H.264 DM36x Ver 2.1 Codec

Migration Guide for DM36x H.264 version 2.1 codecs

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Migration guide: DM36x ver 2.1 H.264 codec

This document describes the changes done in H.264 ver 2.1 codec over the previous 2.0 codec. It outlines the advantages to migrate to the new codec and the steps needed to do so. This wikitopic is applicable for release on and after 2.10.00.03

New Features in Version 2.1 H.264 codec

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New DM36x version 2.1 H.264 codec is an enhanced version of the existing ver 2.0 codec that supports more features.

The salient new features are:

• H.264 encoder
  • SVC-T up to four layers support.Scalable video coding – Temporal
  • Supports fixed slice size encoding feature.
  • Support for chain free P frames encoding. Chain Free P frame encoding
  • Support for Gradual Decoder Refresh (GDR).Gradual Decoder Refresh
  • Support for Adaptive Longterm Frame Insertion. Adaptive Longterm Frame Insertion
  • Constrained VBR Rate control (CVBR).CVBR Rate control
  • ARF (Adaptive Reference field) and MRCRF (Most Recent Coded Reference Field) encoding.
  • Mega Pixel support added that can encode input video upto 4096x4096 resolution. MegaPixel Encoder
  • New RC modes added. New RC modes

Comparison between version 2.1 and 2.0 codec

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For details about features supported in version 2.0 please visit H.264 DM36x Ver 2.0 Codec .

Due to additional feature support in version 2.1 memtab requirement has increased. In case of SVC-T and LongTermFrame size of the few memtabs increases. Please refer datasheets for details.

API changes in version 2.1 codec

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There are changes in extended parameter of DM365 encoder when compared to ver 2.0. The changes are listed below –

IH264VENC_Params

Parameter	Ver. 2.1	Ver. 2.0	Comments
maxWidth	Supported upto 4096	Supported upto 2048	If maxWidth is set to more than 2048 then MegaPixel encoding is enabled. In this case performance might reduce.
maxHeight	Supported upto 4096	Supported upto 2048
inputWidth	Supported upto 4096	Supported upto 2048	Encoding of resolution more than 2048x2048 is enabled if maxWidth is more than 2048.
inputHeight	Supported upto 4096	Supported upto 2048
aspectRatioX	Moved to IH264VENC_Dynamic_Params Values: same as before	Supported	X scale for Aspect Ratio
aspectRatioY	Moved to IH264VENC_Dynamic_Params Values: same as before	Supported	Y scale for Aspect Ratio
pixelRange	Move to VUI parameters Structure See How to modify VUI params	Supported	To specify range of values that a pixel can take.
timeScale	Move to VUI parameters Structure	Supported	Timer Resolution for Picture Timing
numUnitsInTicks	Move to VUI parameters Structure	Supported	Number of timer units per Ticks
enableVUIparams	Values Bit-0: enables VUI param insertion Bit-1: enables insertion of IDR if RC params are changed. Bit-2: VUI params can be set from application at runtime. Bit-3: Application is allowed to provide "Customized Encoded" VUI insertion.		Refer userguide for more details.
disableHDVICPeveryFrame	Depreciated	Supported
meAlgo	Values 0,1 0: Normal mode 1: Improved Video quality at low bit rate	Reserved	If meAlgo is set to 1, performance drop of 1% is observed. Default value: 0
unrestrictedMV	Depreciated	Reserved	UMV is always ON
seqScalingFlag	Values 0-3: Same as before 5: Application can provide/update Customized Scaling Matrix at runtime.	Supported values 0-3	Additional feature support added.
sliceMode	Values (Default value 0) 0 – No multi-slice 1- Slice sizes in bits 2- number of MBs per slice 3- number of MB rows per slice	Value 0, 2 and 3 supported.	Mode for specifying slice size.
numTemporalLayers	Value 0-3 and 255 0 -> one layer (Base layer) 1 -> two layers 2 -> three layers 3 -> four layers 255 -> Chain free P frames	Not present	Number of temporal layers in hierarchical encoding. Default value: 0
svcSyntaxEnable	Value 0-3 0 -> SVC disabled short term ref frames used 1 -> SVC enabled short term ref frames used 2 -> SVC disabled long term ref frames used 3 -> SVC enabled long term ref frames used	Not present	SVC syntax enable/disable flag. Also decides usage of long-term frame as reference frame in hierarchical encoding.
EnableLongTermFrame	Disable Enable Long Term frame for error resilience.	Not present	Flag to enable/disable usage of long-term frame as reference frame for error resiliency Default value: 0
Log2MaxFrameNumMinus4	Value 0-12	Not present	Newly added in ver 2.1 to set the maximum frame number value. Default value: 0
ConstraintSetFlag	Values Bit-0: Constraint Set 0 flag. Bit-1: Constraint Set 1 flag Bit-2: Don’t’ Care Bit-3: Constraint Set 3 flag	Not present	Constraint Profile Set Flag. Refer user guide for more details Default value: 0

IH264VENC_Dynamic_Params

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Parameter	Ver. 2.1	Ver. 2.0	Comments
aspectRatioX	Values: same as before	Supported	X scale for Aspect Ratio
aspectRatioY	Values: same as before	Supported	X scale for Aspect Ratio
maxBitrateCVBR	Values 0 – 50000000 bps	Not present	Specifies the max Bitrate for CVBR RC algorithm. Default value: 0
interlaceRefMode	Values 0-2 0 = ARF (default mode), 1 = SPF, 2 = MRCF	Not present	Mode to choose between ARF/SPF/MRCF. Default value 0. ARF- Adaptive Reference field. SPF- Same parity field. MRCF- Most recent coded field. Default 0
sliceSize	Accepts siceSize in bits also.	Supported	Slice size in terms of bits, MBs and rows depending upon sliceMode flag.
rcAlgo	Values 0-6 0: CBR, 1: VBR 2:Fixed QP 3: CVBR 4: FIXED_RC 5: CBR custom1 6: VBR custom1	Supported 0-3	Support for additional new RC algorithm. Refer user guide for details.
enableGDR	Values 0-2	Not present	Flag to enable Gradual Decoder Refresh. Default 0
GDRduration	Values non-Negative	Not present	GDR refresh duration. GDRduration shall be non-negative and lesser than GDRinterval. Default 0.
GDRinterval	Values non-Negative	Not present	Interval between GDR refresh. GDRinterval shall be non-negative else not supported Default 0.
LongTermRefreshInterval	Values non-Negative	Not present	Newly added in ver 2.1. Interval in which long term reference frame is updated. Default 0.
UseLongTermFrame	Values 0-1 0- Long term frame not Used for reference 1- Long term frame used for reference	Not present	Newly added in ver 2.1. Allows codec to use long-term frame instead of short term frame as reference frame. Default value 0.
SetLongTermFrame	Values 0- Set current frame as a short term 1- Set current frame as a long term	Not present	Newly added in ver 2.1. Default value 0.
VUIParamBuffer *VUI_Buffer	Pointer to the VUI parameter structure	Not present	Newly added in ver 2.1. It is functional if Bit-2 of enableVUIparams is set to 1 (e.g. enableVUIparams = 0x4). This allows application to set VUI params from the application. For default VUI values refer user guide.
CustomScalingMatrix *CustomScaleMatrix_Buffer	Pointer to the Customized Scaling Matrix structure.	Not present	Newly added in ver 2.1. It is functional if seqScalingFlag is set to 5.For details refer user guide. Default: NULL
CVBRsensitivity	Reserved	Not present	Newly added in ver 2.1 for future use
CVBRminbitrate	Reserved	Not present	Newly added in ver 2.1 for future use
LBRmaxpicsize	Reserved	Not present	Newly added in ver 2.1 for future use
LBRminpicsize	Reserved	Not present	Newly added in ver 2.1 for future use
LBRskipcontrol	Reserved	Not present	Newly added in ver 2.1 for future use
maxHighCmpxIntCVBR	Reserved	Not present	Newly added in ver 2.1 for future use

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How to integrate ver 2.1 codec in existing application?

• In case application is using only base class for encode and decode operation and have already migrated to ver 2.0 codec, they can just replace the existing codec RTSC package with the new ver 2.1 codec RTSC package and rebuild the application. In case the existing application is built on ver 1.1 or prior codec, please refer to Migartion guide to ver 2.0 codec before integrating this codec.
• The codec can work in DVSDK 2.1 and 3.1 demo and DVTB(base class) by just replacing the existing ver 2.0 library.
• There are changes in no. of memtab requirement and the changes in sizes of few memtabs. Hence the user might observe increased memory requirement from codec.
• No. of memory pools required are same as of ver 2.0.
• There are no changes in no. of EDMA channels required. It is same as previous ver 2.0
• In case the application uses extended parameter, one will need to do modification in the app code depending on the usage of the new features. Please refer to the new interface file, sample test application and user guide to understand the changes in detail.