New Video Decode and Presentation API

aritger · 11-14-08, 12:23 PM

I'm pleased to announce a new video API for Unix and Unix-like platforms, and a technology preview implementation of this API from NVIDIA.

The API is called VDPAU (Video Decode and Presentation API for Unix). It provides a large subset of PureVideo HD functionality for NVIDIA Linux, Solaris, and FreeBSD users.

The current API documentation is here: ftp://download.nvidia.com/XFree86/vd...tml/index.html

Some highlights of VDPAU:

Defines an API for GPU-accelerated decode of MPEG-1, MPEG-2, H.264, and VC-1 bitstreams.
Defines an API for post-processing of decoded video, including temporal and spatial deinterlacing, inverse telecine, and noise reduction.
Defines an API for timestamp-based presentation of final video frames.
Defines an API for compositing sub-picture, on-screen display, and other UI elements.

Note that VDPAU does not address content protection.

Some highlights/limitations of NVIDIA's current implementation:

Supported on NVIDIA GPUs with the NVIDIA second generation video processors or later (as of driver version 180.22, see the driver's README file for a list of supported GPUs).
Currently, only one video stream can be decoded at a time; we hope to lift this restriction eventually.
Available in 180.xx and later NVIDIA driver releases

The VDPAU support in the NVIDIA 180.xx release series is a preview. We are aware of cases of visual corruption and in some cases GPU hangs. We will be working on these issues over the next several NVIDIA driver releases. While NVIDIA's VDPAU implementation is not ready for end user use yet, it should be far enough along that interested application developers can begin working with it.

Various applications, such as ffmpeg, MPlayer, MythTV, xine, ... now support VDPAU, at least in some recent SVN versions.

NVIDIA originally developed patches for ffmpeg and MPlayer to demonstrate VDPAU. However, official ffmpeg and MPlayer SVN now include VDPAU support; we recommend that users use this instead of the NVIDIA patches. For posterity, the NVIDIA patches are available at ftp://download.nvidia.com/XFree86/vdpau/.

If other hardware vendors are interested, they are welcome to also provide implementations of VDPAU. The VDPAU API was designed to allow a vendor backend to be selected at run time.

As of driver release 180.22, the current list of supported GPUs is maintained in the README file distributed with the driver.

**AaronP** · 12-12-08, 10:33 PM

VDPAU users, please note that the arguments to the VdpDecoderCreate function have changed in 180.16. Please see the updated VDPAU documentation for details. This means that video players compiled against 180.11 or earlier will not work with 180.16 or later, and vice-versa.

**Stephen Warren** · 09-04-09, 04:31 PM

Driver version 190.32 introduces some new features, available only on very recent GPUs with "VDPAU feature set C" (see README for list). These require new MPlayer patches to operate. Please get them here:

ftp://download.nvidia.com/XFree86/vd...605675.tar.bz2

**Stephen Warren** · 09-08-09, 06:04 PM

VDPAU now supports decoding multiple streams at once. Currently, this feature must be enabled by setting an environment variable before starting the VDPAU application, e.g.:

Code:

export VDPAU_NVIDIA_9cfhn89fhn=38047802

A future version of the driver will enable this feature by default. There is no defined timescale for this yet.

NOTE: When actively decoding multiple streams, error-recovery may not be as robust as when decoding a single stream. In particular, any cases of "display preemption" that are caused by bitstream issues are more likely to cause unrecoverable situations (X hangs, or total system hangs or crashes) when multiple streams are being decoded than when decoding that error-prone stream alone.

For this reason, we request that you exercise caution when testing this feature. This issue appears to affect GPUs with different VDPAU feature sets to different degrees; GPUs with VDPAU feature set C tend to fare the worst.

**Stephen Warren** · 12-03-09, 10:18 AM

Updated this thread not to be sticky; hopefully everyone knows about VDPAU by now!

11-14-08, 12:23 PM	#1
aritger NVIDIA Corporation Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 53	New Video Decode and Presentation API I'm pleased to announce a new video API for Unix and Unix-like platforms, and a technology preview implementation of this API from NVIDIA. The API is called VDPAU (Video Decode and Presentation API for Unix). It provides a large subset of PureVideo HD functionality for NVIDIA Linux, Solaris, and FreeBSD users. The current API documentation is here: ftp://download.nvidia.com/XFree86/vd...tml/index.html Some highlights of VDPAU: Defines an API for GPU-accelerated decode of MPEG-1, MPEG-2, H.264, and VC-1 bitstreams. Defines an API for post-processing of decoded video, including temporal and spatial deinterlacing, inverse telecine, and noise reduction. Defines an API for timestamp-based presentation of final video frames. Defines an API for compositing sub-picture, on-screen display, and other UI elements. Note that VDPAU does not address content protection. Some highlights/limitations of NVIDIA's current implementation: Supported on NVIDIA GPUs with the NVIDIA second generation video processors or later (as of driver version 180.22, see the driver's README file for a list of supported GPUs). Currently, only one video stream can be decoded at a time; we hope to lift this restriction eventually. Available in 180.xx and later NVIDIA driver releases The VDPAU support in the NVIDIA 180.xx release series is a preview. We are aware of cases of visual corruption and in some cases GPU hangs. We will be working on these issues over the next several NVIDIA driver releases. While NVIDIA's VDPAU implementation is not ready for end user use yet, it should be far enough along that interested application developers can begin working with it. Various applications, such as ffmpeg, MPlayer, MythTV, xine, ... now support VDPAU, at least in some recent SVN versions. NVIDIA originally developed patches for ffmpeg and MPlayer to demonstrate VDPAU. However, official ffmpeg and MPlayer SVN now include VDPAU support; we recommend that users use this instead of the NVIDIA patches. For posterity, the NVIDIA patches are available at ftp://download.nvidia.com/XFree86/vdpau/. If other hardware vendors are interested, they are welcome to also provide implementations of VDPAU. The VDPAU API was designed to allow a vendor backend to be selected at run time. As of driver release 180.22, the current list of supported GPUs is maintained in the README file distributed with the driver. __________________ Andy Ritger NVIDIA Linux Graphics Driver Engineer Last edited by Stephen Warren; 02-27-09 at 05:33 PM. Reason: Removed some stale information. Point users at MPlayer SVN instead of NV patches

12-12-08, 10:33 PM	#2
AaronP NVIDIA Corporation Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 2,487	Re: New Video Decode and Presentation API VDPAU users, please note that the arguments to the VdpDecoderCreate function have changed in 180.16. Please see the updated VDPAU documentation for details. This means that video players compiled against 180.11 or earlier will not work with 180.16 or later, and vice-versa.

09-04-09, 04:31 PM	#3
Stephen Warren Moderator Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 1,327	Re: New Video Decode and Presentation API Driver version 190.32 introduces some new features, available only on very recent GPUs with "VDPAU feature set C" (see README for list). These require new MPlayer patches to operate. Please get them here: ftp://download.nvidia.com/XFree86/vd...605675.tar.bz2

09-08-09, 06:04 PM	#4
Stephen Warren Moderator Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 1,327	Re: New Video Decode and Presentation API VDPAU now supports decoding multiple streams at once. Currently, this feature must be enabled by setting an environment variable before starting the VDPAU application, e.g.: Code: export VDPAU_NVIDIA_9cfhn89fhn=38047802 A future version of the driver will enable this feature by default. There is no defined timescale for this yet. NOTE: When actively decoding multiple streams, error-recovery may not be as robust as when decoding a single stream. In particular, any cases of "display preemption" that are caused by bitstream issues are more likely to cause unrecoverable situations (X hangs, or total system hangs or crashes) when multiple streams are being decoded than when decoding that error-prone stream alone. For this reason, we request that you exercise caution when testing this feature. This issue appears to affect GPUs with different VDPAU feature sets to different degrees; GPUs with VDPAU feature set C tend to fare the worst. Last edited by Stephen Warren; 09-09-09 at 11:56 AM. Reason: Fix typo in env. var. name (add "NVIDIA_")

12-03-09, 10:18 AM	#5
Stephen Warren Moderator Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 1,327	Re: New Video Decode and Presentation API Updated this thread not to be sticky; hopefully everyone knows about VDPAU by now!