FFmpeg has incorporated a significant novelty for video professionals: hardware acceleration via Vulkan in the decoding of Samsung's APV codec. This visually lossless format directly competes with Apple ProRes, and until now it could only be decoded by the CPU. The change promises to streamline the workflow in editing and post-production.
Technical details of the new implementation 🛠️
The integration allows the GPU to process APV decoding through the Vulkan API, reducing the processor load. This feature is useful for systems with compatible graphics, as it frees up CPU resources for other tasks. FFmpeg's previous support for APV was limited to software decoding and encoding; now a path for acceleration is added that leverages modern hardware without relying on proprietary solutions.
Samsung vs. Apple: the war of lossless codecs ⚔️
Samsung launches its APV to compete with ProRes, and FFmpeg gives it a little help with Vulkan. Meanwhile, editors are rubbing their hands together: less rendering time and more time for coffee. Of course, no one should expect their ten-year-old GPU to understand what this is about. The next battle will be to see who can make the format popular without anyone having to sell a kidney for storage.