NVENC Preset Migration Guide

NVENC Preset Migration Guide (PDF)

This document provides table to map the NVENCODE API settings (specifically, preset and rate control mode) from Video Codec SDK 9.1 and earlier to the closest equivalent NVENCODE API settings in Video Codec SDK 10.0 and later. This table can be used as a migration guide to migrate to the new NVENCODE API preset architecture introduced in Video Codec SDK 10.0.

In general, it is strongly recommended to use the newer presets and NVENCODE API settings based on desired performance/quality trade-off. It is highly likely that your application may benefit from better quality encoding or higher performance by directly using the new NVENCODE presets, as the new APIs provide much more flexibility than earlier and are easy to understand.

Please use the mapping tables in this document only in situations where exactly same performance/quality is desired as was obtained in the older presets.

Table 1 and Table 2 show the mapping between older and newer presets exposed in the NVENCODE API for HEVC and H.264, respectively.

A combination of older preset (Column 1), rate control (RC) mode (Column 2) and resolution (Column 3) can be mapped to a new parameters of NVENCODE API: tuning info (Column 4), RC Mode (Column 5), preset (Column 7&9) and multipass (Column 6&8). The newer preset and multipass values will vary based on GPU Architecture and appropriate GPU architecture column must be selected.

In some cases, additional settings need to be included for exact mapping, and they are mentioned in columns Features 1 (Column 10 in Table 1 and Column 12 in Table 2) and Features 2 (Column 11 in Table 1 and Column 13 in Table 2).

As an example, if someone is using HEVC HQ Preset with VBR_HQ RC Mode for a 1080p encoding on Turing platform, this corresponds to Row 18 in Table 1. The closest settings as per the new NVENCODE API is P6 Preset, RC Mode VBR, Multipass set to 1, FrameIntervalP set to 1, IDR Period set to 60 and GOP Length set to 60.

It is important to note that Features 1 and Features 2 are just indicated to get an exact feature match on older presets and most applications would set these based on needs. For example, GOP length may be set to a larger value depending upon the application needs.

Table 1. HEVC Preset Migration Table
Settings in Video Codec SDK 9.1 and earlier Equivalent settings in Video Codec SDK 10.0 and later
Old Preset Old RC Mode Resolution Tuning Info RC Mode Ampere/ Turing Multi Pass Ampere/ Turing Preset Pascal/ Maxwell MultiPass Pascal/ Maxwell Preset Features 1 Features 2
HP VBR 720 High Quality VBR 0 P1 0 P4 frameIntervalP 1
HP VBR 1080 High Quality VBR 0 P1 0 P4 idr period 60
HP VBR 2160 High Quality VBR 0 P1 0 P4 gop length 60
HP VBR_HQ 720 High Quality VBR 1 P1 1 P4
HP VBR_HQ 1080 High Quality VBR 1 P1 1 P4
HP VBR_HQ 2160 High Quality VBR 1 P1 1 P4
Default VBR 720 High Quality VBR 0 P5 0 P5
Default VBR 1080 High Quality VBR 0 P5 0 P5
Default VBR 2160 High Quality VBR 0 P5 0 P5
Default VBR_HQ 720 High Quality VBR 1 P5 2 P5
Default VBR_HQ 1080 High Quality VBR 1 P5 1 P5
Default VBR_HQ 2160 High Quality VBR 1 P5 1 P5
HQ VBR 720 High Quality VBR 0 P6 0 P6
HQ VBR 1080 High Quality VBR 0 P6 0 P6
HQ VBR 2160 High Quality VBR 0 P5 0 P6
HQ VBR_HQ 720 High Quality VBR 1 P6 2 P6
HQ VBR_HQ 1080 High Quality VBR 1 P6 1 P6
HQ VBR_HQ 2160 High Quality VBR 1 P5 1 P6
LowLatencyHP CBR 720 Low Latency CBR 0 P2 0 P4
LowLatencyHP CBR 1080 Low Latency CBR 0 P2 0 P4
LowLatencyHP CBR 2160 Low Latency CBR 0 P1 0 P4
LowLatencyHP CBR_HQ 720 Ultra Low Latency CBR 1 P2 1 P4
LowLatencyHP CBR_HQ 1080 Ultra Low Latency CBR 1 P2 1 P4
LowLatencyHP CBR_HQ 2160 Ultra Low Latency CBR 1 P1 1 P4
LowLatencyHP CBR2LD 720 Low Latency CBR 1 P2 1 P4
LowLatencyHP CBR2LD 1080 Low Latency CBR 1 P2 1 P4
LowLatencyHP CBR2LD 2160 Low Latency CBR 1 P1 1 P4
LowLatencyDefault CBR 720 Low Latency CBR 0 P4 0 P4
LowLatencyDefault CBR 1080 Low Latency CBR 0 P3 0 P4
LowLatencyDefault CBR 2160 Low Latency CBR 0 P2 0 P4
LowLatencyDefault CBR_HQ 720 Ultra Low Latency CBR 2 P4 2 P4
LowLatencyDefault CBR_HQ 1080 Ultra Low Latency CBR 1 P3 1 P4
LowLatencyDefault CBR_HQ 2160 Ultra Low Latency CBR 1 P2 1 P4
LowLatencyDefault CBR_LOWDELAY_HQ 720 Low Latency CBR 2 P4 2 P4
LowLatencyDefault CBR_LOWDELAY_HQ 1080 Low Latency CBR 1 P3 1 P4
LowLatencyDefault CBR_LOWDELAY_HQ 2160 Low Latency CBR 1 P2 1 P4
LowLatencyHQ CBR 720 Low Latency CBR 0 P5 0 P6
LowLatencyHQ CBR 1080 Low Latency CBR 0 P4 0 P4
LowLatencyHQ CBR 2160 Low Latency CBR 0 P4 0 P4
LowLatencyHQ CBR_HQ 720 Ultra Low Latency CBR 2 P5 2 P6
LowLatencyHQ CBR_HQ 1080 Ultra Low Latency CBR 2 P4 2 P4
LowLatencyHQ CBR_HQ 2160 Ultra Low Latency CBR 1 P4 1 P4
LowLatencyHQ CBR_LOWDELAY_HQ 720 Low Latency CBR 2 P5 2 P6
LowLatencyHQ CBR_LOWDELAY_HQ 1080 Low Latency CBR 2 P4 2 P4
LowLatencyHQ CBR_LOWDELAY_HQ 2160 Low Latency CBR 1 P4 1 P4
BD VBR 720 High Quality VBR 0 P5 0 P5 frameIntervalP 1 outputseiBufferPeriod 1
BD VBR 1080 High Quality VBR 0 P5 0 P5 idr period 60 outputseiPictureTime 1
BD VBR 2160 High Quality VBR 0 P5 0 P6 gop length 60 outputAud 1
BD VBR_HQ 720 High Quality VBR 1 P5 2 P5
BD VBR_HQ 1080 High Quality VBR 1 P5 1 P5
BD VBR_HQ 2160 High Quality VBR 1 P5 1 P5
LosslessHP CQP 720 Lossless CQP X P3 X P3 frameIntervalP 1
LosslessHP CQP 1080 Lossless CQP X P3 X P3 idr period 30
LosslessHP CQP 2160 Lossless CQP X P3 X P3 gop length 30
LosslessDefault CQP 720 Lossless CQP X P5 X P5
LosslessDefault CQP 1080 Lossless CQP X P5 X P5
LosslessDefault CQP 2160 Lossless CQP X P5 X P5

Table 2. H264 Preset Migration Table
Settings in Video Codec SDK 9.1 and earlier Equivalent settings in Video Codec SDK 10.0 and later
Old Preset Old RC Mode Resol- ution Tuning Info RC Mode Ampere/ Turing Multi- Pass Ampere/ Turing Preset Pascal/ Maxwell Multi- Pass Pascal/ Maxwell Preset Kepler Multi- Pass Kepler preset Features 1 Features 2
HP VBR 720 High Quality VBR 0 P2 0 P1 0 P1 frameIntervalP 1
HP VBR 1080 High Quality VBR 0 P2 0 P1 0 P1 idr period 30
HP VBR 2160 High Quality VBR 0 P2 0 P1 0 P1 gop length 30
HP VBR_HQ 720 High Quality VBR 1 P2 1 P1 2 P1
HP VBR_HQ 1080 High Quality VBR 1 P2 1 P1 2 P1
HP VBR_HQ 2160 High Quality VBR 1 P2 1 P1 2 P1
Default VBR 720 High Quality VBR 0 P3 0 P3 0 P3 sliceMode 3
Default VBR 1080 High Quality VBR 0 P3 0 P3 0 P3 sliceModeData 4
Default VBR 2160 High Quality VBR 0 P3 0 P3 0 P3
Default VBR_HQ 720 High Quality VBR 2 P3 2 P3 2 P3
Default VBR_HQ 1080 High Quality VBR 2 P3 2 P3 2 P3
Default VBR_HQ 2160 High Quality VBR 1 P4 1 P3 2 P3
HQ VBR 720 High Quality VBR 0 P4 0 P4 0 P4
HQ VBR 1080 High Quality VBR 0 P4 0 P4 0 P4
HQ VBR 2160 High Quality VBR 0 P4 0 P4 0 P4
HQ VBR_HQ 720 High Quality VBR 2 P4 2 P4 2 P4
HQ VBR_HQ 1080 High Quality VBR 1 P5 1 P5 2 P4
HQ VBR_HQ 2160 High Quality VBR 1 P5 1 P5 2 P4
LowLatencyHP CBR 720 Low Latency CBR 0 P2 0 P4 0 P3 sliceMode 3
LowLatencyHP CBR 1080 Low Latency CBR 0 P2 0 P3 0 P3 sliceModeData 4
LowLatencyHP CBR 2160 Low Latency CBR 0 P2 0 P2 0 P2
LowLatencyHP CBR_HQ 720 Ultra Low Latency CBR 1 P2 1 P4 2 P3
LowLatencyHP CBR_HQ 1080 Ultra Low Latency CBR 1 P2 1 P3 2 P3
LowLatencyHP CBR_HQ 2160 Ultra Low Latency CBR 1 P2 1 P2 2 P2
LowLatencyHP CBR_LOWDELAY_HQ 720 Low Latency CBR 1 P2 1 P4 2 P3
LowLatencyHP CBR_LOWDELAY_HQ 1080 Low Latency CBR 1 P2 1 P3 2 P3
LowLatencyHP CBR_LOWDELAY_HQ 2160 Low Latency CBR 1 P2 1 P2 2 P2
LowLatencyDefault CBR 720 Low Latency CBR 0 P4 0 P4 0 P4
LowLatencyDefault CBR 1080 Low Latency CBR 0 P3 0 P4 0 P3
LowLatencyDefault CBR 2160 Low Latency CBR 0 P2 0 P2 0 P2
LowLatencyDefault CBR_HQ 720 Ultra Low Latency CBR 2 P4 2 P4 2 P4
LowLatencyDefault CBR_HQ 1080 Ultra Low Latency CBR 2 P3 2 P4 2 P3
LowLatencyDefault CBR_HQ 2160 Ultra Low Latency CBR 1 P2 1 P2 2 P2
LowLatencyDefault CBR_LOWDELAY_HQ 720 Low Latency CBR 2 P4 2 P4 2 P4
LowLatencyDefault CBR_LOWDELAY_HQ 1080 Low Latency CBR 2 P3 2 P4 2 P3
LowLatencyDefault CBR_LOWDELAY_HQ 2160 Low Latency CBR 1 P2 1 P2 2 P2
LowLatencyHQ CBR 720 Low Latency CBR 0 P4 0 P4 0 P4
LowLatencyHQ CBR 1080 Low Latency CBR 0 P4 0 P4 0 P4
LowLatencyHQ CBR 2160 Low Latency CBR 0 P4 0 P4 0 P4
LowLatencyHQ CBR_HQ 720 Ultra Low Latency CBR 2 P4 2 P5 2 P4
LowLatencyHQ CBR_HQ 1080 Ultra Low Latency CBR 2 P4 2 P4 2 P4
LowLatencyHQ CBR_HQ 2160 Ultra Low Latency CBR 1 P4 1 P4 2 P4
LowLatencyHQ CBR_LOWDELAY_HQ 720 Low Latency CBR 2 P4 2 P5 2 P4
LowLatencyHQ CBR_LOWDELAY_HQ 1080 Low Latency CBR 2 P4 2 P4 2 P4
LowLatencyHQ CBR_LOWDELAY_HQ 2160 Low Latency CBR 1 P4 1 P4 2 P4
BD VBR 720 High Quality VBR 0 P4 0 P4 0 P4 frameIntervalP 3 outputseiBufferPeriod 1
BD VBR 1080 High Quality VBR 0 P4 0 P4 0 P4 idr period 30 outputseiPictureTime 1
BD VBR 2160 High Quality VBR 0 P4 0 P4 0 P4 gop length 30 outputAud 1
BD VBR_HQ 720 High Quality VBR 1 P5 1 P5 2 P5 basref 0
BD VBR_HQ 1080 High Quality VBR 1 P5 1 P5 2 P5 sliceMode 3
BD VBR_HQ 2160 High Quality VBR 1 P5 1 P5 2 P5 sliceModeData 4
LosslessHP CQP 720 lossless CQP X P2 X P2 X X frameIntervalP 1 sliceMode 3
LosslessHP CQP 1080 lossless CQP X P2 X P2 X X idr period 30 sliceModeData 1
LosslessHP CQP 2160 lossless CQP X P2 X P2 X X gop length 30
LosslessDefault CQP 720 lossless CQP X P3 X P3 X X
LosslessDefault CQP 1080 lossless CQP X P3 X P3 X X
LosslessDefault CQP 2160 lossless CQP X P3 X P3 X X

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