Intel Media SDK 2016 R2 - what's new?

The new version of the complex of means for developing software for encoding and playing media content of the Intel Media SDK 2016 has been released . The update contains a number of significant changes:

• Added support for seventh generation Intel Core processors (Kabylake);
• Improved Media RAW Accelerator for flexibility and performance;
• Added new features when encoding AVC / H.264 for video conferencing and cloud gaming services;
• Added new VPP filters and improved existing ones;
• Introduced a new version of the API with improvements in memory management and query functionality of the platform;
• Implemented support for Windows Redstone Preview.

Under the cut - a brief overview of the current functionality of the Intel Media SDK 2016.



Full hardware acceleration for HEVC and VP9.

• Support 10-bit HEVC encoder and decoder
• Supports 8-bit and 10-bit VP9 decoder

AVC Encoder : Slice Size restrictions and reporting features have been added to ensure the low latency required using the RTP protocol. Developers can use this functionality to better align the video stream with the bandwidth of the communication channel.



Media RAW Accelerator : In order to improve the performance, Media RAW Accelerator is distributed with a graphics driver, so it is not necessary to include it in the application now. Added support for 16-bit ARGB input, to which Gamma Correction, Chroma Aberration, 3DLUT and Les Geometry Correction filters can be applied. Now developers in their applications can easily apply filters to a picture with an applied debtor or customize their own post-processing blocks by adding them to the processing pipeline, as shown in the figure.

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VPP extensions : developers can use the bt.601 or bt.709 color conversion matrix, video of various ranges with the Videosignal Info function. With the Scaler & Format Converter (SFC) pipeline, available since the sixth generation of Intel Core processors (Skylake), new scaling modes can be used when the workload is removed from the rendering tool during the operation of the Media SDK and is no longer locked. Thus, the developer can more accurately control the execution units of the GPU for other loads during processing.



Improvements for easier work with the API : the platform request feature has been added to API 1.19; Using the new API, the application can now determine the hardware platform on which it runs. To improve memory performance, its allocation has been optimized for 3D and OpenCL configurations.