LAV Filters - DirectShow Media Splitter and Decoders

[GCRaistlin]

manolito
Muxing to MKV (with mkvmerge) didn't help.

I don't understand about FFmpeg - how does my issue concern to it?

[v0lt]

@nevcairiel
Does the D3D11 decoder work in Windows 8?

[nevcairiel]

Originally Posted by v0lt

@nevcairiel
Does the D3D11 decoder work in Windows 8?

It should if the drivers implement all the required things.

[bigboyman]

Hello everyone. While it might sound a bit stupid, I have a question about LAV.

Recenlty I've been wondering how to check if LAV Video Decoder is working properly. I ask because when I open the OSD (EVR (CP)), while it says it's using LAV, it also says it's not using DXVA (which I am using on LAV). GPU activity also doesn't report usage for decoding. So what gives?

[Asmodian]

If you are playing a file your GPU cannot decode in hardware LAV will fallback to software decoding.

10 bit H.264 is probably the most common video format that GPUs cannot decode. If you open LAV Video config while it is playing it will show you what it is using but it is probably working properly.

[bigboyman]

Originally Posted by Asmodian

If you are playing a file your GPU cannot decode in hardware LAV will fallback to software decoding.

10 bit H.264 is probably the most common video format that GPUs cannot decode. If you open LAV Video config while it is playing it will show you what it is using but it is probably working properly.

Here's the pin info (what I assume you meant by config). It is H.264, but other than that I really can't tell if it's working properly. Not to mention I have H.264 enabled in HW codecs.

Filter : LAV Video Decoder - CLSID : {EE30215D-164F-4A92-A4EB-9D4C13390F9F}

- Connected to:

CLSID: {B98D13E7-55DB-4385-A33D-09FD1BA26338}
Filter: LAV Splitter Source (internal)
Pin: Video

- Connection media type:

Video: MPEG4 Video (H264) 1456x1080 23.976fps

AM_MEDIA_TYPE:
majortype: MEDIATYPE_Video {73646976-0000-0010-8000-00AA00389B71}
subtype: Unknown GUID Name {31435641-0000-0010-8000-00AA00389B71}
formattype: FORMAT_MPEG2_VIDEO {E06D80E3-DB46-11CF-B4D1-00805F6CBBEA}
bFixedSizeSamples: 0
bTemporalCompression: 1
lSampleSize: 1
cbFormat: 173

VIDEOINFOHEADER:
rcSource: (0,0)-(1456,1080)
rcTarget: (0,0)-(1456,1080)
dwBitRate: 0
dwBitErrorRate: 0
AvgTimePerFrame: 417083

VIDEOINFOHEADER2:
dwInterlaceFlags: 0x00000000
dwCopyProtectFlags: 0x00000000
dwPictAspectRatioX: 182
dwPictAspectRatioY: 135
dwControlFlags: 0x00000000
dwReserved2: 0x00000000

MPEG2VIDEOINFO:
dwStartTimeCode: 0
cbSequenceHeader: 41
dwProfile: 0x0000006e
dwLevel: 0x00000032
dwFlags: 0x00000004

BITMAPINFOHEADER:
biSize: 40
biWidth: 1456
biHeight: 1080
biPlanes: 1
biBitCount: 15
biCompression: AVC1
biSizeImage: 2950560
biXPelsPerMeter: 0
biYPelsPerMeter: 0
biClrUsed: 0
biClrImportant: 0

pbFormat:
0000: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 b0 05 00 00 38 04 00 00 ........°...8...
0010: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 b0 05 00 00 38 04 00 00 ........°...8...
0020: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 3b 5d 06 00 00 00 00 00 ........;]......
0030: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 b6 00 00 00 87 00 00 00 ........¶...‡...
0040: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 28 00 00 00 b0 05 00 00 ........(...°...
0050: 38 04 00 00 01 00 0f 00 41 56 43 31 a0 05 2d 00 8.......AVC1 .-.
0060: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................
0070: 00 00 00 00 29 00 00 00 6e 00 00 00 32 00 00 00 ....)...n...2...
0080: 04 00 00 00|00 1e 67 6e 00 32 a6 c7 28 44 05 b0 ......gn.2¦Ç(D.°
0090: 22 7e 59 a8 10 10 0a 00 00 07 d2 00 01 77 01 1e "~Y¨......Ò..w..
00a0: 30 63 08 c0 00 07 68 e8 43 82 72 c8 b0 0c.À..hèC‚rÈ°

[sneaker_ger]

Video: MPEG4 Video (H264)

dwProfile: 0x0000006e

biBitCount: 15
biCompression: AVC1

Seems to be 10 bit H.264 like Asmodian suspected. (6e = High 10 Profile, 4:2:0 10 bits per sample equal 15 bits per pixel on average)

In general you can see if/what decoder is used by LAV by opening the activate LAV Video instance's settings during playback. In the first tab it shows "Active Decoder:" and "Active Hardware Accelerator:".

[huhn]

biBitCount: 15

should be a 10 bit file so lavfilter has to fallback to software decoding "avcodec".

[bigboyman]

Originally Posted by huhn

should be a 10 bit file so lavfilter has to fallback to software decoding "avcodec".

It is (with hardware acc. at "<none>"). Now the question is what can I do so it uses hardware instead.
Is it even feasible or good for performance?

[sneaker_ger]

No PC GPU supports H.264 10 bit decoding. Nothing you can no.
But also not necessary. 10 bit H.264 1456x1080 23.976fps is a piece of cake for any half-decent CPU.

[el Filou]

You can't, it's not supported by the fixed function decode block of the GPU.
Maybe you can try to find some other filter that would be able to use shaders to decode it but IMO it's not worth it, just use LAV with the CPU.

[lvqcl]

By the way: according to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nvidia_PureVideo, your videocard has only VDPAU Feature Set E. Which means that it cannot decode VP9, and doesn't have hardware HEVC decoder. It uses hybrid CPU/GPU decoding for 8-bit HEVC, and cannot decode 10-bit HEVC.

Hardware video decoder in your CPU (i7-6700HQ, Skylake) is probably more powerful.

[bigboyman]

Originally Posted by el Filou

You can't, it's not supported by the fixed function decode block of the GPU.
Maybe you can try to find some other filter that would be able to use shaders to decode it but IMO it's not worth it, just use LAV with the CPU.

Tried some different files and the gain is not huge. CPU and GPU loads are relatively small, so no big deal.

However, what IS pretty interesting is that some H.264 files actually support hardware acc. while other H.264 as well as non-H.264 files don't. Anyone want to crack that mystery?

Here's some snaps and the log:

Filter : LAV Video Decoder - CLSID : {EE30215D-164F-4A92-A4EB-9D4C13390F9F}

- Connected to:

CLSID: {B98D13E7-55DB-4385-A33D-09FD1BA26338}
Filter: LAV Splitter Source (internal)
Pin: Video

- Connection media type:

Video: MPEG4 Video (H264) 1920x1080 23.976fps

AM_MEDIA_TYPE:
majortype: MEDIATYPE_Video {73646976-0000-0010-8000-00AA00389B71}
subtype: Unknown GUID Name {31435641-0000-0010-8000-00AA00389B71}
formattype: FORMAT_MPEG2_VIDEO {E06D80E3-DB46-11CF-B4D1-00805F6CBBEA}
bFixedSizeSamples: 0
bTemporalCompression: 1
lSampleSize: 1
cbFormat: 167

VIDEOINFOHEADER:
rcSource: (0,0)-(1920,1080)
rcTarget: (0,0)-(1920,1080)
dwBitRate: 0
dwBitErrorRate: 0
AvgTimePerFrame: 417084

VIDEOINFOHEADER2:
dwInterlaceFlags: 0x00000000
dwCopyProtectFlags: 0x00000000
dwPictAspectRatioX: 16
dwPictAspectRatioY: 9
dwControlFlags: 0x00000000
dwReserved2: 0x00000000

MPEG2VIDEOINFO:
dwStartTimeCode: 0
cbSequenceHeader: 35
dwProfile: 0x00000064
dwLevel: 0x00000028
dwFlags: 0x00000004

BITMAPINFOHEADER:
biSize: 40
biWidth: 1920
biHeight: 1080
biPlanes: 1
biBitCount: 12
biCompression: AVC1
biSizeImage: 3110400
biXPelsPerMeter: 0
biYPelsPerMeter: 0
biClrUsed: 0
biClrImportant: 0

pbFormat:
0000: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 80 07 00 00 38 04 00 00 ........€...8...
0010: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 80 07 00 00 38 04 00 00 ........€...8...
0020: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 3c 5d 06 00 00 00 00 00 ........<]......
0030: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 10 00 00 00 09 00 00 00 ................
0040: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 28 00 00 00 80 07 00 00 ........(...€...
0050: 38 04 00 00 01 00 0c 00 41 56 43 31 00 76 2f 00 8.......AVC1.v/.
0060: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................
0070: 00 00 00 00 23 00 00 00 64 00 00 00 28 00 00 00 ....#...d...(...
0080: 04 00 00 00|00 1a 67 64 00 28 ac d9 40 78 02 27 ......gd.(¬Ù@x.'
0090: e5 c0 44 00 00 03 01 f4 00 00 5d aa 3c 60 c6 58 åÀD....ô..]ª<`ÆX
00a0: 00 05 68 e9 3b 2c 8b ..hé;,‹

[bigboyman]

Originally Posted by lvqcl

By the way: according to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nvidia_PureVideo, your videocard has only VDPAU Feature Set E. Which means that it cannot decode VP9, and doesn't have hardware HEVC decoder. It uses hybrid CPU/GPU decoding for 8-bit HEVC, and cannot decode 10-bit HEVC.

Hardware video decoder in your CPU (i7-6700HQ, Skylake) is probably more powerful.

You mean integrated graphics? Because it's the only way I can select the GPU in LAV, and it's pretty weak.

[sneaker_ger]

Originally Posted by bigboyman

However, what IS pretty interesting is that some H.264 files actually support hardware acc. while other H.264 as well as non-H.264 files don't. Anyone want to crack that mystery?

64 = High Profile (8 bit)
8 bits per sample 4:2:0 = 12 bits per pixel
Well supported by hardware for many years.

No mystery.

[LigH]

Some hardware decoder chipsets are picky about the video resolutions. Videos in common standard resolutions have best chances; arbitrarily cropped videos may fail.

And even more, hardware decoder chips have complexity limits. They may not support the whole range of Profile@Level combinations and long GOPs, and a few more constraints do exist.

[Asmodian]

Originally Posted by LigH

long GOPs

Long GOPs too? I have been using the max length GOPs for all my "hardware compatible" (level 4.1) encodes.

[Siso]

A question about mixing to stereo, is it better to let lav audio decoder do the mixing or mpc-be's sound processing?

[LigH]

@Asmodian:

"May". I won't guarantee that all decoder chips made by all GPU vendors do. I have only limited experience with some Nvidia chipsets, they don't mind.

[nevcairiel]

GOP size should be pretty irrelevant for any DXVA decoders, since it doesn't even get told about such things. The only thing hat matters is number of reference frames, dimension, and sticking to a supported profile.