How Does Hardware Acceleration Work to Boost 4K UHD Video Processing
The switch of modern videos towards higher quality resolutions increases the burden on the CPU, which leads to CPU overheating, laptop lagging, high CPU usage, frozen operations, and battery suffering. Hardware acceleration, by exploiting GPU’s massively parallel processing power, turns out to be the most efficient solution to cut time and energy consumption. Particularly, hardware acceleration solutions let 4K ultra HD HEVC H.265, and HD H.264 video processing go far beyond the traditional CPU-in efficiency.
For example, if the computer is equipped with a Maxwell-based NVidia graphics card from the GeForce 900 series or later, the NVidia hardware encoder can take care of the 4K HEVC processing and go 2–3x faster than using Handbrake. GPU’s high video processing performance is further proven by VideoProc Converter’s unique 3-Level Hardware Acceleration (hardware encoding, decoding, and processing), which offers a 5X faster speed up over Hardware encoding-only tools, let alone other software acceleration-based programs. It’s time to look deeper into the role that hardware acceleration plays in 4K video processing.
What Is Hardware Acceleration
1. Definition of Hardware Acceleration
Hardware acceleration in video processing involves upgrading system components, such as replacing hard disks and increasing memory, as well as utilizing more CPU cores to optimize speed. However, a more specialized form of hardware acceleration utilizes powerful GPUs or APUs to offload graphically-intensive tasks like high-definition video processing and transcoding from the CPU. This approach takes advantage of the parallel processing capabilities of GPUs/APUs, resulting in faster and more efficient video processing compared to relying solely on the CPU. By integrating specialized hardware with advanced software frameworks, hardware acceleration enhances overall performance, leading to smoother playback and faster rendering in video processing tasks.
2. Hardware Acceleration vs. Software Acceleration
Software acceleration refers to the process of optimizing a program through various techniques such as code optimization, algorithm upgrades, and performance improvements. These techniques are employed to increase the speed of video decoding and encoding processes. However, software acceleration still relies on system resources and adds to the CPU burden.
On the other hand, hardware acceleration leverages dedicated graphics cards or integrated graphics, such as Intel QSV, NVidia, or AMD hardware acceleration solutions. Hardware acceleration significantly reduces CPU usage and greatly minimizes waiting times for video processing, particularly for compute-intensive HEVC files and 4K UHD videos.
3. What Is Level-3 Hardware Acceleration
Currently, there is a wide range of programs that support hardware acceleration for video processing, such as Handbrake, VideoProc Converter, Movavi Video Converter, Wondershare Video Converter Ultimate, and others. However, not all programs are created equal, as they vary in the level of hardware acceleration they offer. Some programs support hardware encoding (Level 1), some provide hardware decoding/encoding (Level 2), and a few reach the highest level — Level 3 hardware acceleration (hardware decoding, processing, and encoding). In this article, we will explore which level of hardware acceleration is better and which programs support Level 3 acceleration.
Level 1: Hardware Encoding
Video encoding is a CPU-intensive task, but hardware encoding can offload this burden from the CPU and significantly improve the encoding speed. Intel Quick Sync, NVIDIA, and AMD hardware encoders, which are dedicated processors in the GPU, activate the GPU’s hardware acceleration capabilities to handle 4K and 8K HEVC/H.264 video encoding tasks. Most software tools on the market that offer hardware acceleration support Level 1 hardware encoding.
Level 2: Hardware Decoding & Encoding
Hardware decoding shifts the decoding process from the CPU to the GPU, resulting in faster speed and improved battery efficiency compared to software decoders. However, only a few programs have achieved Level 2 hardware acceleration in the industry.
Level 3: Hardware Decoding, Processing & Encoding
In addition to hardware acceleration in video decoding and encoding, Level 3 involves utilizing the graphic card for video editing, compression, and resizing of the decoded video. Unfortunately, the majority of programs do not support Level 3 hardware acceleration. However, VideoProc Converter stands out as the only Level 3-capable video processing tool that implements a complete pure GPU hardware transcoding process. Its speed is even 5x faster than its closest competitor.
By understanding the different levels of hardware acceleration in video processing, you can choose the right program that meets your specific requirements and achieve faster and more efficient video processing.
6 Benefits of Hardware Acceleration for 4K Video Processing
Hardware acceleration is widely used in 4K video processing, video decoding & encoding, large file compression, video playback (especially high-def. videos), online video streaming, web browser data loading, 2D/3D games, HEVC H.265 transcoding, etc. You can find it almost everywhere. Why is it so popular? Any advantages of hardware acceleration that you can’t resist? Actually, yes. And it has more than one strength.
1. Faster Ever 4K Video Processing
Video processing involves complex computing tasks, many of which are repetitive and don’t require intricate logic. In other words, video processing benefits greatly from parallel operations. This is where GPU excels. GPUs feature SIMD architecture (Single Instruction Multiple Data) with thousands of cores capable of executing the same instruction simultaneously. By leveraging GPU hardware acceleration technology, tasks such as transcoding, editing, resizing, and playing 4K videos experience a remarkable boost in speed.
But just how much faster can hardware acceleration make 4K UHD video processing? Let’s take Intel Quick Sync Video hardware acceleration as an example. With the help of the on-chip Intel UHD Graphics 630 chip, which operates at a dynamic frequency of up to 1.20 GHz and supports 60GHz 4K, the 8th Generation Intel Core i7 Processor (activated by software VideoProc Converter) achieves hardware-accelerated 4K 2160p (AVC) camcorder video to H264 conversion at an average of 270 FPS, compared to only 80 FPS when relying solely on the CPU. To put it simply, hardware acceleration can turn what used to be a time-consuming chore into a task that you can accomplish with only 1/3 or 1/5 time.
2. Avoid High CPU Usage
Without the help of GPU hardware accelerated decoding and encoding, processing videos especially HD, 4K Ultra HD videos, or 3D contents will place a heavy burden on the CPU. To process intensive videos smoothly, the CPU has to try very hard, generally 350% usage for the i5 processor and 570% for the i7 processor. When the CPU has been eaten up, it, in turn, causes CPU overheating and lags in response.
Using GPU hardware-accelerated video processing tools like VideoProc Converter is a different story. It’s able to hardware decode, encode, and process 4K Ultra HD video mainly on GPU processor instead of CPU via Intel QSV, Nvidia, and AMD APP level-3 hardware acceleration techs. Thus, the used CPU usage of 4K video processing can be reduced from 350% to 280%, 570% to 430%, and more CPU utilization saved for smooth multi-tasking, like web browsing, video game playing, etc.
3. Stop a CPU From Overheating
It would be much more acceptable for your CPU to handle 4K H264 video processing like 4K H264 video transcoding or editing. Yet, when it comes to dealing with 4K HEVC video processing, your CPU processor can’t get away from the overheating issue. Why? The better coding efficiency of 4K HEVC comes at the price of increased computation complexity, 10X more compute power needed than 4K H264. It stands a high chance of encountering CPU overheating trouble during 4K HEVC video processing, especially 4K HEVC GoPro video editing. If the CPU temperature reaches 90°C or higher, there might be something wrong with your throttling, which could ruin your CPU within months to a year.
Fortunately, GPU hardware acceleration comes to rescue your CPU processor by assigning heavy tasks from the CPU to the GPU processor to cope with the compute-intensive yet parallel-oriented task. Thus, your CPU overheating problem can be easily tackled.
4. No Compromise on Quality
Video processing speed and video quality are usually inversely related. Traditional video converters sacrifice video quality by discarding unnecessary and less important data to speed up the conversion process. However, hardware acceleration offers a different approach. It utilizes the power of your computer’s CPU and GPU processors to significantly increase video processing speed without compromising video quality.
5. It’s Available for Most Computers
Hardware acceleration, which can greatly improve video processing speed, is accessible to a wide range of computers with common configurations. The specific requirements vary depending on the type of hardware acceleration used:
Intel Quick Sync Video: This technology enables hardware decoding and encoding for video processing. It can be activated if your computer has a 1st-6th generation Intel Core i3/i5/i7 processor and either Intel HD graphics GPU or Intel Iris graphics GPU. This means that most modern computers, whether they have integrated graphics cards or discrete graphics cards, meet the basic requirements.
NVidia: For common H264 video decoding and encoding, NVidia hardware acceleration technology is supported by computers with the 1st generation Kepler (Quadro K420) and GK107 chip. There are no specific requirements regarding the quantity of NVidia chips. However, for HEVC (H265) video processing, higher demands must be met. You need at least Maxwell (2nd Gen) with Quadro M4000 and GM204 chip, and it’s important to have 2 NVENC chips installed. In most cases, hardware decoding and encoding of H264 video should work smoothly. Just ensure that you upgrade your hardware configurations accordingly if you plan to hardware encode HEVC files.
6. Lower Power Consumption
Hardware acceleration optimizes video processing, particularly for large 4K videos, while minimizing power usage. It achieves this by utilizing dedicated modules and units for efficient transcoding. It’s like using a high-rise elevator instead of stairs. The elevator takes you directly to the desired floor, saving time and energy. Similarly, hardware acceleration acts as a high-rise elevator for video processing. By leveraging the GPU’s power, it delivers faster and more efficient video processing with reduced power consumption. Most computers and software incorporate GPU hardware acceleration for enhanced video processing while conserving energy.
How to Process 4K Videos Smoothly & Efficiently with Level-3 Hardware Acceleration Technology
If you’re curious about how Level-3 hardware acceleration can significantly speed up 4K video processing, especially in HEVC format, you’re not alone. Describing the process solely in the text can be challenging to grasp. So, let’s delve into the three-level accelerated 4K video processing workflow to provide you with a clearer understanding. We’ll focus on VideoProc Converter, the exclusive tool that supports Level-3 hardware acceleration. In this guide, we’ll demonstrate how to transcode, edit, and compress 4K videos with Level-3 GPU acceleration using VideoProc Converter.
1. Transcode 4K Videos at Lightening Fast Speed
Step 1. Free download, install, and launch the unique Level-3 4K video processing tool — VideoProc Converter.
The Hardware Encoder option for Intel/AMD/NVIDIA will be automatically selected if your computer supports any of these hardware acceleration technologies. This indicates that GPU acceleration is enabled within the software.
Step 2. Import your 4K video into VideoProc Converter. The software will quickly read and extract the individual elementary streams, including video, audio, and subtitles, through a process called demux. This step preserves the original quality and is completed swiftly.
Step 3. Leveraging Level-3 Hardware Acceleration, VideoProc Converter transfers the compressed video streams to the CPU, which then offloads the tasks to the GPU processor. The GPU performs hardware decoding (Hardware decoding), converting the compressed bitstream into digital video components for further processing.
Step 4. The GPU continues to process the video, utilizing its graphics, video, audio, and display capabilities. It can perform tasks such as noise removal, dimension scaling, sharpening, and transcoding of bit rates and frame rates.
Step 5. The GPU encoder encodes the uncompressed digital video into a new track called Hardware encoding. This resource-intensive process is entirely handled by the GPU, freeing up the CPU for other tasks such as gaming or general computing.
Step 6. Once the GPU video transcoding is complete, the results are sent back to VideoProc Converter. The software combines the 4K video, audio, and subtitle components, multiplexing them into a new container file that can be easily played and distributed across various devices and programs.
2. Edit 4K Videos Smoothly on Slow Computers
It’s not uncommon to experience lagging issues when editing 4K videos on your laptop or computer. Video editing, especially for 4K Ultra HD videos in H265 or H264, is a demanding task that puts a strain on your CPU. This often leads to overheating and high CPU usage, reaching 90% or even higher. Fortunately, with the help of this GPU-accelerated 4K UHD video processing software, you can edit 4K videos smoothly using the power of your GPU processor.
This software allows you to perform various editing tasks on your 4K videos, such as cutting, cropping, applying special effects, adding subtitles, merging, splitting, rotating/flipping, stabilizing shaky videos, fixing fisheye distortion, and denoising videos. You can do all this without experiencing any lagging issues or CPU overheating problems. The software provides specific features dedicated to 4K video editing, including cut, crop, effects, subtitles, stabilization, denoising, merging, fisheye correction, and rotation. Additionally, there are bonus features offered by this hardware-accelerated 4K video processing tool, such as video splitting, GIF conversion, mirroring and flipping, M3U8 video transcoding, subtitle extraction, and Snapchat extraction. These features can be easily applied to your videos with just a simple click.
Once you have everything set up, simply click the “RUN” button, and this GPU-accelerated 4K video processing software will start the editing process, utilizing the hardware acceleration technologies of your GPU (Intel/NVIDIA/AMD).
By transferring the entire 4K video editing workload from the CPU to the GPU processor, this software takes advantage of the GPU’s architecture, which includes hundreds of cores capable of handling the same instruction simultaneously. 4K video editing involves parallel computing, and the GPU’s efficient and pipelined ALUs (Arithmetic Logic Units) can efficiently process the editing tasks with high throughput. This results in time savings and eliminates the lagging issues typically associated with 4K video editing.
3. Compress 4K Videos at Speed 5X Faster than Real-Time Play
Hardware acceleration involves hardware decoding, hardware video processing, and hardware encoding. Video processing involves not only editing videos but also compressing, resizing, and playing them. Now, let’s focus on how hardware acceleration impacts the speed of 4K video processing, specifically GPU acceleration in 4K video compression.
Step 1. Once the hardware decoding of the 4K video is complete, you can select the desired output format from the available options. HEVC (High-Efficiency Video Coding) is a recommended choice as it offers significantly lower bit rates (up to 64% less) compared to H264. However, it’s worth noting that HEVC may have slightly lower compatibility compared to H264 due to its higher coding efficiency.
Step 2. To further reduce the size of the 4K video, click on the “Settings” icon on VideoProc’s home screen. This will open the parameter adjustment window, allowing you to lower the resolution from 4K to 1080p, adjust the frame rate from 120FPS to 60FPS or 60FPS to 30FPS, and decrease the bit rate to downsize the video.
Step 3. Hit RUN. trigger GPU hardware acceleration for 4K video compression.
Tips:
The built-in intra-frame and inter-frame prediction techniques are activated to perform block transform work. Since these operations primarily involve matrix operations, which GPUs excel at, they can be accelerated by the GPU processor. As a result, the removal of spatial and temporal redundancy can be accomplished at a much faster rate compared to CPU processing alone.
The reduction of 4K video size also involves processes such as DCT (Discrete Cosine Transform), quantization, and entropy coding. In the absence of hardware-accelerated video processing, these tasks put a significant burden on the CPU. However, with GPU-accelerated video processing, the removal of perceptual and statistical redundancy in the 4K video can be efficiently processed by the powerful GPU processor, as GPUs are designed for handling tasks related to DCT.
Option Reading: Intel Quick Sync vs. NVIDIA vs. AMD Hardware Acceleration
When comparing hardware acceleration technologies, such as Intel Quick Sync, NVidia (CUDA/NVENC/NVDEC), AMD APP, and Apple M1 it’s challenging to definitively determine which one is better. Each technology has its strengths and suitability depending on specific use cases and hardware configurations.
Also note: Apple has introduced its new Mac Studio, featuring the powerful M1 Max and M1 Ultra chips, as a direct competitor to Intel’s CPU chips. The M1 Max chip makes the Mac Studio 2.5x faster in CPU performance than the fastest Intel iMac with a 10-core processor. Moreover, the M1 Ultra chip boosts the CPU performance of the Mac Studio by up to 3.8x compared to the 27-inch Intel iMac. For lightning-fast speed, consider the Mac Studio 2022 with the M1 Max or M1 Ultra chip, albeit at a higher price starting from $1999. If you’re on a tight budget, software with GPU hardware acceleration can still significantly accelerate your tasks.
1. Intel Quick Sync Video
Intel Quick Sync Video is a commonly used hardware acceleration technology that utilizes the dedicated GPU capabilities of Intel processors to enhance video decoding and encoding speed. It can perform these tasks up to 2–3 times faster than in real-time. To access this technology, you need a 2nd-7th generation Intel Core i3/i5/i7 processor with Intel HD graphics GPU or Intel Iris graphics GPU. In addition to Quick Sync Video, Intel’s Processor Graphics includes other techniques like Intel Intru 3D Technology and Intel Wireless Display that further improve video processing speed. These technologies work together to deliver a significant performance boost and ensure a smooth video processing experience on compatible Intel processors. Take a look at which CPUs support QuickSync hardware acceleration.
2. NVidia (CUDA/NVENC/NVDEC)
NVidia CUDA accelerates 4K Ultra HD video encoding by utilizing the GPU instead of the CPU. NVidia NVENC is a dedicated component of the GPU solely focused on video encoding. NVENC operates independently from other tasks, resulting in efficient video encoding without straining the CPU or GPU. NVidia NVDEC works alongside NVENC, offloading the CPU’s heavy computing burden by handling video decoding. This partnership between NVENC and NVDEC ensures smoother playback and improved video processing performance. Check out which GPUs support NVidia hardware acceleration.
Note: Higher GPU configurations generally result in faster processing speeds. Installing multiple discrete graphics cards (up to four based on your computer configuration) can significantly improve the processing speed of large-sized 4K or 8K UHD videos. However, it’s important to consider not only the quantity but also the high-level configurations of the graphics cards themselves for optimal performance.
3. AMD APP
AMD APP, short for AMD Accelerated Parallel Processing, is a GPU hardware acceleration technology designed to enhance 4K Ultra HD video quality while simultaneously boosting software performance. Unlike Intel QSV and Nvidia, AMD APP takes a slightly different approach by fostering genuine collaboration between the CPU and GPU to enhance the processing speed of various applications. As a result, the CPU usage may appear slightly higher compared to QuickSync and Nvidia. However, this is directly influenced by the workload being handled. The synergy between the CPU and GPU facilitated by AMD APP contributes to improved performance and a seamless user experience.
Test Them Out! Which Performances Best
Intel QSV, AMD APP, and NVIDIA each have their unique characteristics when it comes to video processing. To accurately assess the video transcoding performance of these hardware acceleration technologies, we will subject them to a series of transcoding tests. By evaluating their performance in various scenarios, we can gain a clearer understanding of how these technologies fare in terms of video processing efficiency and effectiveness.
1. Encoding speed
The three hardware acceleration technologies offer notable speed improvements, with a 2x to 3x boost in encoding performance. However, the encoding speed can vary depending on the type of video being processed. When transcoding 720p videos, NVIDIA and AMD tend to perform faster. On the other hand, when dealing with 2046p videos, Intel QSV has a slight advantage in terms of speed.
When it comes to encoding high-resolution footage, such as full HD, NVENC performs on par with Quick Sync. However, when applying higher compression ratios for lower-quality outputs, like converting 1080p to 640p, Intel Quick Sync surpasses NVIDIA in terms of speed.
In terms of energy consumption, NVIDIA encoding tends to drain computer batteries faster. This observation is based on a test conducted by Hardware.fr, where Intel’s hardware transcode engine demonstrated greater energy efficiency, consuming an average of 0.83w/h compared to NVIDIA’s 3.2w/h.
2. Encoding quality
AMD shows notable improvements in encoding quality compared to its previous AVIVO technology. AMD’s color saturation plays a significant role in making scenes appear brighter. However, increased brightness can sometimes wash out details, which used to be a common issue with AMD when there were significant changes in brightness.
Both Intel and NVIDIA excel in motion compensation algorithms, delivering more detailed images. While some minor graininess may be observed in AMD’s picture, particularly in the grass on the left corner, there is minimal aliasing and less blurred backgrounds in the images produced by Intel and NVIDIA.
Although it’s challenging to distinguish quality differences between Intel and NVIDIA with the naked eye, certain measurements, such as PSNR and SSIM, provide helpful insights. Tests conducted by Hardware.fr reveal that Intel Quick Sync outperforms NVIDIA NVENC in both PSNR and SSIM benchmarks. In terms of quality at the same CPU load, Intel Quick Sync proves to be superior to NVIDIA NVENC.
3. Summary
All three hardware acceleration solutions provide a 2x to 3x speed boost.
NVIDIA and AMD are faster for videos within the GPU’s processing capabilities.
Intel QSV has an edge for larger videos like 4K Ultra HD or 3D videos.