Superior Lightweight Slice-based Video Codec
The high quality profile and low delay syntax of VC-2 is used to achieve low compression ratio, typically up to 4 times visually lossless. The algorithm is lightweight and works without external memory allowing cost-effective implementation. The VC-2 High Quality codec has ultra-low latency due to its slice-based processing.
Maximum Flexibility
DID YOU KNOW
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) developed and open sourced a Wavelet-based video codec named Dirac. A low-complexity profile of the Dirac codec named Dirac Pro, which does not use motion compensation, was standardized by SMPTE as the VC-2 codec. Silex Insight’s VC-2 HQ IP implements the VC-2 codec and associated support for handling the compressed bitstream.
Extensive Use Cases
Features
SLICED-BASED PROCESSING
The slice-based processing allows a high level of parallelization. In combination with small slices, a sub-frame level pipelining can be put in place and lead to an end-to-end latency of 2 stripe height lines. With 8 lines of latency in 4K60, VC-2 HQ has a latency of only 0.0593 milliseconds.
COMPRESSED FRAME BUFFER
The slice-based processing allows to update any slice directly in the compressed picture! This is ideal for picture in picture (see example below), logo insertion or video content update without the decoding and re-encoding of the full resolution picture, saving power. VC-2 HQ is a hyper-flexible codec.
REGION OF INTEREST (ACTIVITY ZONE) PROCESSING
With ROI coding, only the useful slices determined by the user are encoded. This allows saving power and bandwidth.
MULTIVIEW
Thanks to its slice-based processing, the VC-2 HQ codec makes it relatively easy to build a Multiview application with many video channels (as many simultaneously streams you need) without requiring a lot of extra memory.
The Multiview compositing pipeline is executed in the compressed domain. This means that the compressed slices are read from the stream buffers and are combined to create a compressed stream for the chosen output resolution.
A single VC-2 HQ decoder instance is therefore enough, keeping the resource usage at an extremely low level.
Note: The slices in the above image are larger than in reality for the purpose of visualizing the slice boundaries.
As VC-2 HQ has a slice-based processing it allows to update any slice directly in the compressed picture! This is ideal for picture in picture, logo insertion or video content update without the decoding and re-encoding of the full resolution picture, saving power. VC-2 HQ is a hyper-flexible codec.
Processing Latency
The slice-based processing also results in extremely low encoding latency with the encoded bits becoming available for transport and decoding even as other slices in a frame are yet to be encoded.
Low latency processing is also supported by the Constant Bit Rate (CBR) encoding option which allows for predictable data transfer rates across the entire system from sensor to encoder to decoder to processor. In applications that require real-time analysis of the video, the CBR mode could be a key asset.
For example, in the lowest latency configuration of VC-2 HQ, 8 lines of processing latency in a 4K60P frame (comprised of 2250 lines including blanking) computes to just 59.3 microseconds which is by far the lowest latency for any codec in the market with such a low complexity.
8 lines / 2250 lines x 16,66 = 0.0593 milliseconds
VC-2 HQ 4K60P real-time encoding and decoding only takes
0.0593 MILLISECONDS!
VC-2 HQ vs. Other codecs
Many options exist for performing Intra-frame only coding of video including popular and more complex codecs such as H.26x and JPEG. However, VC-2 HQ offers a number of superior features:
Quality
In the above PSNR Evolution graph, it clearly shows that VC-2 HQ is a good alternative for low compression ratios against JPEG 2000 with a lossy filter.
FREE WHITE PAPER
VC-2 HQ
When high quality, no latency & No DDR matters
DO YOU PLAN TO BUILD A LOW LATENCY AV OVER IP SOLUTION?
HIGH RESOLUTION TRANSMITTER & RECEIVER BOARD
We have designed and developed fully integrated boards that is perfect suited for VC-2 HQ codec and ultra-low latency audio/video over IP. The transmit and receive boards are production-ready and reduce the development cost of the system. Viper features high resolutions up to 4K/UHD over 1Gb, 2.5Gb, or 10Gb Ethernet cable. The HDMI video is transported over Ethernet after compression with the VC-2 HQ (or JPEG 2000 or another codec) video compression.
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