FAQ

MulticoreWare is in discussions with our partners closer to the release of v1.0. We will be sure to update you all in the next Webinar

Yes, MulticoreWare is aware that there are other VVC Encoders available.

Lossy single-frame is already supported by MulticoreWare. Future versions of x266 will also enable lossless encoding, much like x265 does.

Cb and Cr channels are coded separately, but the same luma prediction modes may be applied to the chroma components. In VVC, there are tools like CST (Chroma Separate tree), where chroma can have separate block structures. Additionally, VVC has tools like CCLM, LMCS, etc where there is an inter dependency between chroma and luma components

The evolution of video codec standards is dependent on factors like Market adoption. People are looking to add new capacities for video codecs. It is entirely possible for more people to adopt these codecs in the upcoming months, based on their use cases (Live/VOD). Every successive H Standard has been computationally intensive, so based on these use cases, the adoption of H.266 can be identified.

The real-time processing is still a work in progress as we aim to add more capabilities and improve speed. Some x265 capabilities will be accessible in Ultraziq as well as x266.

We recognize the concerns for x265: we anticipate an increase in x265. The same is true for x266 and will be determined by factors such as cloud computing. x266 licencing conditions and partnerships have been adjusted, and things can only get better from here.

MulticoreWare is working on it, but we're not there yet. The plan is to ultimately merge it with FFmpeg, although that is a long way off.

Consortium members have been connecting with us and mentoring us on a regular basis. They do have an impact on the tools and features that are developed. We will make certain that a framework is in place to solicit people's opinion and alter priorities depending on their input.

We did have plans to explore opportunities for hardware accelerations and FPGAs. We are currently closing in on v1.0; right after it is done, we will definitely explore the hardware acceleration and FPGAs area.

Promoting these encoders is the responsibility of those who create them. Google and other players would like to support various codecs.

We are looking at hardware and process-centric optimization. We are also looking at AI/ML-based codecs, exploiting legacy-based codecs, and how we can effectively use ML to improve what x265 and Ultraziq do. Roadmap includes ARM-based x265 that mainly focuses on power usage.

That is precisely how it has been designed. We have looked at the underlying architecture for it to run. There will of course be a penalty on performance, but the system would work. Offloading to GPU is also possible.

Everything in the x265 specifications and in the periphery for x265 will also apply to x266. Additionally, this has extra AI-based functions.

HEVC supports high bit-depth content, but they are designed for coding LDR content and do not consider the characteristics of HDR content. Hence compressing HDR is not too efficient.

Yes - It is an open-source project, it will be released when we hit v1.0, and it becomes meaningful to release for testing by the open-source community. x265 also was released for the public with basic functionality and performance, which the open-source community contributed further to improve.

There haven't been many advancements in video players, but we anticipate more this year. To accelerate this acceptance, we are working with our consortium partners.

Although its impact on video codec standardisation is minimal, MulticoreWare does make an effort to the video codec standardization.

Yes, we at MulticoreWare are following them to the extent possible. So far, x266 has been entirely developed by MulticoreWare.

It is a work in progress. We will be able to update you when the benchmarking is done via email.

FAQ (x266 Webinar 31 JAN 2023)

Under what license will x266 be released? GPL2/GPL3? or is it yet to be decided?

Have you been keeping up with other VVC encoders?

Are you planning to support the following H.266 features: 1) lossless encoding 1) Lossy image (single frame) encoding? 2) Lossless RGB colorspace encoding (for example, for lossless picture compression)?

Could you describe how AVC and HEVC currently handle chroma? Are the Cb and Cr channels completely distinct, or are they coded by making reference to the same region in the Luma channel?

Given your comprehensive understanding of video encoding standards such as H.264/H.265/VP9/AV1, what do you think about H.266? Is that a good enough jump over them, or could you have incorporated additional encoding features?

How does the existing implementation perform in comparison to realtime/live processing?

H.265 has had a mediocre response and is not extensively utilised outside of the professional business. What are your thoughts on this?

Is MulticoreWare working on x266 integration with ffmpeg? Is it planned?

Do other companies influence MulticoreWare's roadmaps, tools and features?

Any thoguhts on Hardware accelarations or FPGAs?

The MPEG and VCEG organizations don't appear very eager to encourage the adoption of the H.266 codec. Why do you suppose it's happening, please correct me if I'm mistaken. Or is it related to Google's promotion of AV1?

What are the upgrades planned for x265 in the near future, considering there would be a spike in HEVC usage this year?

When you mentioned GPU usage, does it mean that it's going to be something like the OpenCL lookahead we have on x264? Is it optional in the sense that it will use the GPU if available and CPU Only if it's not? Also does it mean that it will also be ported to x265?

Since AI-based video coding is the trend now, are you planning to integrate any content adaptive features in x266 that involve DNN based video compression, Learning based frame analytics etc?

When you say compressing HDR video in HEVC is "not efficient", can you elaborate on that?

The development of x264/x265 was made public, and the development of x266 appears to have been ongoing for more than a year at this point. Are you finally going to make it open source? Why has everything so far been carried out in secrecy?

What are your expectations for the H.266 future, given that there are currently no publically available video players for Windows, MacOS, Android, or iOS. What measures is MulticoreWare taking to promote the use of the codec?

Does MulticoreWare support video codec standardisation as well?

Have you been following VVENC and VVCSoftware_VTM development? Is it possible to borrow things already implemented in these two encoders are you working on a new encoder from scratch?

For v0.2, could you please report BD-rate and speed w.r.t. VVenc?