

Lacking AV1 isn't something I would criticize the Ampere GPUs for.

[shmerl]

The support in FFmpeg is a start, but it is not enough, e.g. Google still refuses to accept VAAPI enabling patches for Chromium on Linux.

Firefox is better anyway, and it now supports VAAPI.

[ms178]

Maybe before freaking out about how Linux has completely failed at supporting hardware decoding of AV1 maybe there should actually be AV1 hardware decoders available. NVidia's newly announced and not even shipping yet Ampere cards don't support it. AMD in a few months will release RDNA2 and I have zero expectations that they will have support for hardware AV1. Yes there are chips designed for cell phones and TVs but are those shipping yet?

In the mean time software 4k decode @24fps is working great for me in Firefox. My system chokes on 4k @60 but I am not a fan of high frame rate video out side of sports which I don't watch on my computer. Decode isn't the problem encode is.

The precedent is with us already: H264 exists for ages and still the Chromium devs don't bother for proper hw video decode support, not even as an experimental option. In 2020. A well justified fear, I would say.

shmerl I'd like to disagree although VAAPI support is important for me. On the other hand Firefox is still mostly slower than Chrome. If they start to beat Chrome in most benchmarks, I will reconsider my browser choice.

[MadeUpName]

I stand corrected Ampere will in fact have AV1 decode but not encode. Some one had posted an old chart for what hardware encode/decode would be. But there is still the fact that it is hard to develop code for hardware that no one has yet.

As for Chrome and H.264 that was very likely a factor of Google once having promised to not support h.264 and suckered Firefox into pulling support for it. That left FF out in the cold on their own while every one else adopted h.264. That cost FF market share. Chromium most likely will eventually support hardware acceleration of AV1 but they definitely won't be the first and it may not be via VAAPI and the last platform to get it will be Linux. But that is a Google decision, if you don't like it don't use their stuff.