4.5.2. Memory-to-Memory Stateful Video Encoder Interface¶
A stateful video encoder takes raw video frames in display order and encodes them into a bytestream. It generates complete chunks of the bytestream, including all metadata, headers, etc. The resulting bytestream does not require any further post-processing by the client.
Performing software stream processing, header generation etc. in the driver in order to support this interface is strongly discouraged. In case such operations are needed, use of the Stateless Video Encoder Interface (in development) is strongly advised.
4.5.2.1. Conventions and Notations Used in This Document¶
The general V4L2 API rules apply if not specified in this document otherwise.
The meaning of words "must", "may", "should", etc. is as per RFC 2119.
All steps not marked "optional" are required.
VIDIOC_G_EXT_CTRLS()
andVIDIOC_S_EXT_CTRLS()
may be used interchangeably withVIDIOC_G_CTRL()
andVIDIOC_S_CTRL()
, unless specified otherwise.Single-planar API (see Single- and multi-planar APIs) and applicable structures may be used interchangeably with multi-planar API, unless specified otherwise, depending on encoder capabilities and following the general V4L2 guidelines.
i = [a..b]: sequence of integers from a to b, inclusive, i.e. i = [0..2]: i = 0, 1, 2.
Given an
OUTPUT
buffer A, then A' represents a buffer on theCAPTURE
queue containing data that resulted from processing buffer A.
4.5.2.3. State Machine¶
4.5.2.4. Querying Capabilities¶
To enumerate the set of coded formats supported by the encoder, the client may call
VIDIOC_ENUM_FMT()
onCAPTURE
.The full set of supported formats will be returned, regardless of the format set on
OUTPUT
.
To enumerate the set of supported raw formats, the client may call
VIDIOC_ENUM_FMT()
onOUTPUT
.Only the formats supported for the format currently active on
CAPTURE
will be returned.In order to enumerate raw formats supported by a given coded format, the client must first set that coded format on
CAPTURE
and then enumerate the formats onOUTPUT
.
The client may use
VIDIOC_ENUM_FRAMESIZES()
to detect supported resolutions for a given format, passing the desired pixel format inv4l2_frmsizeenum
pixel_format
.Values returned by
VIDIOC_ENUM_FRAMESIZES()
for a coded pixel format will include all possible coded resolutions supported by the encoder for the given coded pixel format.Values returned by
VIDIOC_ENUM_FRAMESIZES()
for a raw pixel format will include all possible frame buffer resolutions supported by the encoder for the given raw pixel format and coded format currently set onCAPTURE
.
The client may use
VIDIOC_ENUM_FRAMEINTERVALS()
to detect supported frame intervals for a given format and resolution, passing the desired pixel format inv4l2_frmivalenum
pixel_format
and the resolution inv4l2_frmivalenum
width
andv4l2_frmivalenum
height
.Values returned by
VIDIOC_ENUM_FRAMEINTERVALS()
for a coded pixel format and coded resolution will include all possible frame intervals supported by the encoder for the given coded pixel format and resolution.Values returned by
VIDIOC_ENUM_FRAMEINTERVALS()
for a raw pixel format and resolution will include all possible frame intervals supported by the encoder for the given raw pixel format and resolution and for the coded format, coded resolution and coded frame interval currently set onCAPTURE
.Support for
VIDIOC_ENUM_FRAMEINTERVALS()
is optional. If it is not implemented, then there are no special restrictions other than the limits of the codec itself.
Supported profiles and levels for the coded format currently set on
CAPTURE
, if applicable, may be queried using their respective controls viaVIDIOC_QUERYCTRL()
.Any additional encoder capabilities may be discovered by querying their respective controls.
4.5.2.5. Initialization¶
Set the coded format on the
CAPTURE
queue viaVIDIOC_S_FMT()
.Required fields:
type
a
V4L2_BUF_TYPE_*
enum appropriate forCAPTURE
.pixelformat
the coded format to be produced.
sizeimage
desired size of
CAPTURE
buffers; the encoder may adjust it to match hardware requirements.width
,height
ignored (read-only).
- other fields
follow standard semantics.
Returned fields:
sizeimage
adjusted size of
CAPTURE
buffers.width
,height
the coded size selected by the encoder based on current state, e.g.
OUTPUT
format, selection rectangles, etc. (read-only).
Important
Changing the
CAPTURE
format may change the currently setOUTPUT
format. How the newOUTPUT
format is determined is up to the encoder and the client must ensure it matches its needs afterwards.Optional. Enumerate supported
OUTPUT
formats (raw formats for source) for the selected coded format viaVIDIOC_ENUM_FMT()
.Required fields:
type
a
V4L2_BUF_TYPE_*
enum appropriate forOUTPUT
.- other fields
follow standard semantics.
Returned fields:
pixelformat
raw format supported for the coded format currently selected on the
CAPTURE
queue.- other fields
follow standard semantics.
Set the raw source format on the
OUTPUT
queue viaVIDIOC_S_FMT()
.Required fields:
type
a
V4L2_BUF_TYPE_*
enum appropriate forOUTPUT
.pixelformat
raw format of the source.
width
,height
source resolution.
- other fields
follow standard semantics.
Returned fields:
width
,height
may be adjusted to match encoder minimums, maximums and alignment requirements, as required by the currently selected formats, as reported by
VIDIOC_ENUM_FRAMESIZES()
.- other fields
follow standard semantics.
Setting the
OUTPUT
format will reset the selection rectangles to their default values, based on the new resolution, as described in the next step.
Set the raw frame interval on the
OUTPUT
queue viaVIDIOC_S_PARM()
. This also sets the coded frame interval on theCAPTURE
queue to the same value.Required fields:
type
a
V4L2_BUF_TYPE_*
enum appropriate forOUTPUT
.parm.output
set all fields except
parm.output.timeperframe
to 0.parm.output.timeperframe
the desired frame interval; the encoder may adjust it to match hardware requirements.
Returned fields:
parm.output.timeperframe
the adjusted frame interval.
Important
Changing the
OUTPUT
frame interval also sets the framerate that the encoder uses to encode the video. So setting the frame interval to 1/24 (or 24 frames per second) will produce a coded video stream that can be played back at that speed. The frame interval for theOUTPUT
queue is just a hint, the application may provide raw frames at a different rate. It can be used by the driver to help schedule multiple encoders running in parallel.In the next step the
CAPTURE
frame interval can optionally be changed to a different value. This is useful for off-line encoding were the coded frame interval can be different from the rate at which raw frames are supplied.Important
timeperframe
deals with frames, not fields. So for interlaced formats this is the time per two fields, since a frame consists of a top and a bottom field.Note
It is due to historical reasons that changing the
OUTPUT
frame interval also changes the coded frame interval on theCAPTURE
queue. Ideally these would be independent settings, but that would break the existing API.Optional Set the coded frame interval on the
CAPTURE
queue viaVIDIOC_S_PARM()
. This is only necessary if the coded frame interval is different from the raw frame interval, which is typically the case for off-line encoding. Support for this feature is signalled by the V4L2_FMT_FLAG_ENC_CAP_FRAME_INTERVAL format flag.Required fields:
type
a
V4L2_BUF_TYPE_*
enum appropriate forCAPTURE
.parm.capture
set all fields except
parm.capture.timeperframe
to 0.parm.capture.timeperframe
the desired coded frame interval; the encoder may adjust it to match hardware requirements.
Returned fields:
parm.capture.timeperframe
the adjusted frame interval.
Important
Changing the
CAPTURE
frame interval sets the framerate for the coded video. It does not set the rate at which buffers arrive on theCAPTURE
queue, that depends on how fast the encoder is and how fast raw frames are queued on theOUTPUT
queue.Important
timeperframe
deals with frames, not fields. So for interlaced formats this is the time per two fields, since a frame consists of a top and a bottom field.Note
Not all drivers support this functionality, in that case just set the desired coded frame interval for the
OUTPUT
queue.However, drivers that can schedule multiple encoders based on the
OUTPUT
frame interval must support this optional feature.Optional. Set the visible resolution for the stream metadata via
VIDIOC_S_SELECTION()
on theOUTPUT
queue if it is desired to be different than the full OUTPUT resolution.Required fields:
type
a
V4L2_BUF_TYPE_*
enum appropriate forOUTPUT
.target
set to
V4L2_SEL_TGT_CROP
.r.left
,r.top
,r.width
,r.height
visible rectangle; this must fit within the V4L2_SEL_TGT_CROP_BOUNDS rectangle and may be subject to adjustment to match codec and hardware constraints.
Returned fields:
r.left
,r.top
,r.width
,r.height
visible rectangle adjusted by the encoder.
The following selection targets are supported on
OUTPUT
:V4L2_SEL_TGT_CROP_BOUNDS
equal to the full source frame, matching the active
OUTPUT
format.V4L2_SEL_TGT_CROP_DEFAULT
equal to
V4L2_SEL_TGT_CROP_BOUNDS
.V4L2_SEL_TGT_CROP
rectangle within the source buffer to be encoded into the
CAPTURE
stream; defaults toV4L2_SEL_TGT_CROP_DEFAULT
.Note
A common use case for this selection target is encoding a source video with a resolution that is not a multiple of a macroblock, e.g. the common 1920x1080 resolution may require the source buffers to be aligned to 1920x1088 for codecs with 16x16 macroblock size. To avoid encoding the padding, the client needs to explicitly configure this selection target to 1920x1080.
Warning
The encoder may adjust the crop/compose rectangles to the nearest supported ones to meet codec and hardware requirements. The client needs to check the adjusted rectangle returned by
VIDIOC_S_SELECTION()
.Allocate buffers for both
OUTPUT
andCAPTURE
viaVIDIOC_REQBUFS()
. This may be performed in any order.Required fields:
count
requested number of buffers to allocate; greater than zero.
type
a
V4L2_BUF_TYPE_*
enum appropriate forOUTPUT
orCAPTURE
.- other fields
follow standard semantics.
Returned fields:
count
actual number of buffers allocated.
Warning
The actual number of allocated buffers may differ from the
count
given. The client must check the updated value ofcount
after the call returns.Note
To allocate more than the minimum number of OUTPUT buffers (for pipeline depth), the client may query the
V4L2_CID_MIN_BUFFERS_FOR_OUTPUT
control to get the minimum number of buffers required, and pass the obtained value plus the number of additional buffers needed in thecount
field toVIDIOC_REQBUFS()
.Alternatively,
VIDIOC_CREATE_BUFS()
can be used to have more control over buffer allocation.Required fields:
count
requested number of buffers to allocate; greater than zero.
type
a
V4L2_BUF_TYPE_*
enum appropriate forOUTPUT
.- other fields
follow standard semantics.
Returned fields:
count
adjusted to the number of allocated buffers.
Begin streaming on both
OUTPUT
andCAPTURE
queues viaVIDIOC_STREAMON()
. This may be performed in any order. The actual encoding process starts when both queues start streaming.
Note
If the client stops the CAPTURE
queue during the encode process and then
restarts it again, the encoder will begin generating a stream independent
from the stream generated before the stop. The exact constraints depend
on the coded format, but may include the following implications:
encoded frames produced after the restart must not reference any frames produced before the stop, e.g. no long term references for H.264/HEVC,
any headers that must be included in a standalone stream must be produced again, e.g. SPS and PPS for H.264/HEVC.
4.5.2.6. Encoding¶
This state is reached after the Initialization sequence finishes
successfully. In this state, the client queues and dequeues buffers to both
queues via VIDIOC_QBUF()
and VIDIOC_DQBUF()
, following the
standard semantics.
The content of encoded CAPTURE
buffers depends on the active coded pixel
format and may be affected by codec-specific extended controls, as stated
in the documentation of each format.
Both queues operate independently, following standard behavior of V4L2 buffer
queues and memory-to-memory devices. In addition, the order of encoded frames
dequeued from the CAPTURE
queue may differ from the order of queuing raw
frames to the OUTPUT
queue, due to properties of the selected coded format,
e.g. frame reordering.
The client must not assume any direct relationship between CAPTURE
and
OUTPUT
buffers and any specific timing of buffers becoming
available to dequeue. Specifically:
a buffer queued to
OUTPUT
may result in more than one buffer produced onCAPTURE
(for example, if returning an encoded frame allowed the encoder to return a frame that preceded it in display, but succeeded it in the decode order; however, there may be other reasons for this as well),a buffer queued to
OUTPUT
may result in a buffer being produced onCAPTURE
later into encode process, and/or after processing furtherOUTPUT
buffers, or be returned out of order, e.g. if display reordering is used,buffers may become available on the
CAPTURE
queue without additional buffers queued toOUTPUT
(e.g. during drain orEOS
), because of theOUTPUT
buffers queued in the past whose encoding results are only available at later time, due to specifics of the encoding process,buffers queued to
OUTPUT
may not become available to dequeue instantly after being encoded into a correspondingCAPTURE
buffer, e.g. if the encoder needs to use the frame as a reference for encoding further frames.
Note
To allow matching encoded CAPTURE
buffers with OUTPUT
buffers they
originated from, the client can set the timestamp
field of the
v4l2_buffer
struct when queuing an OUTPUT
buffer. The
CAPTURE
buffer(s), which resulted from encoding that OUTPUT
buffer
will have their timestamp
field set to the same value when dequeued.
In addition to the straightforward case of one OUTPUT
buffer producing
one CAPTURE
buffer, the following cases are defined:
one
OUTPUT
buffer generates multipleCAPTURE
buffers: the sameOUTPUT
timestamp will be copied to multipleCAPTURE
buffers,the encoding order differs from the presentation order (i.e. the
CAPTURE
buffers are out-of-order compared to theOUTPUT
buffers):CAPTURE
timestamps will not retain the order ofOUTPUT
timestamps.
Note
To let the client distinguish between frame types (keyframes, intermediate
frames; the exact list of types depends on the coded format), the
CAPTURE
buffers will have corresponding flag bits set in their
v4l2_buffer
struct when dequeued. See the documentation of
v4l2_buffer
and each coded pixel format for exact list of flags
and their meanings.
Should an encoding error occur, it will be reported to the client with the level of details depending on the encoder capabilities. Specifically:
the
CAPTURE
buffer (if any) that contains the results of the failed encode operation will be returned with theV4L2_BUF_FLAG_ERROR
flag set,if the encoder is able to precisely report the
OUTPUT
buffer(s) that triggered the error, such buffer(s) will be returned with theV4L2_BUF_FLAG_ERROR
flag set.
Note
If a CAPTURE
buffer is too small then it is just returned with the
V4L2_BUF_FLAG_ERROR
flag set. More work is needed to detect that this
error occurred because the buffer was too small, and to provide support to
free existing buffers that were too small.
In case of a fatal failure that does not allow the encoding to continue, any further operations on corresponding encoder file handle will return the -EIO error code. The client may close the file handle and open a new one, or alternatively reinitialize the instance by stopping streaming on both queues, releasing all buffers and performing the Initialization sequence again.
4.5.2.7. Encoding Parameter Changes¶
The client is allowed to use VIDIOC_S_CTRL()
to change encoder
parameters at any time. The availability of parameters is encoder-specific
and the client must query the encoder to find the set of available controls.
The ability to change each parameter during encoding is encoder-specific, as
per the standard semantics of the V4L2 control interface. The client may
attempt to set a control during encoding and if the operation fails with the
-EBUSY error code, the CAPTURE
queue needs to be stopped for the
configuration change to be allowed. To do this, it may follow the Drain
sequence to avoid losing the already queued/encoded frames.
The timing of parameter updates is encoder-specific, as per the standard semantics of the V4L2 control interface. If the client needs to apply the parameters exactly at specific frame, using the Request API (Request API) should be considered, if supported by the encoder.
4.5.2.8. Drain¶
To ensure that all the queued OUTPUT
buffers have been processed and the
related CAPTURE
buffers are given to the client, the client must follow the
drain sequence described below. After the drain sequence ends, the client has
received all encoded frames for all OUTPUT
buffers queued before the
sequence was started.
Begin the drain sequence by issuing
VIDIOC_ENCODER_CMD()
.Required fields:
cmd
set to
V4L2_ENC_CMD_STOP
.flags
set to 0.
pts
set to 0.
Warning
The sequence can be only initiated if both
OUTPUT
andCAPTURE
queues are streaming. For compatibility reasons, the call toVIDIOC_ENCODER_CMD()
will not fail even if any of the queues is not streaming, but at the same time it will not initiate the Drain sequence and so the steps described below would not be applicable.Any
OUTPUT
buffers queued by the client before theVIDIOC_ENCODER_CMD()
was issued will be processed and encoded as normal. The client must continue to handle both queues independently, similarly to normal encode operation. This includes:queuing and dequeuing
CAPTURE
buffers, until a buffer marked with theV4L2_BUF_FLAG_LAST
flag is dequeued,Warning
The last buffer may be empty (with
v4l2_buffer
bytesused
= 0) and in that case it must be ignored by the client, as it does not contain an encoded frame.Note
Any attempt to dequeue more
CAPTURE
buffers beyond the buffer marked withV4L2_BUF_FLAG_LAST
will result in a -EPIPE error fromVIDIOC_DQBUF()
.dequeuing processed
OUTPUT
buffers, until all the buffers queued before theV4L2_ENC_CMD_STOP
command are dequeued,dequeuing the
V4L2_EVENT_EOS
event, if the client subscribes to it.
Note
For backwards compatibility, the encoder will signal a
V4L2_EVENT_EOS
event when the last frame has been encoded and all frames are ready to be dequeued. It is deprecated behavior and the client must not rely on it. TheV4L2_BUF_FLAG_LAST
buffer flag should be used instead.Once all
OUTPUT
buffers queued before theV4L2_ENC_CMD_STOP
call are dequeued and the lastCAPTURE
buffer is dequeued, the encoder is stopped and it will accept, but not process any newly queuedOUTPUT
buffers until the client issues any of the following operations:V4L2_ENC_CMD_START
- the encoder will not be reset and will resume operation normally, with all the state from before the drain,a pair of
VIDIOC_STREAMOFF()
andVIDIOC_STREAMON()
on theCAPTURE
queue - the encoder will be reset (see the Reset sequence) and then resume encoding,a pair of
VIDIOC_STREAMOFF()
andVIDIOC_STREAMON()
on theOUTPUT
queue - the encoder will resume operation normally, however any source frames queued to theOUTPUT
queue betweenV4L2_ENC_CMD_STOP
andVIDIOC_STREAMOFF()
will be discarded.
Note
Once the drain sequence is initiated, the client needs to drive it to
completion, as described by the steps above, unless it aborts the process by
issuing VIDIOC_STREAMOFF()
on any of the OUTPUT
or CAPTURE
queues. The client is not allowed to issue V4L2_ENC_CMD_START
or
V4L2_ENC_CMD_STOP
again while the drain sequence is in progress and they
will fail with -EBUSY error code if attempted.
For reference, handling of various corner cases is described below:
In case of no buffer in the
OUTPUT
queue at the time theV4L2_ENC_CMD_STOP
command was issued, the drain sequence completes immediately and the encoder returns an emptyCAPTURE
buffer with theV4L2_BUF_FLAG_LAST
flag set.In case of no buffer in the
CAPTURE
queue at the time the drain sequence completes, the next time the client queues aCAPTURE
buffer it is returned at once as an empty buffer with theV4L2_BUF_FLAG_LAST
flag set.If
VIDIOC_STREAMOFF()
is called on theCAPTURE
queue in the middle of the drain sequence, the drain sequence is canceled and allCAPTURE
buffers are implicitly returned to the client.If
VIDIOC_STREAMOFF()
is called on theOUTPUT
queue in the middle of the drain sequence, the drain sequence completes immediately and nextCAPTURE
buffer will be returned empty with theV4L2_BUF_FLAG_LAST
flag set.
Although not mandatory, the availability of encoder commands may be queried
using VIDIOC_TRY_ENCODER_CMD()
.
4.5.2.9. Reset¶
The client may want to request the encoder to reinitialize the encoding, so that the following stream data becomes independent from the stream data generated before. Depending on the coded format, that may imply that:
encoded frames produced after the restart must not reference any frames produced before the stop, e.g. no long term references for H.264/HEVC,
any headers that must be included in a standalone stream must be produced again, e.g. SPS and PPS for H.264/HEVC.
This can be achieved by performing the reset sequence.
Perform the Drain sequence to ensure all the in-flight encoding finishes and respective buffers are dequeued.
Stop streaming on the
CAPTURE
queue viaVIDIOC_STREAMOFF()
. This will return all currently queuedCAPTURE
buffers to the client, without valid frame data.Start streaming on the
CAPTURE
queue viaVIDIOC_STREAMON()
and continue with regular encoding sequence. The encoded frames produced intoCAPTURE
buffers from now on will contain a standalone stream that can be decoded without the need for frames encoded before the reset sequence, starting at the firstOUTPUT
buffer queued after issuing the V4L2_ENC_CMD_STOP of the Drain sequence.
This sequence may be also used to change encoding parameters for encoders without the ability to change the parameters on the fly.
4.5.2.10. Commit Points¶
Setting formats and allocating buffers triggers changes in the behavior of the encoder.
Setting the format on the
CAPTURE
queue may change the set of formats supported/advertised on theOUTPUT
queue. In particular, it also means that theOUTPUT
format may be reset and the client must not rely on the previously set format being preserved.Enumerating formats on the
OUTPUT
queue always returns only formats supported for the currentCAPTURE
format.Setting the format on the
OUTPUT
queue does not change the list of formats available on theCAPTURE
queue. An attempt to set theOUTPUT
format that is not supported for the currently selectedCAPTURE
format will result in the encoder adjusting the requestedOUTPUT
format to a supported one.Enumerating formats on the
CAPTURE
queue always returns the full set of supported coded formats, irrespective of the currentOUTPUT
format.While buffers are allocated on any of the
OUTPUT
orCAPTURE
queues, the client must not change the format on theCAPTURE
queue. Drivers will return the -EBUSY error code for any such format change attempt.
To summarize, setting formats and allocation must always start with the
CAPTURE
queue and the CAPTURE
queue is the master that governs the
set of supported formats for the OUTPUT
queue.