enable-chromium-hevc-hardware-decoding

A guide that teach you enable hardware HEVC decoding for Chrome / Edge, or build a custom version of Chromium / Electron that supports hardware & software HEVC decoding.

English | 简体中文

Usage

Chrome & Edge (Mac) & Chromium

Make sure version >= 107 then open directly.

What's the hardware supported HEVC profile?

HEVC Main (Up to 8192x8192 pixels)

HEVC Main 10 (Up to 8192x8192 pixels)

HEVC Main Still Picture (macOS only, up to 8192x8192 pixels)

HEVC Rext (Partial support, see the table below for details, up to 8192x8192 pixels)

GPU	8b 420	8b 422	8b 444	10b 420	10b 422	10b 444	12b 420	12b 422	12b 444
Apple Silicon (macOS)	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	❌	❌	❌
Intel ICL ~ TGLx (Win)	✅	⭕	⭕	✅	✅	✅	❌	❌	❌
Intel TGLx+ (Win)	✅	⭕	⭕	✅	✅	✅	✅	⭕	⭕

✅：GPU + software support ⭕：GPU support, software not support ❌：GPU not support

Note 1：Intel CPU Mac supports HEVC Rext software decoding of 8 ~ 12b non-444 contents via VideoToolbox, 444 is decodable but has a green stripe issue.

Note 2：Specific Intel GPU supports HEVC Rext hardware decoding on Windows, so if you want to use these profiles then Chromium version must be >= 106.0.5210.0. Some profiles are not common so we only implement part of them, if you need those unsupported profile that GPU do supports, then you can submit a issue to `crbug.com`.

Note 3：Although NVIDIA GPU supports HEVC Rext hardware decoding of 8 ~ 12b non-422 contents via CUVIA or NVDEC, but because they did not provide a D3D11 interface, thus Chromium will not support it in the future.

What's the OS requirement?

macOS Big Sur (11.0) and above

Windows 8 and above

Android

Chrome OS

Linux (version >= 108.0.5354.0)

What's the API supported?

Video Decode: File, Media Source Extensions, WebCodec (8Bit requires >= 107.0.5272.0, 10Bit + HEVC with Alpha requires >= 108.0.5343.0), Clearkey Encrypted Media Extensions are supported. WebRTC is not supported.

Video Encode: WebCodec (Windows only currently, passing --enable-feautures=MediaFoundationHEVCEncoding and make sure browser >= 109.0.5366.0) is supported.

What's the GPU requirement?

Independent GPU

NVIDIA GTX950 and above

AMD RX460 and above

Integrated GPU

Intel HD4400, HD515 and above

AMD Radeon R7, Vega M and above

Apple M1, M1 Pro, M1 Max, M1 Ultra and above

Detail Table

Intel

AMD

NVIDIA

HDR Supports? (Compared with Edge / Safari)

	PQ (SDR Screen)	PQ (HDR Screen)	HLG (SDR Screen)	HLG (HDR Screen)
Chromium 107 macOS	✅ (EDR)	✅	✅ (EDR)	✅
Chromium 107 Windows	✅	✅	✅	✅
Edge 106 Windows	❌	✅	✅	✅
Safari 16.1 macOS	✅ (EDR)	✅	✅ (EDR)	✅

Dolby Vision Supports?

Support HLG、PQ backward compatibility single layer dolby vision (Profile 8.1, 8.2, 8.4, although when using API query dvh1.08.07, it still return "not supported"), not support IPTPQc2 single layer dolby vision (Profile 5), not support multi layer dolby vision, not support dolby atmos audio (E-AC3).

How to verify certain profile or resolution is supported？

MediaCapabilities

const mediaConfig = {
  /**
   * You can use `file` or `media-source` and the result are same here,
   * don't use `webrtc` since HEVC webrtc is not supported currently.
   */
  type: 'file',
  video: {
    /**
     * HEVC Profile
     * 
     * Main: `hev1.1.6.L93.B0`
     * Main 10: `hev1.2.4.L93.B0`
     * Main still-picture: `hvc1.3.E.L93.B0`
     * Range extensions: `hvc1.4.10.L93.B0`
     */
    contentType : 'video/mp4;codecs="hev1.1.6.L120.90"',
    /* Width */
    width: 1920,
    /* Height */
    height: 1080,
    /* Any number */
    bitrate: 10000, 
    /* Any number */
    framerate: 30
  }
}

navigator.mediaCapabilities.decodingInfo(mediaConfig)
  .then(result => {
     /* Indicate whether or not the video with given profile, width, and height can played well on the browser */
    if (result.supported) {
      console.log('Video can play!');
    } else {
      console.log('Video can\'t play!');
    }
  });

MediaSource

if (MediaSource.isTypeSupported('video/mp4;codecs="hev1.1.6.L120.90"')) {
  console.log('HEVC main profile is supported!');
}

if (MediaSource.isTypeSupported('video/mp4;codecs="hev1.2.4.L120.90"')) {
  console.log('HEVC main 10 profile is supported!');
}

if (MediaSource.isTypeSupported('video/mp4;codecs="hev1.3.E.L120.90"')) {
  console.log('HEVC main still-picture profile is supported!');
}

if (MediaSource.isTypeSupported('video/mp4;codecs="hev1.4.10.L120.90"')) {
  console.log('HEVC range extensions profile is supported!');
}

CanPlayType

const video = document.createElement('video');

if (video.canPlayType('video/mp4;codecs="hev1.1.6.L120.90"') === 'probably') {
  console.log('HEVC main profile is supported!');
}

if (video.canPlayType('video/mp4;codecs="hev1.2.4.L120.90"') === 'probably') {
  console.log('HEVC main 10 profile is supported!');
}

if (video.canPlayType('video/mp4;codecs="hev1.3.E.L120.90"') === 'probably') {
  console.log('HEVC main still-picture profile is supported!');
}

if (video.canPlayType('video/mp4;codecs="hev1.4.10.L120.90"') === 'probably') {
  console.log('HEVC range extensions profile is supported!');
}

Note 1：The above three API have already took `--disable-gpu`, `--disable-accelerated-video-decode`, `gpu-workaround`, `settings - system - Use hardware acceleration when available`, `OS version` etc... into consideration, and if Chrome version >= `107.0.5304.0` and OS is macOS or Windows, the result are guaranteed.

Note 2：Compared with `MediaSource.isTypeSupported()` or `CanPlayType()`, we recommand using `MediaCapabilities`, since `MediaCapabilities` not only takes `settings - system - Use hardware acceleration when available` etc... into consideration, but also check if the given `width and height` is supported or not since different GPU may have different max resolution support, eg: some AMD GPU only support up to 4096 * 2048, and some old GPU only support up to 1080P.

What's the tech diff? (Compared with Edge / Safari)

Windows

Edge uses VDAVideoDecoder to call MediaFoundation (need to install HEVC Video Extension) to finish the HEVC HW decoding which is the same tech behind Movies and TV builtin system app.

Chromium uses D3D11VideoDecoder to call D3D11VA (no need to install anything) to finish the HEVC HW decoding which is the same tech behind video players like VLC.

macOS

Safari and Chromium use the same VideoToolbox to finish the HEVC HW decoding.

How to verify HEVC hardware support is enabled?

Open chrome://gpu, and search Video Acceleration Information, you should see Decode hevc main field and Decode hevc main 10 field (macOS will show Decode hevc main still-picture and Decode hevc range extensions as well, Windows Intel Gen10+ iGPU will show Decode hevc range extensions as well) present if hardware decoding is supported (macOS is an exception here, you see this field doesn't means the decode will use hardware, it actually depends on your GPU).
Open chrome://media-internals and play some HEVC video (Test Page) if the decoder is VDAVideoDecoder or D3D11VideoDecoder or VaapiVideoDecoder that means the video is using hardware decoding (macOS is an exception here, if the OS >= Big Sur, and the GPU doesn't support HEVC, VideoToolbox will fallback to software decode which has a better performance compared with FFMPEG, the decoder is VDAVideoDecoder in this case indeed), and if the decoder is FFMpegVideoDecoder that means the video is using software decoding.
Open Activity Monitor on Mac and search VTDecoderXPCService, if the cpu usage larger than 0 when playing video, that means hardware (or software) decoding is being used.
Open Windows Task Manager on Windows and switch to Performance - GPU, if Video Decode(Intel, Nvidia) or Video Codec(AMD) usage larger than 0 when playing video, that means hardware decoding is being used.

Why my GPU support HEVC, but still not able to hardware decode?

OS version is too low

Windows

Please make sure you are using Windows 8 and above, this is because the D3D11VideoDecoder doesn't support Windows 7.

macOS

Please make sure you are using macOS Big Sur and above, this is because CMVideoFormatDescriptionCreateFromHEVCParameterSets API has compatibility issue on lower macOS.

GPU driver has bug

Some GPU driver may has bug which will cause D3D11VideoDecoder forbidden to use. in this case, you need to upgrade your GPU driver and try again. See reference

GPU hardware has bug

Some GPU hardware may has bug which will cause D3D11VideoDecoder forbidden to use. in this case, we can't do anything else but to use the FFMPEG software decode. See reference

How to Build?

Follow the official build doc to prepare the build environment then fetch the source code from main branch (HEVC HW codes has been merged).
(Optional) To enable HEVC software decoding: switch to src/third_party/ffmpeg dir, then execute git am /path/to/add-hevc-ffmpeg-decoder-parser.patch. If failed to apply the patch, could also try node /path/to/add-hevc-ffmpeg-decoder-parser.js to enable software decoding (Node.js is required to run the script).
(Optional) To enable other HEVC profiles (non main / main 10 profiles): switch to src dir, then execute git am /path/to/remove-main-main10-profile-limit.patch.
(Optional) To integrate Widevine CDM to support EME API (like Netflix): switch to src dir, then execute cp -R /path/to/widevine/* third_party/widevine/cdm (Windows: xcopy /path/to/widevine third_party\widevine\cdm /E/H).
If you are using Mac + want to build x64 arch (target_cpu to x86 , arm64 , arm also available) + want to add CDM support, then run gn gen out/Release64 --args="is_component_build = false is_official_build = true is_debug = false ffmpeg_branding = \"Chrome\" target_cpu = \"x64\" proprietary_codecs = true media_use_ffmpeg = true enable_widevine = true bundle_widevine_cdm = true enable_platform_hevc = true enable_hevc_parser_and_hw_decoder = true", if you are using Windows, you need to add enable_media_foundation_widevine_cdm = true as well, if you are using Windows and want to build arm64 arch, then need to change bundle_widevine_cdm to false.
Run autoninja -C out/Release64 chrome to start the build.
Open Chromium directly.

How to integrate this into Chromium based project like Electron?

If Electron >= v20.0.0 (Chromium >= v104.0.5084.0), the HEVC hw decoding feature for Mac and Windows should have already been integrated, and you can use app.commandLine.appendSwitch('enable-features', 'PlatformHEVCDecoderSupport') to enable HEVC hw decoding. To add HEVC ffmpeg sw decoding, the method should be the same with Chromium guide above.

If Electron < v20.0.0, please follow the CL in Trace Crbug to manually integrate HEVC features. Pull request of Patches for different version of Electron are welcome.

Change Log

2022-10-28 Edge (Mac) >= 107 enable by default.

2022-10-25 Chrome >= 107 enable by default + Windows WebCodec Encode support.

2022-10-11 Add Linux HEVC HW decoding support (Chrome >= 108.0.5354.0)

2022-10-09 HEVC with alpha (macOS only) support decoding with WebCodec API and preserve it's alpha layer

2022-10-08 Add HDR10 Metadata extract logic, support WebCodec >= 10bits

2022-09-26 Add a SW decoding auto-gen patch script

2022-09-15 Fix crash for Intel 11/12 Gen iGPU when play HDR video in system HDR mode, improve the accuracy of MediaCapabilities API, Update Patch to 107.0.5303.0

2022-09-14 Chrome Canary >= 107.0.5300.0 has enabled HEVC HW decoder by default, official version will be available after 2022-10-25

2022-09-08 Guarantee the detection API's result (Chrome >= 107.0.5288.0), and update the detection methods

2022-08-31 Add WebCodec API (8bit only) support, and HEVC with alpha layer support (macOS only)

2022-08-06 Update usage to Edge (Mac) 104 release version

2022-08-02 Update usage to Chrome 104 release version

2022-08-01 Add Chrome / Edge Usage

2022-07-31 Intel GPU support HEVC Rext Profile hw decoding on Windows, Update Patch to 106.0.5211.0

2022-07-15 Update Electron v20.0.0-beta.9 and above version support status

2022-06-21 Update Microsoft Edge (Mac) feature test guide

2022-06-18 Fix HLG/PQ tone mapping, and update Patch to 105.0.5127.0

2022-06-17 Remove Linux support, Update Other Platform and HDR support status

2022-05-26 Update Chrome Canary HEVC feature test guide

2022-05-25 Update Chrome 104 support status, and Electron 20 enable method

2022-05-24 Update Patch to 104.0.5080.1

2022-05-23 Add CDM compile guide, and update Patch to 104.0.5077.1

2022-05-17 Update detail of tech implement and guide to integrate into electron

2022-05-14 Update Patch to 104.0.5061.1

2022-05-13 Add HEVC Test page

2022-05-10 Update README, add more special detail of the hardware support and GPU models

2022-05-05 Add support for MSP & Rext on macOS, and fix the issue that some HDR & Rec.709 Main10 video can't be hw decoded on Windows

2022-04-27 Replace to git am patch

2022-04-24 Support chinese README

2022-04-21 Add Crbug trace

2022-04-20 Modify README

2022-04-19 Initial commit

Trace Crbug

Windows

macOS

License

MIT

pluohust/enable-chromium-hevc-hardware-decoding

enable-chromium-hevc-hardware-decoding

English | 简体中文

Usage

Chrome & Edge (Mac) & Chromium

What's the hardware supported HEVC profile?

Note 1：Intel CPU Mac supports HEVC Rext software decoding of 8 ~ 12b non-444 contents via VideoToolbox, 444 is decodable but has a green stripe issue.

Note 3：Although NVIDIA GPU supports HEVC Rext hardware decoding of 8 ~ 12b non-422 contents via CUVIA or NVDEC, but because they did not provide a D3D11 interface, thus Chromium will not support it in the future.

What's the OS requirement?

What's the API supported?

What's the GPU requirement?

Independent GPU

Integrated GPU

Detail Table

HDR Supports? (Compared with Edge / Safari)

Dolby Vision Supports?

How to verify certain profile or resolution is supported？

MediaCapabilities

MediaSource

CanPlayType

What's the tech diff? (Compared with Edge / Safari)

Windows

macOS

How to verify HEVC hardware support is enabled?

Why my GPU support HEVC, but still not able to hardware decode?

OS version is too low

Windows

macOS

GPU driver has bug

GPU hardware has bug

How to Build?

How to integrate this into Chromium based project like Electron?

Change Log

Trace Crbug

Windows

macOS

License