DAV1D: A New AV1 Video Decoder From The VideoLAN Developers

[Michael]

Michael have/will you looked in benchmarking this or using it as a benchmark?

I looked into it but it doesn't yet support AV1 within WebM files.... (Most AV1 content so far I've found is distributed that way and don't have any other content generated myself and didn't mess around with encoding some, will mess around more when Dav1d supports SSE/AVX, etc.

[uid313]

Scary with decoders written in C.
I think it would be preferable to have parsers and decoders written in Rust, in order to increase security and stability.

[Mrkellog]

They do not use Rust for Dav1d because they want a code base that is portable to all architects.
They use the BSD license so companies do not have to be afraid of being infected by GPL in their software / hardware, an so that way Dav1d (AV1) can be adapted quickly.
Dav1d can decode an 8 bit AV1 movie (1080p) as fast as 50fps/sec with 4 threads and that using only the C code no ASM. so when the ASM optimizations will come the speed will be 100+fps/sec

[log0]

They do not use Rust for Dav1d because they want a code base that is portable to all architects.
They use the BSD license so companies do not have to be afraid of being infected by GPL in their software / hardware, an so that way Dav1d (AV1) can be adapted quickly.
Dav1d can decode an 8 bit AV1 movie (1080p) as fast as 50fps/sec with 4 threads and that using only the C code no ASM. so when the ASM optimizations will come the speed will be 100+fps/sec

It does use assembler already to implement motion compensation filters. No idea where you get the 100+fps thing from.

[schmidtbag]

Seems a lot of people here are missing the point... It's fine if you want something revolved around security, but to my knowledge, there isn't another AV1 decoder that's as open and cross-platform as this. As someone who likes to experiment with low-end and obscure devices, I actually would prefer something like DAV1D over a more security-centric decoder. Considering one of the core advantages of VLC is how cross-platform it is, the development of this decoder is logical.

Besides...
The only time you should be concerning over malware is if you're already doing something illegal or visiting a real sketchy website.

[vegabook]

Besides...
The only time you should be concerning over malware is if you're already doing something illegal or visiting a real sketchy website.

"Illegal" as defined by the government, I assume.

"Show me the man, and I will show you the crime"

[schmidtbag]

"Illegal" as defined by the government, I assume.

As opposed to what, and what difference does that make? Illegal means something forbidden by law. Laws are made by governments. Anything that is forbidden but not by a government is either defined as a sin or misconduct.

[Shnatsel]

Besides...
The only time you should be concerning over malware is if you're already doing something illegal or visiting a real sketchy website.

Seriously? There are so many attack vectors on angelic people! How about videos uploaded by a malicious user on a forum or a social network? Or ads displaying malicious videos on regular websites?

[schmidtbag]

Seriously? There are so many attack vectors on angelic people! How about videos uploaded by a malicious user on a forum or a social network? Or ads displaying malicious videos on regular websites?

Do you have any evidence that this actually happens on honest* websites due to existing AV1 codecs? Also, what's your definition of "regular websites"?

* By honest, I mean websites that ensure their consumers are protected; whether or not their business practices are honest is a very different thing.

[Weasel]

It baffles me why people write new security-critical software in C in 2018. Especially something as notoriously prone to memory errors as video decoder. Rust should have been a no-brainer.

Rust is for brain-dead muppets. In fact, one of the only good things about Rust is its name, it really lives up to it -- the perfect adjective for the brain of the people using it.