gpu accelerated video playback with mpc-hc on intel hd graphic 3000

[codemaster]

I'm using mpc-hc to watch H.264 videos.

Does the gpu accelerated decoding of H.264 videos work with the integrated intel gpu's inside current notebooks, like the intel hd graphics 3000 or 4000 gpu's ?

In other words, does the combination mpc-hc plus intel hd graphics 3000 inside core i3 sandy bridge mobile cpu's equal around 8% of cpu utilisation during 720p H.264 playback ?

I noticed that mpc-hc uses ffdshow as the internal video decoder for H.264 content, and I noticed that it has a mode called "DXVA mode" that is not used probably because I have an old gpu (geforce 6150se). I'm assuming this DXVA mode in ffmpeg can use the gpu to decode H.264 more efficiently, while considerably reducing the cpu load, but what I want to know is, will it work on intel hd graphics 3000 gpu's ? Or DXVA works only with AMD gpu's ?

[jagabo]

Yes, MPCHC can use ffmpeg DXVA as the decoder for h.264 video with Intel Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge CPUs. It works on my i5 2500K desktop CPU.

[codemaster]

@ jagabo: can you post an estimated average of the cpu usage that you get during 720p and/or 1080p/i H.264 playback with mpc-hc ?

[jagabo]

What frame rate? They're down there in the 3 to 10 percent range.

[codemaster]

@ jagabo: whatever framerate your videos have, but I was mainly interested in progressive 23.976 or 25 or 29.97 fps.

but 5 to 10 % confirms what I wanted to know... that H.264 can be decoded efficiently on intel gpu's

[jagabo]

Most of what I have is 720p25 or 720p60. The lower frame rates are closer to the the lower end of the range I quoted (added it later), higher frame rates at the higher end.

[codemaster]

@ jagabo: ok, thanks. I wasn't sure if the intel gpu's (from sandy and ivy cpu's) support video acceleration, like nvidia and amd gpu's. So, is the playback stable ? It doesn't generate artifacts like some people seem to experience ? No dropped frames, or other issues that do not occur with nvidia and amd gpu's ?

[jagabo]

DXVA doesn't support all h.264 settings. All GPUs will have problems with some files. So you'll occasionally have to fall back on CPU decoding. Intel's DXVA support doesn't seem to be significantly worse than Nvidia's or ATI's. At least on the HD 3000. I don't know about HD 2000.