VC-1 decode artifacts in Media Foundation

[Carl_P_]

Hi,

We are currently seeing artifacts when playing WMV movies with HW acceleration via DXVA2 on Intel HD GPUs (Sandy, Ivy and Haswell)

We have tested two different topologies:

Test1 Topology: File source --> WMVideo Decoder MFT --> EVR

Test2 Topology: File source --> Intel Hardware VC-1 decoder MFT --> EVR

Both of these topologies produces artifacts in the image. Artifacts often occurs on moving objects and are quite small and goes away after some frames. They are usually color related.

These type of artifacts can also be seen in windows media player. We have never seen this using Nvidia GPUs.

Is this a known problem?
Is it driver related?

We are using the latest  driver 10.18.10.3345

best regards,

Carl

[Carl_P_]

Example file : http://www.distributedmedical.com/Faultyvideo.wmv

// Carl

[Petter_L_Intel]

Hi Carl,

Thanks for sharing the content. I can see some artifacts using both the Intel Media SDK SW and HW decoder.

I will explore this further with the VC1 decoder experts and get back to you again shortly.

Regards,
Petter

[Carl_P_]

Sounds great, thanks for the quick response.

Regards,
Carl

[Carl_P_]

Hi Petter,

Have you received any new information from you VC-1 decoder experts regarding the artifacts?

regards,
Carl

[Petter_L_Intel]

Hi Carl,

no additional updates a this point. Sorry.

Regards,
Petter

[Petter_L_Intel]

Quick update.  Media SDK 2014 release resolves this decode artifacts issue for the SW execution path.

A solution for the same issue for the HW accelerated path is available but has yet to be included in externally available graphics driver (projected end of February)

Regards,
Petter

[Carl_P_]

Sounds really good. Thank you for the information.

Regards,
Carl

[Donald_G_]

I too see a problem with decoding VC1 streams when using HW acceleration. I have modified my Nvidia-based frame accurate Avisynth source filter (DGDecNV) to use the Intel Media SDK and find that seeking works just great for AVC and MPEG2 in HW and SW modes. But VC1 is reliable in SW mode only. My seeking code is fully correct and this definitely appears to be a (major) Intel Media SDK bug in the HW support for VC1. I use code based on the video decode sample. I hope you will indeed release a fix for this ASAP as falling back to SW for HD streams is very painful to swallow. My goal is to replace the Nvidia decoding with QuickSync in all my products but this is a showstopper.

Is there some chance to get a beta of your HW fix for testing? Thank you.

[Jeffrey_M_Intel1]

I'm pulling together the status of the HW driver updates for VC-1 decode and will update here as soon as possible.  

[diamantis__nikos]

Hello.

Using a Pentium G3420 (Haswell-DT) under Win 8.1 Pro x64 using latest 3345 driver I can report two things:

1) There is no MFT driver from Intel (only from Microsoft)

2) Microsoft's MFT DXVA native decoder, DS QuickSync decoder (using MSDK routines) and DS FFmpeg based HW decoders can play just fine the above Faultyvideo.wmv

I don't know if any of the above helps.

[Donald_G_]

Petter Larsson (Intel) wrote:

Quick update.  Media SDK 2014 release resolves this decode artifacts issue for the SW execution path.

A solution for the same issue for the HW accelerated path is available but has yet to be included in externally available graphics driver (projected end of February)

There was a new driver release at the end of February but it did not improve the VC1 HW decoding, which is still broken. Can you please advise status?

Right now in my experience, all MPEG2 decoding is broken in both HW and SW, and VC1 is broken in HW. So a very large and important portion of your SDK is dead for users. I don't know how you can call this SDK "Gold". Nvidia fixes such decode issues quickly, why can't Intel?

[Anthony_P_Intel]

Hi,

Nikos, This is Windows 7 issue/complaint, as Intel VC-1 Decode MFT is not needed for Windows 8.x

Donald, Which new driver are you referring to?  There was a 'beta' driver targeted at 3D game fixes.  I will check on release of Win7 VC-1 changes.

re: call this SDK "Gold", This is not an "SDK" issue, but I understand the desire for stable Media Foundation support, especially for VC-1 content.  Thank you for your patience.

[Donald_G_]

Tony Pabon (Intel) wrote:
Donald, Which new driver are you referring to?  There was a 'beta' driver targeted at 3D game fixes.  I will check on release of Win7 VC-1 changes.

re: call this SDK "Gold", This is not an "SDK" issue, but I understand the desire for stable Media Foundation support, especially for VC-1 content.  Thank you for your patience.

I am running 10.18.10.3412 according to the SDK system analyzer. It was offered to me near the end of February and I accepted and installed it. Also, I run Win8 not Win7. It certainly *is* an SDK issue. It seems you do not read comments carefully; I clearly stated I use code based on the decode sample. The decode sample does not properly decode MPEG2 in SW or HW (see my other thread), and VC1 does not decode properly in HW. I do not use Media Foundation. Patience is fine up to a point, then you start to ask whether you care, or more charitably, one wonders if you have the resources to properly support your offerings. I see a lot of frustration expressed over your graphics drivers, and maybe your available resources for SDK support are very thin on the ground. Are you committed to making it production quality?

Maybe have a look here for an idea of what real support is:

http://neuron2.net/dgdecnv/cuda/cuda.html

[Anthony_P_Intel]

Hi Donald,

I apologize for reading this thread too quickly, as many comments (and title) appeared to be referring to MFT for Windows 7.  For the Media SDK-supported VC-1 decode, you should find the the beta driver (3496) includes fixes for VC-1.  (I have not looked at your other MPEG-2 thread yet, I'll find it and comment there, but MPEG-2 decoding is certainly tested and used by many customers).

For "SDK issue" I was referring to the "Intel Media SDK 2014 for Windows Clients" products, and not the graphics drivers.

Yes, we do care and are "committed to making it production quality".

[Donald_G_]

Thank you. I will try to find this beta driver and test it. Regarding the MPEG2 issue, when you read the thread you will see that I am not claiming that MPEG2 decoding does not work in all cases. I describe a specific case where a failure occurs that makes it impossible to implement a correct frame-accurate decoder, and I provide a sample stream to demonstrate it. I will look for your comment in the thread.

[Donald_G_]

Oops, never mind. Operator error. :-)

[Donald_G_]

Hi Tony,

Sweet! Beta 3496 fixes my issues with HW decode of VC1. Thank you for your support.

[Carl_P_]

Hi,

I am still seeing color artifacts when running the following topology on Win7:

VC-1 source ---> WMVDecode MFT (with a pointer to an Intel HD GPU 3000/4000) ---> EVR

These artifacts does not appear if I use an discrete GPU, AMD or Nvidia (still Win7) or running the same app on Win8 with an Intel HD GPU 3000/4000.

Is this a know issue? Any planned fixes?

I config the EVR mixer as follows:

MFVideoFormat_NV12 --> Mixer --> MFVideoFormat_RGB32 (D3DFMT_X8R8G8B8)

best regards,

Carl