Handbrake AV1 Intel Arc Hardware Encoding Issue - Rectangular artifacts appearing in converted video

[ReDMaNDRoiD]

Hi all,

I'm using an Intel Arc A750 on Windows 11 (also tried using Windows 10) and when converting videos from H264 to AV1 using QSV hardware encoding in Handbrake there are rectangular (typically blue in colour) artifacts appearing all over the converted video.

This used to work perfectly fine with 4125 beta drivers (and I'm sure a number of others, but 4125 is currently what I'm using on a spare SSD and can confirm these work without any issues). It appears this issue started one or two releases after these drivers were released. Using the current 4314 WHQL and 4335 Beta drivers this issue occurs.

I've tried every possible setting in Windows, Handbrake and FFmpeg and have narrowed down the issue to definitely being an issue with the drivers.

I know Intel are aware of an issue with Topaz Video AI and artifacts and the artifacts that appear within the converted files of that application are the same as how mine look within Handbrake.

Could this please be investigated?

Thanks!

[Alberto_R_Intel]

ReDMaNDRoiD, Thank you for posting in the Intel® Communities Support.

We are sorry to hear about this issue and we will be more than glad to assist you with this matter. 

In order for us to provide the most accurate assistance on this topic, we just wanted to confirm a few details about your system:

When did you purchase the Intel® Arc card?

What is the model of the motherboard?

Did you build the PC?

Did you make any recent hardware/software changes, besides the graphics driver updates, that might cause this problem?

Does the problem happen at home or in the work environment?

Please attach the SSU report so we can verify further details about the components in your platform, check all the options in the report including the one that says "3rd party software logs":

https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/25293/Intel-System-Support-Utility-for-Windows-?product=91600

Any questions, please let me know.

Regards,

Albert R.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[ReDMaNDRoiD]

When did you purchase the Intel® Arc card? - 20th February 2023

What is the model of the motherboard? - MSI MAG B550M MORTAR MAX WIFI (MS-7C94)

Did you build the PC? - Yes

Did you make any recent hardware/software changes, besides the graphics driver updates, that might cause this problem? - No

Does the problem happen at home or in the work environment? - Home

I'll also add that although I have a secondary discrete GPU, the issue occurs even when I remove it physically as well as it's drivers. Yet still works perfectly fine with 4125 drivers.

[Valkryst]

Some additional information about my system, following your request to the OP:

• When did you purchase the Intel® Arc card?
  • Around December of 2022.
• What is the model of the motherboard?
  • MSI X670-P WIFI
• Did you build the PC?
  • Yes
• Did you make any recent hardware/software changes, besides the graphics driver updates, that might cause this problem?
  • Not that I'm aware of.
• Does the problem happen at home or in the work environment?
  • At home.

[Alberto_R_Intel]

ReDMaNDRoiD, Thank you very much for providing that information and the SSU report.

Based on the information shown in the SSU document, the graphics driver version currently installed on your computer is 31.0.101.4335, which is, as you mentioned, the BETA version provided by Intel®:

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/729157/intel-arc-iris-xe-graphics-beta-windows.html?wapkw=arc%20a750

Since the artifacts problem also happens when using our latest graphics driver version 30.0.101.4314 WHQL, we will do further research on this matter to try to find a possible solution for this scenario. As soon as I get any updates, I will post all the details on this thread.

In the meantime, we recommend to get in contact directly with MSI support to make sure the latest BIOS version is currently installed on your device or to gather the instructions on how to update it:

https://www.msi.com/support

Regards,

Albert R.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[Alberto_R_Intel]

Hello ReDMaNDRoiD, I just received an update on this matter.

While we are still working on this scenario, just to let you know, we will try to replicate the issue in our Intel® lab, for that reason we just wanted to check if you could please provide videos, or screenshots showing up the issue and also the instructions step by step that you followed that shows the problem? 

Regards,

Albert R.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[Alberto_R_Intel]

Hello ReDMaNDRoiD, I just wanted to check if you saw the information posted previously and if you need further assistance on this matter?

Regards,

Albert R.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[Alberto_R_Intel]

Hello ReDMaNDRoiD, Since we have not heard back from you, we are closing the case, but if you have any additional questions, please post them on a new thread so we can further assist you with this matter.

Regards,

Albert R.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[NoRomBasic]

I know this post is a bit old, but I just upgraded an A770 this last week (Asrock) and I am seeing the same issues when using hardware encoding in DVDFab. Converting a video using hardware encoding yields a lot of scattered hardware artifacts throughout the video. Using software encoding works fine.

Using drivers 4502

[Valkryst]

Bumping this post as I am also experiencing this issue.

• Device - Intel Arc A770 16GB
• Driver Version - 31.0.101.4576
  • This issue has persisted for at least two months, maybe longer. It did not occur on older driver versions, as this was not an issue before early summer/spring.
• FFMPEG Command - ffmpeg -i -i '$file' -map 0:v:? -map 0:a:? -c:v av1_qsv -crf 18 -c:a copy -map 0:s -preset slow 'output.mp4'

This issue is easily reproducible and I'm willing to try any beta drivers or potential solutions to help with a fix.

[ReDMaNDRoiD]

Update from OP: Mine looked exactly like the latest posters examples. I would recommend using DDU graphic driver uninstaller and installing the latest beta or WHQL drivers. Mine just randomly resolved itself after doing installing a new version of the drivers not long after I originally posted. Also, if you have anything else running that might be using the GPU in any way, such as watching a Twitch stream, gaming, etc... that may also be a cause. It could potentially be the GPU can't handle doing an AV1 conversion while decoding another video or being in use in some way. Hope this information helps.

[Valkryst]

I gave that a shot, by following these steps:

1. Downloaded DDU (v18.0.6.4) and the latest Arc Drivers (101.4577).
2. Disconnected from the internet and booted into safe mode.
3. Used DDU, with its default settings, VIA the "Clean and restart" button.
4. Installed the latest Arc drivers.

Afterwards, I encoded a number of files using the FFMPEG command above and tested the files by skipping through them and monitoring for artifacts.

I also tried running two encodes at the same time, to determine if there's an issue caused by multiple processes using the GPU at the same time.

No artifacts appeared in any of the files, so I think the issue is resolved, at least for now. Thanks!