Tool for Analyzing H.264 Encoding Parameters

[ff58]

Hi,

Is there a tool for extracting the h.264 encoder parameter set from a recorder h.264 stream. I don't want to learn decoding parameters like bitrate, dropped frames. I want to get encoder parameters such as high profile/baseline profile, slicesize, airrate, initQP, maxDelay, perceptualRC, transform8x8IntraFrame, etc. I mean all the parameters set for encoding the video. Is this possible? Thanks in advance.

Best Regards,
Fikret

[LoRd_MuldeR]

A lot of encoder parameters are "encoder-side only" and therefore are NOT stored in the bitstream at all

x264 creates its own Custome SEI message in the stream to store all it's encoder parameters (to make debugging easier for the developers), but the format of x264's Custome SEI message is not standardized at all (although other H.264 encoders might add a similar message to the stream, I'm not aware of any).

H.264 parameters that need to be known by the decoder are stored in the stream, in a standardized way, of course.

Some of the encoding parameters that can be retrieved from the H.264 bitstream can be shown by MediaInfo or Avinaptic. These tools also show x264's encoding parameters. But the latter can only work if the bitstream was encoded by x264 (and if the x264 Custom SEI messages hasn't been removed).

[ff58]

Originally Posted by LoRd_MuldeR

A lot of encoder parameters are "encoder-side only" and therefore are NOT stored in the bitstream at all

x264 creates its own Custome SEI message in the stream to store all it's encoder parameters (to make debugging easier for the developers), but the format of x264's Custome SEI message is not standardized at all (although other H.264 encoders might add a similar message to the stream, I'm not aware of any).

H.264 parameters that need to be known by the decoder are stored in the stream, in a standardized way, of course.

Some of the encoding parameters that can be retrieved from the H.264 bitstream can be shown by MediaInfo or Avinaptic. These tools also show x264's encoding parameters. But the latter can only work if the bitstream was encoded by x264 (and if the x264 Custom SEI messages hasn't been removed).

Dear Lord_Mulder,

Thank you for your instant reply and help.

B.R.
Fikret

[Blue_MiSfit]

If these messages are not present, you'll need a stream analyzer to determine this information, and even so that can't tell you everything.

What is settings are chosen during the encoder that allow for a wide range of choices, but some of those choices are never utilized?