Unified Video Decoder

Last updated

Unified Video Decoder (UVD, previously called Universal Video Decoder) is the name given to AMD's dedicated video decoding ASIC. There are multiple versions implementing a multitude of video codecs, such as H.264 and VC-1.

Contents

UVD was introduced with the Radeon HD 2000 Series and is integrated into some of AMD's GPUs and APUs. UVD occupies a considerable amount of the die surface at the time of its introduction [1] and is not to be confused with AMD's Video Coding Engine (VCE).

As of AMD Raven Ridge (released January 2018), UVD and VCE were succeeded by Video Core Next (VCN).

Overview

The UVD is based on an ATI Xilleon video processor, which is incorporated onto the same die as the GPU and is part of the ATI Avivo HD for hardware video decoding, along with the Advanced Video Processor (AVP). UVD, as stated by AMD, handles decoding of H.264/AVC, and VC-1 video codecs entirely in hardware.

The UVD technology is based on the Cadence Tensilica Xtensa [2] processor, [3] [4] [5] which was originally licensed by ATI Technologies Inc. in 2004. [6]

UVD/UVD+

In early versions of UVD, video post-processing is passed to the pixel shaders and OpenCL kernels. MPEG-2 decoding is not performed within UVD, but in the shader processors. The decoder meets the performance and profile requirements of Blu-ray and HD DVD, decoding H.264 bitstreams up to a bitrate of 40 Mbit/s. It has context-adaptive binary arithmetic coding (CABAC) support for H.264/AVC.

Unlike video acceleration blocks in previous generation GPUs, which demanded considerable host-CPU involvement, UVD offloads the entire video-decoder process for VC-1 and H.264 except for video post-processing, which is offloaded to the shaders. MPEG-2 decode is also supported, but the bitstream/entropy decode is not performed for MPEG-2 video in hardware.

Previously, neither ATI Radeon R520 series' ATI Avivo nor NVidia Geforce 7 series' PureVideo assisted front-end bitstream/entropy decompression in VC-1 and H.264 - the host CPU performed this work. [7] UVD handles VLC/CAVLC/CABAC, frequency transform, pixel prediction and inloop deblocking, but passes the post processing to the shaders. [8] Post-processing includes denoising, de-interlacing, and scaling/resizing. AMD has also stated that the UVD component being incorporated into the GPU core only occupies 4.7 mm² in area on 65 nm fabrication process node.

A variation on UVD, called UVD+, was introduced with the Radeon HD 3000 series. UVD+ support HDCP for higher resolution video streams. [9] But UVD+ was also being marketed as simply UVD.

UVD 2

The UVD saw a refresh with the release of the Radeon HD 4000 series products. The UVD 2 features full bitstream decoding of H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, VC-1, as well as iDCT level acceleration of MPEG2 video streams. Performance improvements allow dual video stream decoding and Picture-in-Picture mode. This makes UVD2 full BD-Live compliant.

The UVD 2.2 features a re-designed local memory interface and enhances the compatibility with MPEG2/H.264/VC-1 videos. However, it was marketed under the same alias as "UVD 2 Enhanced" as the "special core-logic, available in RV770 and RV730 series of GPUs, for hardware decoding of MPEG2, H.264 and VC-1 video with dual-stream decoding". The nature of UVD 2.2 being an incremental update to the UVD 2 can be accounted for this move.

UVD 3

UVD 3 adds support for additional hardware MPEG2 decoding (entropy decode), DivX and Xvid via MPEG-4 Part 2 decoding (entropy decode, inverse transform, motion compensation) and Blu-ray 3D via MVC (entropy decode, inverse transform, motion compensation, in-loop deblocking). [10] [11] along with 120 Hz stereo 3D support, [12] and is optimized to utilize less CPU processing power. UVD 3 also adds support for Blu-ray 3D stereoscopic displays.[ citation needed ]

UVD 4

UVD 4 includes improved frame interpolation with H.264 decoder. [13] UVD 4.2 was introduced with the AMD Radeon Rx 200 series and Kaveri APU. "X.ORG Radeon UVD (Unified Video Decoder) Hardware-UVD4.2: KAVERI, KABINI, MULLINS, BONAIRE, HAWAII". May 2016.

UVD 5

UVD 5 was introduced with the AMD Radeon R9 285. New to UVD is full support for 4K H.264 video, up to level 5.2 (4Kp60). [14]

UVD 6

The UVD 6.0 decoder and Video Coding Engine  3.1 encoder were reported to be first used in GPUs based on GCN 3, including Radeon R9 Fury series and "Carrizo"-APUs, [15] [16] followed by AMD Radeon Rx 300 Series (Pirate Islands GPU family) and AMD Radeon Rx 400 Series (Arctic Islands GPU family). [17] The UVD version in "Fiji" and "Carrizo"-based graphics controller hardware is also announced to provide support for High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC, H.265) hardware video decoding, up to 4K, 8-bits color (H.265 version 1, main profile); [18] [19] [20] and there is support for the 10bit-color HDR both H.265 and VP9 video codec in the AMD Radeon 400 series with UVD 6.3. [21] [22] [23]

UVD 7

The UVD 7.0 decoder and Video Coding Engine  4.0 encoder are included in the Vega-based GPUs. [24] [25] But there is still no fixed function VP9 hardware decoding. [26]

UVD 7.2

AMD's Vega20 GPU, present in the Instinct Mi50, Instinct Mi60 and Radeon VII cards, include VCE 4.1 and two UVD 7.2 instances. [27] [28]

VCN 1

Starting with the integrated graphics of the Raven Ridge APU (Ryzen 2200/2400G), the former UVD and VCE have been replaced by the new "Video Core Next" (VCN). VCN 1.0 adds full hardware decoding for the VP9 codec. [29]

Format support

[30] [29]

Unified Video Decoder and Video Core Next decoding/encoding support [30] [29]
Implementation MPEG-1 [lower-alpha 1] H.262
(MPEG-2) 		H.263
(MPEG-4 ASP) 		VC-1/WMV 9 H.264
(MPEG-4 AVC) [lower-alpha 2] 		H.265
(HEVC) 		VP9 AV1 JPEG Maximum resolution Color depth AMD Fluid Motion
DecodingDecodingDecodingDecodingDecodingEncodingDecodingEncodingDecodingDecodingEncodingDecodingFrame interpolation
UVD 1.0RV610, RV630, RV670, RV620, RV635NoNoNoYesYesNoNoNoNoNoNoNo2K8-bitNo
UVD 2.0RS780, RS880, RV770
UVD 2.2RV710, RV730, RV740
UVD 2.3Cedar, Redwood, Juniper, Cypress
UVD 3.0Palm (Wrestler/Ontario), Sumo (Llano), Sumo2 (Llano)YesYesYes
UVD 3.1Barts, Turks, Caicos, Cayman, Seymour
UVD 3.2Aruba (Trinity/Richland), Tahiti VCE [upper-alpha 1]
UVD 4.0Cape Verde, PitcairnYes
UVD 4.2Kaveri, Kabini, Mullins, Bonaire, Hawaii
UVD 5.0Tonga4K
UVD 6.0Carrizo, FijiYesYes
UVD 6.2Stoney10-bit
UVD 6.3Polaris, VegaM, Lexa VCE [upper-alpha 1]
UVD 7.0Vega10, Vega12
UVD 7.2Vega20
VCN  1.0Raven, PicassoYesYesYes
VCN 2.0Navi10, Navi12, Navi14, Renoir, Cézanne8KNo
VCN 2.5Arcturus
VCN 2.6Aldebaran
VCN 3.0Navi24NoNo
Navi21, Navi22, Navi23YesYesYes
VCN 3.1.0Van Gogh ? ? ?
VCN 3.1.1RembrandtNoNoNoNo8K10-bitNo
VCN 3.1.2Raphael ? ? ?
VCN 4.0Navi 3xYes ? ? ?
ImplementationDecodingDecodingDecodingDecodingDecodingEncodingDecodingEncodingDecodingDecodingEncodingDecoding Maximum resolution Color depth Frame interpolation
MPEG-1 [lower-alpha 1] H.262
(MPEG-2) 		H.263
(MPEG-4 ASP) 		VC-1/WMV 9 H.264
(MPEG-4 AVC) 		H.265
(HEVC) 		VP9 AV1 JPEG AMD Fluid Motion
  1. 1 2 All MPEG-2 decoders support MPEG-1 CPB
  2. ↑ High 10 Profile encoding/decoding isn't supported
  1. 1 2 MPEG-4 AVC and HEVC encoding by separate Video Coding Engine

Availability

Most of the Radeon HD 2000 series video cards implement the UVD for hardware decoding of 1080p high definition contents. [31] However, the Radeon HD 2900 series video cards do not include the UVD (though it is able to provide partial functionality through the use of its shaders), which was incorrectly stated to be present on the product pages and package boxes of the add-in partners' products before the launch of the Radeon HD 2900 XT,[ citation needed ] either stating the card as featuring ATI Avivo HD or explicitly UVD,[ citation needed ] which only the former statement of ATI Avivo HD is correct. The exclusion of UVD was also confirmed by AMD officials. [32]

UVD2 is implemented in the Radeon RV7x0 and R7x0 series GPUs. This also includes the RS7x0 series used for the AMD 700 chipset series IGP motherboards.

Feature overview

APUs

The following table shows features of AMD's processors with 3D graphics, including APUs (see also: List of AMD processors with 3D graphics).

[  VisualEditor  ]
PlatformHigh, standard and low powerLow and ultra-low power
CodenameServerBasic Toronto
Micro Kyoto
DesktopPerformance Raphael Phoenix
Mainstream Llano Trinity Richland Kaveri Kaveri Refresh (Godavari) Carrizo Bristol Ridge Raven Ridge Picasso Renoir Cezanne
Entry
Basic Kabini Dalí
MobilePerformance Renoir Cezanne Rembrandt Dragon Range
Mainstream Llano Trinity Richland Kaveri Carrizo Bristol Ridge Raven Ridge Picasso Renoir
Lucienne 		Cezanne
Barceló 		Phoenix
Entry Dalí Mendocino
Basic Desna, Ontario, Zacate Kabini, Temash Beema, Mullins Carrizo-L Stoney Ridge Pollock
Embedded Trinity Bald Eagle Merlin Falcon,
Brown Falcon 		Great Horned Owl Grey Hawk Ontario, Zacate Kabini Steppe Eagle, Crowned Eagle,
LX-Family 		Prairie Falcon Banded Kestrel River Hawk
ReleasedAug 2011Oct 2012Jun 2013Jan 20142015Jun 2015Jun 2016Oct 2017Jan 2019Mar 2020Jan 2021Jan 2022Sep 2022Jan 2023Jan 2011May 2013Apr 2014May 2015Feb 2016Apr 2019Jul 2020Jun 2022Nov 2022
CPU microarchitecture K10 Piledriver Steamroller Excavator "Excavator+" [33] Zen Zen+ Zen 2 Zen 3 Zen 3+ Zen 4 Bobcat Jaguar Puma Puma+ [34] "Excavator+" Zen Zen+ "Zen 2+"
ISA x86-64 v1 x86-64 v2 x86-64 v3 x86-64 v4 x86-64 v1 x86-64 v2 x86-64 v3
Socket DesktopPerformance— AM5 ——
Mainstream— AM4 ——
Entry FM1 FM2 FM2+ FM2+ [lower-alpha 1] , AM4 AM4 —
Basic—— AM1 — FP5 —
Other FS1 FS1+, FP2 FP3 FP4 FP5 FP6 FP7 FL1FP7
FP7r2
FP8		 ? FT1 FT3 FT3b FP4 FP5 FT5 FP5 FT6
PCI Express version2.03.04.05.04.02.03.0
CXL ——
Fab. (nm) GF 32SHP
(HKMG SOI)		GF 28SHP
(HKMG bulk)		GF 14LPP
(FinFET bulk)		GF 12LP
(FinFET bulk)		 TSMC N7
(FinFET bulk)		TSMC N6
(FinFET bulk)		CCD: TSMC N5
(FinFET bulk)
cIOD: TSMC N6
(FinFET bulk)		TSMC 4nm
(FinFET bulk)		TSMC N40
(bulk)		TSMC N28
(HKMG bulk)		GF 28SHP
(HKMG bulk)		GF 14LPP
(FinFET bulk)		GF 12LP
(FinFET bulk)		TSMC N6
(FinFET bulk)
Die area (mm2)228246245245250210 [35] 156180210CCD: (2x) 70
cIOD: 122		17875 (+ 28 FCH)107 ?125149~100
Min TDP (W)351712101565354.543.95106128
Max APU TDP (W)10095654517054182565415
Max stock APU base clock (GHz)33.84.14.13.73.83.63.73.84.03.34.74.31.752.222.23.22.61.23.352.8
Max APUs per node [lower-alpha 2] 11
Max core dies per CPU1211
Max CCX per core die1211
Max cores per CCX482424
Max CPU [lower-alpha 3] cores per APU481682424
Max threads per CPU core1212
Integer pipeline structure3+32+24+24+2+11+3+3+1+21+1+1+12+24+24+2+1
i386, i486, i586, CMOV, NOPL, i686, PAE, NX bit, CMPXCHG16B, AMD-V, RVI, ABM, and 64-bit LAHF/SAHFYes check.svgYes check.svg
IOMMU [lower-alpha 4] —v2v1v2
BMI1, AES-NI, CLMUL, and F16C Yes check.svg—Yes check.svg
MOVBE—Yes check.svg
AVIC, BMI2, RDRAND, and MWAITX/MONITORX—Yes check.svg
SME [lower-alpha 5] , TSME [lower-alpha 5] , ADX, SHA, RDSEED, SMAP, SMEP, XSAVEC, XSAVES, XRSTORS, CLFLUSHOPT, CLZERO, and PTE Coalescing—Yes check.svg—Yes check.svg
GMET, WBNOINVD, CLWB, QOS, PQE-BW, RDPID, RDPRU, and MCOMMIT—Yes check.svg—Yes check.svg
MPK, VAES —Yes check.svg—
SGX ——
FPUs per core 10.5110.51
Pipes per FPU22
FPU pipe width128-bit256-bit80-bit128-bit256-bit
CPU instruction set SIMD level SSE4a [lower-alpha 6] AVX AVX2 AVX-512 SSSE3 AVX AVX2
3DNow! 3DNow!+ ——
PREFETCH/PREFETCHW Yes check.svgYes check.svg
GFNI —Yes check.svg—
AMX —
FMA4, LWP, TBM, and XOP —Yes check.svg——Yes check.svg—
FMA3 Yes check.svgYes check.svg
AMD XDNA —Yes check.svg—
L1 data cache per core (KiB)64163232
L1 data cache associativity (ways)2488
L1 instruction caches per core 10.5110.51
Max APU total L1 instruction cache (KiB)2561281922565122566412896128
L1 instruction cache associativity (ways)23482348
L2 caches per core 10.5110.51
Max APU total L2 cache (MiB)424161212
L2 cache associativity (ways)168168
Max on--die L3 cache per CCX (MiB)—41632—4
Max 3D V-Cache per CCD (MiB)—64——
Max total in-CCD L3 cache per APU (MiB)4816644
Max. total 3D V-Cache per APU (MiB)—64——
Max. board L3 cache per APU (MiB)——
Max total L3 cache per APU (MiB)48161284
APU L3 cache associativity (ways)1616
L3 cache scheme Victim Victim
Max. L4 cache ——
Max stock DRAM support DDR3-1866DDR3-2133DDR3-2133, DDR4-2400DDR4-2400DDR4-2933DDR4-3200, LPDDR4-4266 DDR5-4800, LPDDR5-6400 DDR5-5200 DDR5-5600, LPDDR5x-7500 DDR3L-1333DDR3L-1600DDR3L-1866DDR3-1866, DDR4-2400DDR4-2400DDR4-1600DDR4-3200LPDDR5-5500
Max DRAM channels per APU21212
Max stock DRAM bandwidth (GB/s) per APU29.86634.13238.40046.93268.256102.40083.200120.00010.66612.80014.93319.20038.40012.80051.20088.000
GPU microarchitecture TeraScale 2 (VLIW5) TeraScale 3 (VLIW4) GCN 2nd gen GCN 3rd gen GCN 5th gen [36] RDNA 2 RDNA 3 TeraScale 2 (VLIW5) GCN 2nd gen GCN 3rd gen [36] GCN 5th gen RDNA 2
GPU instruction set TeraScale instruction set GCN instruction set RDNA instruction set TeraScale instruction set GCN instruction set RDNA instruction set
Max stock GPU base clock (MHz)60080084486611081250140021002400400538600 ?847900120060013001900
Max stock GPU base GFLOPS [lower-alpha 7] 480614.4648.1886.71134.517601971.22150.43686.4102.486 ? ? ?345.6460.8230.41331.2486.4
3D engine [lower-alpha 8] Up to 400:20:8Up to 384:24:6Up to 512:32:8Up to 704:44:16 [37] Up to 512:32:8768:48:8128:8:480:8:4128:8:4Up to 192:12:8Up to 192:12:4192:12:4Up to 512:?:?128:?:?
IOMMUv1 IOMMUv2 IOMMUv1 ?IOMMUv2
Video decoder UVD 3.0 UVD 4.2 UVD 6.0 VCN 1.0 [38] VCN 2.1 [39] VCN 2.2 [39] VCN 3.1 ? UVD 3.0 UVD 4.0 UVD 4.2 UVD 6.0 UVD 6.3 VCN 1.0 VCN 3.1
Video encoder— VCE 1.0 VCE 2.0 VCE 3.1 — VCE 2.0 VCE 3.1
AMD Fluid MotionDark Red x.svgYes check.svgDark Red x.svgDark Red x.svgYes check.svgDark Red x.svg
GPU power saving PowerPlay PowerTune PowerPlay PowerTune [40]
TrueAudio —Yes check.svg [41]  ?—Yes check.svg
FreeSync 1
2		1
2
HDCP [lower-alpha 9]  ?1.42.22.3 ?1.42.22.3
PlayReady [lower-alpha 9] —3.0 not yet—3.0 not yet
Supported displays [lower-alpha 10] 2–32–433 (desktop)
4 (mobile, embedded)		42344
/drm/radeon [lower-alpha 11] [43] [44] Yes check.svg—Yes check.svg—
/drm/amdgpu [lower-alpha 11] [45] —Yes check.svg [46] —Yes check.svg [46]
  1. ↑ For FM2+ Excavator models: A8-7680, A6-7480 & Athlon X4 845.
  2. ↑ A PC would be one node.
  3. ↑ An APU combines a CPU and a GPU. Both have cores.
  4. ↑ Requires firmware support.
  5. 1 2 Requires firmware support.
  6. ↑ No SSE4. No SSSE3.
  7. ↑ Single-precision performance is calculated from the base (or boost) core clock speed based on a FMA operation.
  8. ↑ Unified shaders  : texture mapping units  : render output units
  9. 1 2 To play protected video content, it also requires card, operating system, driver, and application support. A compatible HDCP display is also needed for this. HDCP is mandatory for the output of certain audio formats, placing additional constraints on the multimedia setup.
  10. ↑ To feed more than two displays, the additional panels must have native DisplayPort support. [42] Alternatively active DisplayPort-to-DVI/HDMI/VGA adapters can be employed.
  11. 1 2 DRM (Direct Rendering Manager) is a component of the Linux kernel. Support in this table refers to the most current version.

GPUs

The following table shows features of AMD/ATI's GPUs (see also: List of AMD graphics processing units).

[  VisualEditor  ]
Name of GPU series Wonder Mach 3D Rage Rage Pro Rage 128 R100 R200 R300 R400 R500 R600 RV670 R700 Evergreen Northern
Islands 		Southern
Islands 		Sea
Islands 		Volcanic
Islands 		Arctic
Islands/Polaris 		Vega Navi 1x Navi 2x Navi 3x
Released19861991Apr
1996		Mar
1997		Aug
1998		Apr
2000		Aug
2001		Sep
2002		May
2004		Oct
2005		May
2007		Nov
2007		Jun
2008		Sep
2009		Oct
2010		Jan
2012		Sep
2013		Jun
2015		Jun 2016, Apr 2017, Aug 2019Jun 2017, Feb 2019Jul
2019		Nov
2020		Dec
2022
Marketing Name WonderMach3D
Rage		Rage
Pro		Rage
128		Radeon
7000		Radeon
8000		Radeon
9000		Radeon
X700/X800		Radeon
X1000		Radeon
HD 2000		Radeon
HD 3000		Radeon
HD 4000		Radeon
HD 5000		Radeon
HD 6000		Radeon
HD 7000		Radeon
200		Radeon
300		Radeon
400/500/600		Radeon
RX Vega, Radeon VII		Radeon
RX 5000		Radeon
RX 6000		Radeon
RX 7000
AMD supportDark Red x.svgYes check.svg
Kind2D3D
Instruction set architecture Not publicly known TeraScale instruction set GCN instruction set RDNA instruction set
Microarchitecture TeraScale 1
(VLIW) 		TeraScale 2
(VLIW5)
TeraScale 2
(VLIW5)
up to 68xx		 TeraScale 3
(VLIW4)
in 69xx [47] [48]
GCN 1st
gen 		GCN 2nd
gen 		GCN 3rd
gen 		GCN 4th
gen 		GCN 5th
gen 		RDNA RDNA 2 RDNA 3
TypeFixed pipeline [lower-alpha 1] Programmable pixel & vertex pipelines Unified shader model
Direct3D —5.06.07.08.19.0
11 (9_2)		9.0b
11 (9_2)		9.0c
11 (9_3)		10.0
11 (10_0)		10.1
11 (10_1)		11 (11_0)11 (11_1)
12 (11_1)		11 (12_0)
12 (12_0)		11 (12_1)
12 (12_1)		11 (12_1)
12 (12_2)
Shader model —1.42.0+2.0b3.04.04.15.05.15.1
6.5		6.7
OpenGL —1.11.21.32.1 [lower-alpha 2] [49] 3.34.5 [50] [51] [52] [lower-alpha 3] 4.6
Vulkan —1.01.21.3
OpenCL — Close to Metal 1.1 (not supported by Mesa)1.2+ (on Linux: 1.1+ (no Image support on clover, with by rustiCL) with Mesa, 1.2+ on GCN 1.Gen)2.0+ (Adrenalin driver on Win7+)
(on Linux ROCM, Mesa 1.2+ (no Image support in clover, but in rustiCL with Mesa, 2.0+ and 3.0 with AMD drivers or AMD ROCm), 5th gen: 2.2 win 10+ and Linux RocM 5.0+		2.2+ and 3.0 windows 8.1+ and Linux ROCM 5.0+ (Mesa rustiCL 1.2+ and 3.0 (2.1+ and 2.2+ wip)) [53] [54] [55]
HSA / ROCm —Yes check.svg ?
Video decoding ASIC — Avivo/UVD UVD+ UVD 2 UVD 2.2 UVD 3 UVD 4 UVD 4.2 UVD 5.0 or 6.0 UVD 6.3 UVD 7 [24] [lower-alpha 4] VCN 2.0 [24] [lower-alpha 4] VCN 3.0 [56] VCN 4.0
Video encoding ASIC — VCE 1.0 VCE 2.0 VCE 3.0 or 3.1 VCE 3.4 VCE 4.0 [24] [lower-alpha 4]
Fluid Motion [lower-alpha 5] Dark Red x.svgYes check.svgDark Red x.svg ?
Power saving ? PowerPlay PowerTune PowerTune & ZeroCore Power  ?
TrueAudio —Via dedicated DSP Via shaders
FreeSync —1
2
HDCP [lower-alpha 6]  ?1.42.22.3 [57]
PlayReady [lower-alpha 6] —3.0Dark Red x.svg3.0
Supported displays [lower-alpha 7] 1–222–6 ?
Max. resolution  ?2–6 ×
2560×1600		2–6 ×
4096×2160 @ 30 Hz		2–6 ×
5120×2880 @ 60 Hz		3 ×
7680×4320 @ 60 Hz [58]
7680×4320 @ 60 Hz PowerColor 		7680x4320

@165 HZ

/drm/radeon [lower-alpha 8] Yes check.svg—
/drm/amdgpu [lower-alpha 8] —Experimental [59] Optional [60] Yes check.svg
  1. ↑ The Radeon 100 Series has programmable pixel shaders, but do not fully comply with DirectX 8 or Pixel Shader 1.0. See article on R100's pixel shaders.
  2. ↑ R300, R400 and R500 based cards do not fully comply with OpenGL 2+ as the hardware does not support all types of non-power of two (NPOT) textures.
  3. ↑ OpenGL 4+ compliance requires supporting FP64 shaders and these are emulated on some TeraScale chips using 32-bit hardware.
  4. 1 2 3 The UVD and VCE were replaced by the Video Core Next (VCN) ASIC in the Raven Ridge APU implementation of Vega.
  5. ↑ Video processing for video frame rate interpolation technique. In Windows it works as a DirectShow filter in your player. In Linux, there is no support on the part of drivers and / or community.
  6. 1 2 To play protected video content, it also requires card, operating system, driver, and application support. A compatible HDCP display is also needed for this. HDCP is mandatory for the output of certain audio formats, placing additional constraints on the multimedia setup.
  7. ↑ More displays may be supported with native DisplayPort connections, or splitting the maximum resolution between multiple monitors with active converters.
  8. 1 2 DRM (Direct Rendering Manager) is a component of the Linux kernel. AMDgpu is the Linux kernel module. Support in this table refers to the most current version.

Operating system support

The UVD SIP core needs to be supported by the device driver, which provides one or more interfaces such as VDPAU, VAAPI or DXVA. One of these interfaces is then used by end-user software, for example VLC media player or GStreamer, to access the UVD hardware and make use of it.

AMD Catalyst, AMD's proprietary graphics device driver that supports UVD, is available for Microsoft Windows and some Linux distributions. Additionally, a free device driver is available, which also supports the UVD hardware.

Linux

Linux support for the UVD ASIC is provided by the Linux kernel device driver .mw-parser-output .monospaced{font-family:monospace,monospace} amdgpu. Linux AMD graphics stack.svg
Linux support for the UVD ASIC is provided by the Linux kernel device driver amdgpu.

Support for UVD has been available in AMD's proprietary driver Catalyst version 8.10 since October 2008 through X-Video Motion Compensation (XvMC) or X-Video Bitstream Acceleration (XvBA). [62] [63] Since April 2013, [64] UVD is supported by the free and open-source "radeon" device driver through Video Decode and Presentation API for Unix (VDPAU). An implementation of VDPAU is available as Gallium3D state tracker in Mesa 3D.

On 28 June 2014, Phoronix published some benchmarks on using Unified Video Decoder through the VDPAU interface running MPlayer on Ubuntu 14.04 with version 10.3-testing of Mesa 3D. [65]

Windows

Microsoft Windows supported UVD since it was launched. UVD currently only supports DXVA (DirectX Video Acceleration) API specification for the Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360 platforms to allow video decoding to be hardware accelerated, thus the media player software also has to support DXVA to be able to utilize UVD hardware acceleration.

Others

Support for running custom FreeRTOS-based firmware on the Radeon HD 2400's UVD core (based on an Xtensa CPU), interfaced with a STM32 ARM-based board via I2C, was attempted as of January 2012. [66]

Predecessors and Successor

Predecessors

The Video Shader and ATI Avivo are similar technologies incorporated into previous ATI products.

Successor

The UVD was succeeded by AMD Video Core Next in the Raven Ridge series of APUs released in October 2017. The VCN combines both encode (VCE) and decode (UVD). [67]

See also

Video hardware technologies

Nvidia

AMD

Intel

Qualcomm

Others

Notes

    Related Research Articles

    ATI Avivo is a set of hardware and low level software features present on the ATI Radeon R520 family of GPUs and all later ATI Radeon products. ATI Avivo was designed to offload video decoding, encoding, and post-processing from a computer's CPU to a compatible GPU. ATI Avivo compatible GPUs have lower CPU usage when a player and decoder software that support ATI Avivo is used. ATI Avivo has been long superseded by Unified Video Decoder (UVD) and Video Coding Engine (VCE).

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