Unified Video Decoder
Encyclopedia
The Unified Video Decoder, previously called Universal Video Decoder, or UVD in short, is the video decoding unit from ATI Technologies
to support hardware decode of H.264
and VC-1
video codec
standards, and being a part of ATI Avivo HD technology.
UVD currently only supports DXVA (DirectX Video Acceleration) API specification for the Microsoft Windows
and Xbox 360
platforms to allow video
decoding
to be hardware accelerated, thus the media player software also has to support DXVA to be able to utilize UVD hardware acceleration. XvBA (X-Video Bitstream Acceleration)
API as designed by AMD for its Radeon
GPU is a future extension of the X video extension (Xv)
for the X Window System
on Linux
and UNIX
operating-systems that will enable UVD hardware acceleration on those platforms as well.
video processor, incorporated into the same die of the GPU
and part of the ATI Avivo HD for hardware decoding videos, along with the Advanced Video Processor (AVP). UVD, as stated by AMD, handles decoding of H.264/AVC, and VC-1 video codecs entirely in hardware. However, video post-processing
is passed to the shaders. MPEG-2 decoding is not performed within UVD, but in the shader processors. The decoder meets the performance and profile requirements of Blu-ray
and HD DVD
, decoding H.264 bitstreams up to a bitrate
of 40 Mbit/s. It has context-adaptive binary arithmetic coding
(CABAC) support for H.264/AVC.
Unlike video acceleration blocks in previous generation GPUs, which demanded considerable host-CPU involvement, UVD offloads the entire video-decoder process for VC-1 and H.264 except for video post-processing
, which is offloaded to the shaders. MPEG-2 decode is also supported, but the bitstream/entropy decode is not performed for MPEG-2 video in hardware. Previously, neither ATI Radeon R520
series' ATI Avivo nor NVidia Geforce 7 series' PureVideo
assisted front-end bitstream/entropy decompression in VC-1 and H.264 - the host CPU performed this work. UVD handles VLC
/CAVLC
/CABAC
, frequency transform, pixel prediction and inloop deblocking
, but passes the post processing to the shaders. Post-processing includes denoising, de-interlacing, and scaling/resizing. AMD has also stated that the UVD component being incorporated into the GPU core only occupies 4.7 mm² in area on 65 nm fabrication process node.
A variation on UVD, called UVD+, was introduced with the Radeon HD 3000 series. UVD+ support HDCP
for higher resolution video streams. But UVD+ was also being marketed as simply UVD.
mode. This makes UVD2 full BD-Live compliant.
and Xvid
via MPEG-4 Part 2
decoding and Blu-ray 3D via MVC
. along with 120Hz stereo 3D support, and is optimized to need less CPU power.
series GPU aimed at mainstream market, with two different specifications in which one features HDMI
and video out support another featuring DVI
as well as video-out support, and production was in December 2006, revealed by the slides. However, as of the current date, no information is available about the release of related products. Some suggested the RV550 products were for OEMs
, while some speculated the product was cancelled.
Most of the Radeon HD 2000 series
video card
s implement the UVD for hardware decoding of 1080p high definition contents. However, the Radeon HD 2900 series video cards do not include the UVD (though it is able to provide partial functionality through the use of its shaders), which was incorrectly stated to be present on the product pages and package boxes of the add-in partners' products before the launch of the Radeon HD 2900 XT, either stating the card as featuring ATI Avivo HD or explicitly UVD, which only the former statement of ATI Avivo HD is correct. The exclusion of UVD was also confirmed by AMD officials.
UVD2 is implemented in the Radeon RV7x0 and R7x0 series GPUs. This also includes the RS7x0 series used for the AMD 700 chipset series
IGP motherboards.
Notes:
ATI Technologies
ATI Technologies Inc. was a semiconductor technology corporation based in Markham, Ontario, Canada, that specialized in the development of graphics processing units and chipsets. Founded in 1985 as Array Technologies Inc., the company was listed publicly in 1993 and was acquired by Advanced Micro...
to support hardware decode of H.264
H.264/MPEG-4 AVC
H.264/MPEG-4 Part 10 or AVC is a standard for video compression, and is currently one of the most commonly used formats for the recording, compression, and distribution of high definition video...
and VC-1
VC-1
VC-1 is the informal name of the SMPTE 421M video codec standard, which was initially developed as a proprietary video format by Microsoft before it was released as a formal SMPTE standard video format on April 3, 2006...
video codec
Video codec
A video codec is a device or software that enables video compression and/or decompression for digital video. The compression usually employs lossy data compression. Historically, video was stored as an analog signal on magnetic tape...
standards, and being a part of ATI Avivo HD technology.
UVD currently only supports DXVA (DirectX Video Acceleration) API specification for the Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
and Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
platforms to allow video
Digital video
Digital video is a type of digital recording system that works by using a digital rather than an analog video signal.The terms camera, video camera, and camcorder are used interchangeably in this article.- History :...
decoding
Codec
A codec is a device or computer program capable of encoding or decoding a digital data stream or signal. The word codec is a portmanteau of "compressor-decompressor" or, more commonly, "coder-decoder"...
to be hardware accelerated, thus the media player software also has to support DXVA to be able to utilize UVD hardware acceleration. XvBA (X-Video Bitstream Acceleration)
X-Video Bitstream Acceleration
X-Video Bitstream Acceleration , designed by AMD for its Radeon GPU and Fusion APU, is an arbitrary extension of the X video extension for the X Window System on Linux operating-systems. XvBA API allows video programs to offload portions of the video decoding process to the GPU video-hardware...
API as designed by AMD for its Radeon
Radeon
Radeon is a brand of graphics processing units and random access memory produced by Advanced Micro Devices , first launched in 2000 by ATI Technologies, which was acquired by AMD in 2006. Radeon is the successor to the Rage line. There are four different groups, which can be differentiated by...
GPU is a future extension of the X video extension (Xv)
X video extension
The X video extension, often abbreviated as XVideo or Xv, is a video output mechanism for the X Window System. The protocol was designed by David Carver; the specification for version 2 of the protocol was written in July 1991. Its main use today is to rescale video playback in the video controller...
for the X Window System
X Window System
The X window system is a computer software system and network protocol that provides a basis for graphical user interfaces and rich input device capability for networked computers...
on Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
and UNIX
Unix
Unix is a multitasking, multi-user computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna...
operating-systems that will enable UVD hardware acceleration on those platforms as well.
OS Support
UVD is supported in Windows (since the launch of the technology) and Linux (since Oct 2008)UVD/UVD+
The UVD is based on an ATI XilleonXilleon
The Broadcom Xilleon video processor is a 32-bit system-on-a-chip MIPS processor, for use in set-top boxes and digital TVs, providing MPEG2 decoding and other functions for major worldwide broadcast networks .The Xilleon line consists of four products, models 210D/H, 226,...
video processor, incorporated into the same die of the GPU
Graphics processing unit
A graphics processing unit or GPU is a specialized circuit designed to rapidly manipulate and alter memory in such a way so as to accelerate the building of images in a frame buffer intended for output to a display...
and part of the ATI Avivo HD for hardware decoding videos, along with the Advanced Video Processor (AVP). UVD, as stated by AMD, handles decoding of H.264/AVC, and VC-1 video codecs entirely in hardware. However, video post-processing
Video post-processing
The term post-processing is used in the video/film business for quality-improvement image processing methods used in video playback devices, , and video players software and transcoding software...
is passed to the shaders. MPEG-2 decoding is not performed within UVD, but in the shader processors. The decoder meets the performance and profile requirements of Blu-ray
Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
and HD DVD
HD DVD
HD DVD is a discontinued high-density optical disc format for storing data and high-definition video.Supported principally by Toshiba, HD DVD was envisioned to be the successor to the standard DVD format...
, decoding H.264 bitstreams up to a bitrate
Bitrate
In telecommunications and computing, bit rate is the number of bits that are conveyed or processed per unit of time....
of 40 Mbit/s. It has context-adaptive binary arithmetic coding
Context-adaptive binary arithmetic coding
Context-adaptive binary arithmetic coding is a form of entropy encoding used in H.264/MPEG-4 AVC video encoding. It is a lossless compression technique. It is notable for providing much better compression than most other encoding algorithms used in video encoding, and is one of the primary...
(CABAC) support for H.264/AVC.
Unlike video acceleration blocks in previous generation GPUs, which demanded considerable host-CPU involvement, UVD offloads the entire video-decoder process for VC-1 and H.264 except for video post-processing
Video post-processing
The term post-processing is used in the video/film business for quality-improvement image processing methods used in video playback devices, , and video players software and transcoding software...
, which is offloaded to the shaders. MPEG-2 decode is also supported, but the bitstream/entropy decode is not performed for MPEG-2 video in hardware. Previously, neither ATI Radeon R520
Radeon R520
ATI's "R520" core is the foundation for a line of DirectX 9.0c and OpenGL 2.0 3D accelerator X1000 video cards. It is ATI's first major architectural overhaul since the "R300" core and is highly optimized for Shader Model 3.0. The Radeon X1000 series using the core was introduced on October 5,...
series' ATI Avivo nor NVidia Geforce 7 series' PureVideo
Nvidia PureVideo
Nvidia PureVideo is a hardware feature designed to offload video decoding processes and video post-processing from a computer's CPU hardware to Nvidia's GPU hardware series GeForce 6 and later, GeForce M series ; and Nvidia Quadro series...
assisted front-end bitstream/entropy decompression in VC-1 and H.264 - the host CPU performed this work. UVD handles VLC
Variable-length code
In coding theory a variable-length code is a code which maps source symbols to a variable number of bits.Variable-length codes can allow sources to be compressed and decompressed with zero error and still be read back symbol by symbol...
/CAVLC
Context-adaptive variable-length coding
Context-adaptive variable-length coding is a form of entropy coding used in H.264/MPEG-4 AVC video encoding. It is an inherently lossless compression technique, like almost all entropy-coders. In H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, it is used to encode residual, zig-zag order, blocks of transform coefficients. It...
/CABAC
Context-adaptive binary arithmetic coding
Context-adaptive binary arithmetic coding is a form of entropy encoding used in H.264/MPEG-4 AVC video encoding. It is a lossless compression technique. It is notable for providing much better compression than most other encoding algorithms used in video encoding, and is one of the primary...
, frequency transform, pixel prediction and inloop deblocking
Deblocking filter (video)
A deblocking filter is a video filter applied to blocks in decoded video to improve visual quality and prediction performance by smoothing the sharp edges which can form between macroblocks when block coding techniques are used...
, but passes the post processing to the shaders. Post-processing includes denoising, de-interlacing, and scaling/resizing. AMD has also stated that the UVD component being incorporated into the GPU core only occupies 4.7 mm² in area on 65 nm fabrication process node.
A variation on UVD, called UVD+, was introduced with the Radeon HD 3000 series. UVD+ support HDCP
High-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection
High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection is a form of digital copy protection developed by Intel Corporation to prevent copying of digital audio and video content as it travels across connections...
for higher resolution video streams. But UVD+ was also being marketed as simply UVD.
UVD 2
The UVD saw a refresh with the release of the Radeon HD 4000 series products. The UVD 2 features full bitstream decoding of H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, VC-1, as well as MPEG2 video streams, and in addition it also supports dual video stream decoding and Picture-in-PicturePicture-in-picture
Picture in Picture is a feature of some television receivers and similar devices. One program is displayed on the full TV screen at the same time as one or more other programs are displayed in inset windows. Sound is usually from the main program only.Picture in Picture requires two independent...
mode. This makes UVD2 full BD-Live compliant.
UVD 2.2
The UVD 2.2 features a re-designed local memory interface and enhances the compatibility with MPEG2/H.264/VC-1 videos. However, it was marketed under the same alias as "UVD 2 Enhanced" as the "special core-logic, available in RV770 and RV730 series of GPUs, for hardware decoding of MPEG2, H.264 and VC-1 video with dual-stream decoding". The nature of UVD 2.2 being an incremental update to the UVD 2 can be accounted for this move.UVD 3
UVD3 includes support for DivXDivX
DivX is a brand name of products created by DivX, Inc. , including the DivX Codec which has become popular due to its ability to compress lengthy video segments into small sizes while maintaining relatively high visual quality.There are two DivX codecs; the regular MPEG-4 Part 2 DivX codec and the...
and Xvid
XviD
Xvid is a video codec library following the MPEG-4 standard, specifically MPEG-4 Part 2 Advanced Simple Profile . It uses ASP features such as b-frames, global and quarter pixel motion compensation, lumi masking, trellis quantization, and H.263, MPEG and custom quantization matrices.Xvid is a...
via MPEG-4 Part 2
MPEG-4 Part 2
MPEG-4 Part 2, MPEG-4 Visual is a video compression technology developed by MPEG. It belongs to the MPEG-4 ISO/IEC standards. It is a discrete cosine transform compression standard, similar to previous standards such as MPEG-1 and MPEG-2...
decoding and Blu-ray 3D via MVC
Multiview Video Coding
Multiview Video Coding is an amendment to H.264/MPEG-4 AVC video compression standard developed with joint efforts by MPEG/VCEG that enables efficient encoding of sequences captured simultaneously from multiple cameras using a single video stream....
. along with 120Hz stereo 3D support, and is optimized to need less CPU power.
Availability
Originally, ATI planned to implement the UVD in its RV550Radeon R520
ATI's "R520" core is the foundation for a line of DirectX 9.0c and OpenGL 2.0 3D accelerator X1000 video cards. It is ATI's first major architectural overhaul since the "R300" core and is highly optimized for Shader Model 3.0. The Radeon X1000 series using the core was introduced on October 5,...
series GPU aimed at mainstream market, with two different specifications in which one features HDMI
High-Definition Multimedia Interface
HDMI is a compact audio/video interface for transmitting uncompressed digital data. It is a digital alternative to consumer analog standards, such as radio frequency coaxial cable, composite video, S-Video, SCART, component video, D-Terminal, or VGA...
and video out support another featuring DVI
Digital Visual Interface
The Digital Visual Interface is a video interface standard covering the transmission of video between a source device and a display device. The DVI standard has achieved widespread acceptance in the PC industry, both in desktop PCs and monitors...
as well as video-out support, and production was in December 2006, revealed by the slides. However, as of the current date, no information is available about the release of related products. Some suggested the RV550 products were for OEMs
Original Equipment Manufacturer
An original equipment manufacturer, or OEM, manufactures products or components that are purchased by a company and retailed under that purchasing company's brand name. OEM refers to the company that originally manufactured the product. When referring to automotive parts, OEM designates a...
, while some speculated the product was cancelled.
Most of the Radeon HD 2000 series
Radeon R600
The graphics processing unit codenamed the Radeon R600 is the foundation of the Radeon HD 2000/3000 series and the FireGL 2007 series video cards developed by ATI Technologies...
video card
Video card
A video card, Graphics Card, or Graphics adapter is an expansion card which generates output images to a display. Most video cards offer various functions such as accelerated rendering of 3D scenes and 2D graphics, MPEG-2/MPEG-4 decoding, TV output, or the ability to connect multiple monitors...
s implement the UVD for hardware decoding of 1080p high definition contents. However, the Radeon HD 2900 series video cards do not include the UVD (though it is able to provide partial functionality through the use of its shaders), which was incorrectly stated to be present on the product pages and package boxes of the add-in partners' products before the launch of the Radeon HD 2900 XT, either stating the card as featuring ATI Avivo HD or explicitly UVD, which only the former statement of ATI Avivo HD is correct. The exclusion of UVD was also confirmed by AMD officials.
UVD2 is implemented in the Radeon RV7x0 and R7x0 series GPUs. This also includes the RS7x0 series used for the AMD 700 chipset series
AMD 700 chipset series
The AMD 700 chipset series is a set of chipsets designed by ATI for AMD Phenom processors to be sold under the AMD brand...
IGP motherboards.
UVD enabled GPUs
| Codename | Product Name | UVD Version |
|---|---|---|
| Cayman | Radeоn HD 6900 Series | UVD 3 |
| Barts | Radeоn HD 6800 Series | UVD 3 |
| Turks | Radeоn HD 6600 Series Radeоn HD 6500 Series |
UVD 3 |
| Caicos | Radeоn HD 6400 Series | UVD 3 |
| HemlockNB1 Cypress |
Radeоn HD 5900 Series Radeon HD 5800 Series |
UVD 2.2 |
| Juniper | Radeоn HD 5700/6700 Series | UVD 2.2 |
| Redwood | Radeоn HD 5600/5500 Series | UVD 2.2 |
| Cedar | Radeоn HD 5400 Series | UVD 2.2 |
| RV790 | Radeon HD 4890 Series | UVD 2 |
| R700NB1 RV770 |
Radeon HD 4800 X2 Series Radeon HD 4800 Series |
UVD 2 |
| RV740 | Radeon HD 4700 Series | UVD 2.2 |
| RV730 | Radeon HD 4600 Series | UVD 2.2 |
| RV710 | Radeon HD 4300/4500 Series | UVD 2.2 |
| RV670 | Radeon HD 3800 Series | UVD+ |
| RV635 | Radeon HD 3600 Series | UVD+ |
| RV620 | Radeon HD 3400 Series | UVD+ |
| RV630 | Radeon HD 2600 Series | UVD |
| RV610 | Radeon HD 2400 Series | UVD |
| RS880 | Radeon HD 4200/AMD 785G Chipset | UVD 2 |
| RS780 RS780D |
Radeon HD 3200/AMD 780G Chipset Radeon HD 3300 IGP/AMD 790GX Chipset |
UVD |
| M98 | Mobility Radeon HD 4800 Series | UVD 2 |
| M96 | Mobility Radeon HD 4600 Series | UVD 2 |
| M92 | Mobility Radeon HD 4300/4500 Series | UVD 2.2 |
| M88 | Mobility Radeon HD 3800 Series | UVD+ |
| M86 | Mobility Radeon HD 3600 Series | UVD+ |
| M82 | Mobility Radeon HD 3400 Series | UVD+ |
| M76 | Mobility Radeon HD 2600 Series | UVD |
| M72 | Mobility Radeon HD 2400 Series | UVD |
| M71 | Mobility Radeon HD 2300 Series | UVD |
| RV550 | Unknown |
Notes:
- NB1: Dual-GPU variants with 2 of the latter GPUs.
- NB2: Driver version 8.371 or later must be used if the GPU is "Mobility Radeon HD 2300" for enabling UVD functions for H.264 videos, or system may crash.
See also
- X-Video Bitstream Acceleration (XvBA)X-Video Bitstream AccelerationX-Video Bitstream Acceleration , designed by AMD for its Radeon GPU and Fusion APU, is an arbitrary extension of the X video extension for the X Window System on Linux operating-systems. XvBA API allows video programs to offload portions of the video decoding process to the GPU video-hardware...
- AMD's future hardware acceleration API for Linux/UNIX operating-system. - OpenVideo Decode (OVD) – an new open cross-platform video acceleration API from AMD.
- Video Acceleration API (VA API) - an alternative video acceleration API to XvBA for Linux/UNIX operating-system that supports XvBA as a backend.
- ATI Avivo
- ATI TechnologiesATI TechnologiesATI Technologies Inc. was a semiconductor technology corporation based in Markham, Ontario, Canada, that specialized in the development of graphics processing units and chipsets. Founded in 1985 as Array Technologies Inc., the company was listed publicly in 1993 and was acquired by Advanced Micro...
- AMD (Advanced Micro Devices)Advanced Micro DevicesAdvanced Micro Devices, Inc. or AMD is an American multinational semiconductor company based in Sunnyvale, California, that develops computer processors and related technologies for commercial and consumer markets...
- DirectX Video Acceleration (DxVA) - MicrosoftMicrosoftMicrosoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
's hardware acceleration API for Microsoft WindowsMicrosoft WindowsMicrosoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
based operating-system. - Nvidia PureVideoNvidia PureVideoNvidia PureVideo is a hardware feature designed to offload video decoding processes and video post-processing from a computer's CPU hardware to Nvidia's GPU hardware series GeForce 6 and later, GeForce M series ; and Nvidia Quadro series...
- the bit-stream technology from NVIDIANVIDIANvidia is an American global technology company based in Santa Clara, California. Nvidia is best known for its graphics processors . Nvidia and chief rival AMD Graphics Techonologies have dominated the high performance GPU market, pushing other manufacturers to smaller, niche roles...
used in their graphics chips to accelerate video decoding. - VDPAU (Video Decode and Presentation API for Unix) from NVIDIAVDPAUVDPAU is an open source library and API originally designed by Nvidia for its GeForce 8 series and later GPU hardware, targeted at the X Window System on Unix-based operating systems...