Arc missing MPEG2 encoder?

[r00tb33r]

I upgraded my system from Xe MAX (DG1) card to Arc (DG2) and now the MPEG2 encoder is not working.

Looking around I found the following feature tables:

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/develop/documentation/media-capabilities-of-intel-hardware/t...

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/develop/documentation/media-capabilities-of-intel-hardware/t...

It still just has DG1 in the table and it's not updated for Arc.

Can you confirm that MPEG2 encoder is present on Arc?

[powerarmour]

Another question is why H/W MPEG2 encoding is even required anyway when a modern potato CPU can easily handle this task.

[r00tb33r]

It's required when you're a broadcaster with 5 TV stations broadcasting MPEG2 from the same location. 😉

When you need that MPEG2 performance times 40 in parallel on multiple redundant nodes.  On DG1 I was getting transcode performance 2.5x of a Platinum Xeon, clearly making GPU codecs the desirable option.  And when I need to transcode delayed recording content in seconds I'm not interested in potato CPU performance.  That answer your question?

Now please don't take my thread off topic because I require a response from Intel support regarding where the encoder went on this Arc product.

[powerarmour]

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@r00tb33r wrote:

It's required when you're a broadcaster with 5 TV stations broadcasting MPEG2 from the same location. 😉

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That's obviously fair enough now you've stated your use case!

But yes, unfortunately according to the media-driver GitHub, DG2 only supports hardware MPEG2 decode, not encode:

https://github.com/intel/media-driver/#decodingencoding-features

[r00tb33r]

Still waiting for a response from Intel.

[LuisGustav_A_Intel]

Hello r00tb33r,  

Thank you for contacting Intel Technical Support for graphics.  

We understand you are looking for more information about encoder technology MPEG2 for DG2 products.

Let me review the information for confirmation, and the couple links you provided in case its outdated/through other documentation sheet.

Best regards, 

Luis A. 

Intel Customer Support Technician.  

[LuisGustav_A_Intel]

Hello r00tb33r,

This info is only accessible with a non-disclosure agreement. For direct access you can apply here. Then, once with access, you can find the Arc Datasheet here.

Intel® Arc A-Series Graphics supports

• MPEG2 Hardware Accelerated Video Decode up to 1080p
• MPEG2 Hardware Accelerated Video Encode up to 8K

However, support for this feature needs to be enabled by the developer of the specific app used for encode/decode video.

Best regards,

Luis A.

Intel Customer Support Technician.  

[r00tb33r]

I had applied for access and have been waiting for response from Intel.  Exactly a month later I received a response that I had been denied access as a premier developer.

Regrettable I must admit.

Ultimately this inquiry remains unresolved.

[LuisGustav_A_Intel]

Hello r00tb33r, 

I was checking your case and would like to know if you need further assistance? 

Best regards, 

Luis A. 

Intel Customer Support Technician. 

[LuisGustav_A_Intel]

Hello r00tb33r, 

We have not heard back from you so this thread will no longer be monitored. If you need further support, please post a new question to provide assistance.   

Best regards, 

Luis A. 

Intel Customer Support Technician. 

[r00tb33r]

Read above.  I have followed up to the suggestion to get premier developer access/NDA.  We had tried the suggestion.  It didn't work out.

This inquiry is still unresolved.