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I think hardware transcoding is a bit overrated since pretty much every device nowadays can decode most formats at a good resolution and frame rate.
by irusensei 2y ago
I think hardware transcoding is a bit overrated since pretty much every device nowadays can decode most formats at a good resolution and frame rate.
- Teknoman117 2y agoI would hardly call hardware video decode/encode overrated. A hardware block will do the work with a fraction of the power that the CPU would take to do it, and in the case of something like a Pi 4 or Pi 5, you're now spending all of your limited CPU on video, rather than doing something useful. Maybe not a problem when you're plugged into the wall, but for those of us using Raspberry Pi's (and other computers) in mobile situations (laptops, robots, drones, etc.), the power consumption is a huge concern. My main usage of the Pi 4's video encoder was to record the video from the camera "for free" while the CPU was nearly maxed out doing stuff in OpenCV.
- irusensei 2y agoYou misunderstood what I said. Transcode is not necessary. Pretty much every device that comes in the Happy McMeal box comes with HEVC and h264 decoding capabilities. So you just stream the data directly to the device which does the decoding with little energy as you mentioned. Transcoding is unnecessary.
- ssl-3 2y agoSome folks have media libraries that can be used outside of their homes, and sometimes they use them with very limited bandwidth. With transcoding, I can keep my high-bitrate 4k scan of Steamboat Willy at home, and stream the content to my pocket computer with the shitty free wifi on a public bus if I feel like it.