Video Coding Engine

Video Coding Engine (VCE, sometimes incorrectly referred to as Video Codec Engine) is AMD's video encoding ASIC implementing the video codec H.264/MPEG-4 AVC. Since 2012 it is integrated into all of their GPUs and APUs.

Video Coding Engine was introduced with the Radeon HD 7900 on 22 December 2011. VCE occupies a considerable amount of the die surface and is not to be confused with AMD's Unified Video Decoder (UVD).

Overview

In "fixed mode" the entire computation is done by the fixed-function VCE unit. Fixed mode can be accessed through the OpenMAX IL API.

The entropy encoding block of the VCE ASIC is also separately accessible, enabling "hybrid mode". In "hybrid mode" most of the computation is done by the 3D engine of the GPU. Using AMD's Accelerated Parallel Programming SDK and OpenCL developers can create hybrid encoders that pair custom motion estimation, inverse discrete cosine transform and motion compensation with the hardware entropy encoding to achieve faster than real-time encoding.

The handling of video data involves computation of data compression algorithms and possibly of video processing algorithms. As the template Compression methods shows, lossy video compression algorithms involve the steps: Motion estimation (ME), Discrete cosine transform (DCT), and entropy encoding (EC).

AMD Video Codec Engine (VCE) is a full hardware implementation of the video codec H.264/MPEG-4 AVC. The ASIC is capable of delivering 1080p at 60 frames/sec. Because its entropy encoding block is also separately accessible Video Codec Engine can be operated in two modes: full mode and hybrid mode.

By employing AMD APP SDK, available for Linux and Microsoft Windows, developers can create hybrid encoders that pair custom motion estimation, inverse discrete cosine transform and motion compensation with the hardware entropy encoding to achieve faster than real-time encoding. In hybrid mode, only the entropy encoding block of the VCE unit is used, while the remaining computation is offloaded to the 3D engine (GCN) of the GPU, so the computing scales with the number of available compute units (CUs).

VCE 1.0

As of April 2014, there are two versions of VCE. Version 1.0 supports H.264 YUV420 (I & P frames), H.264 SVC Temporal Encode VCE, and Display Encode Mode (DEM).

It can be found on

• Piledriver-based
  • Trinity APUs (Ax - 5xxx, e.g. A10-5800K)
  • Richland APUs (Ax - 6xxx, e.g. A10-6800K)
• GPUs of the Southern-Island-Generation (GCN 1.0: CAYMAN, ARUBA (Trinity/Richland), CAPE VERDE, PITCAIRN, TAHITI, OLAND). These are
  • Radeon HD7700 series (HD 7790 (VCE 2.0))
  • Radeon HD7800 series
  • Radeon HD7900 series
  • Radeon HD8570 to 8990 (HD 8770 (VCE 2.0))
  • Radeon R5 240 / R7 240 / R7 250 / R7 250E / R7 250X / R7 265 / R9 270 / R9 270X / R9 280 / R9 280X
  • Radeon R5 330 / R5 340 / R7 340 / R7 350 / R7 370 / R9 370 / R9 370X
  • Mobile Radeon HD 77x0M to HD 7970M
  • Mobile Radeon HD 8000-Series
  • Mobile Radeon Rx M2xx Series (R9 M280X: VCE 2.0, R9 M295X: VCE 3.0)
  • Mobile Radeon R5 M330 to Radeon R9 M380 and Radeon R9 M390
  • FirePro Cards with 1st Generation GCN (GCN 1.0)

VCE 2.0

Compared to the first version, VCE 2.0 adds H.264 YUV444 (I-Frames), B-frames for H.264 YUV420, and improvements to the DEM (Display Encode Mode), which results in a better encoding quality.

It can be found on

• Steamroller-based
  • Kaveri APUs (Ax - 7xxx, e.g. A10-7850K)
  • Godavari APUs (Ax - 7xxx e.g. A10-7890K)
• Jaguar-based
  • Kabini APUs (e.g. Athlon 5350, Sempron 2650)
  • Temash APUs (e.g. A6-1450, A4-1200)
• Puma-based
  • Beema and Mullins
• GPUs of the Sea-Islands-Generation as well Bonaire or Hawaii GPUs (2nd generation Graphics Core Next GCN 1.1), such as
  • Radeon HD 7790 / HD 8770
  • Radeon R7 260 / R7 260X / R9 290 / R9 290X / R9 295X2
  • Radeon R7 360 / R9 360 / R9 390 / R9 390X
  • Mobile Radeon R9 M280X
  • Mobile Radeon R9 M385 / R9 M385X
  • Mobile Radeon R9 M470 / R9 M470X
  • FirePro-Cards with GCN 1.1

VCE 3.0

Video Coding Engine 3.0 (VCE 3.0) technology features a new high-quality video scaling., and will also support for High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC, H.265, but As of May 2015, there are no announcements about VP9 video codec support.

It, together with UVD 6.0, can be found on 3rd generation of Graphics Core Next (GCN 1.2) with "Tonga", "Fiji", "Iceland", and "Carrizo" (VCE 3.1) based graphics controller hardware, which is now used AMD Radeon Rx 300 Series (Pirate Islands GPU family) and by upcoming AMD Radeon Rx 400 Series (Arctic Islands GPU family).

• Tonga: Radeon R9 285, Radeon R9 380, Radeon R9 380X / Mobile Radeon R9 M390X / R9 M395 / R9 M395X / Radeon R9 M485X /
• Tonga XT: FirePro W7100 / S7100X / S7150 / S7150 X2 /
• Fiji: Radeon R9 Fury / R9 Fury X / R9 Nano / Radeon Pro Duo / FirePro S9300 / W7170M

Feature overview

Features of AMD Accelerated Processing Units

Brand	Llano	Trinity	Richland	Kaveri	Carrizo	Bristol Ridge	Raven Ridge		Desna, Ontario, Zacate	Kabini, Temash	Beema, Mullins	Carrizo-L
Platform	Desktop, Mobile			Desktop, Mobile	Mobile, Desktop	Desktop, Mobile			Ultra-mobile
Released	Aug 2011	Oct 2012	Jun 2013	Jan 2014	Jun 2015	Jun 2016	Mar 2017		Jan 2011	May 2013	Q2 2014	May 2015
Fab. (nm)	GlobalFoundries 32 SOI			28			14		TSMC 40	28
Die size (mm2)	228	246		245	244.62	TBA	TBA		75 (+ 28 FCH)	~107		TBA
Socket	FM1, FS1	FM2, FS1+, FP2		FM2+, FP3	FP4, FM2+	AM4, FP4	AM4		FT1	AM1, FT3	FT3b	FP4
CPU architecture	AMD 10h	Piledriver		Steamroller	Excavator		Zen		Bobcat	Jaguar	Puma	Puma+
Memory support	DDR3-1866 DDR3-1600 DDR3-1333		DDR3-2133 DDR3-1866 DDR3-1600 DDR3-1333			DDR4-2400 DDR4-2133 DDR4-1866 DDR4-1600			DDR3L-1333 DDR3L-1066	DDR3L-1866 DDR3L-1600 DDR3L-1333 DDR3L-1066		DDR3L-1866 DDR3L-1600 DDR3L-1333
3D engine	TeraScale 2 (VLIW5)	TeraScale 3 (VLIW4)		GCN 1.1 (Mantle, HSA)	GCN 1.2 (Mantle, HSA)		GCN 1.3 (Mantle, HSA)		TeraScale 2 (VLIW5)	GCN 1.1
	Up to 400:20:8	Up to 384:24:6		Up to 512:32:8			Up to 768:48:12		80:8:4	128:8:4
	IOMMUv1			IOMMUv2					IOMMUv1			TBA
Unified Video Decoder	UVD 3			UVD 4.2	UVD 6		TBA		UVD 3	UVD 4	UVD 4.2	UVD 6
Video Coding Engine	N/A	VCE 1.0		VCE 2.0	VCE 3.1		TBA		N/A	VCE 2.0		VCE 3.1
GPU power saving	PowerPlay	PowerTune							N/A	Enduro
Max. displays	2–3	2–4		2–4	3	4	TBA		2			TBA
TrueAudio	N/A			✔					N/A
FreeSync	N/A			✔					N/A
/drm/radeon	✔					N/A			✔
/drm/amd/amdgpu	N/A			Experimental	✔				N/A	Experimental

Operating system support

The VCE SIP core needs to be supported by the device driver. The device driver provides one or multiple interfaces, like e.g. OpenMAX IL. One of this interfaces is then used by end-user software, like e.g. GStreamer or HandBrake, to access the VCE hardware and make use of it.

AMD's proprietary device driver AMD Catalyst is available for multiple operating systems and support for VCE has been added to it. Additionally, a free device driver is available. This driver also supports the VCE hardware.

Linux

Support for the VCE ASIC is contained in the Linux kernel device driver amdgpu.

Main articles: AMD Catalyst for Linux and Free Radeon driver

• Initial VCE support has been added on 4 February 2014 by Christian König of AMD to the free radeon driver.
• Gallium3D state tracker for OpenMAX was added 24 October 2013 to Mesa 3D.
• The free and open-source Radeon driver has been adapted to using OpenMAX with the GStreamer OpenMAX (gst-omx) support for exposing the VCE video encode engine.
• AMD employee Leo Liu implemented h264 level support into the Mesa 3D state tracker.

Windows

The software "MediaShow Espresso Video Transcoding" seems to utilize VCE and UVD to the fullest extent possible.

XSplit Broadcaster supports VCE from version 1.3.

Open Broadcaster Software (OBS Studio) supports VCE for recording and streaming. The original Open Broadcaster Software (OBS) requires a fork build in order to enable VCE.

Remotr (PC to Phone / Tablet Streaming Software) supports VCE for streaming, resulting in increased overall FPS during gameplay on the handheld device.

See also

• Intel Quick Sync Video, Intel's equivalent SIP core
• Nvidia NVENC, Nvidia's equivalent SIP core