Encoding parameters that affect performance - AWS Elemental Live

Encoding parameters that affect performance

You can tune the quality, speed, and density of the video encodes in each event.

CABAC

For information about this parameter, see Miscellaneous video tuning parameters.

Codec of the output encode

Some codecs make more demands on the CPU than other codes. Here is a comparison of the processing demands of codecs, from least to most demanding:

  • JPEG XS

  • MPEG

  • AVC

  • HEVC

For more information, see Controlling video quality.

Density versus quality (SVQ)

You can modify the density and quality balance of each individual encode by setting the Density vs Quality field. You can favor quality at the cost of density, or you can favor density at the cost of quality.

For more information, see Miscellaneous video tuning parameters.

Encode order

If you are using a version of AWS Elemental Live before version 2.24.4, AWS Elemental Live assigns CPU resources to the encodes (streams) in the order in which they appear in the web interface or in the XML of the event. You should list your video encodes (streams) from highest resolution to lowest resolution. In this way, Elemental Live will first assign CPU resources to the most difficult encodes.

Starting with version 2.24.4, Elemental Live automatically assigns resources to the most difficult encodes.

Frame rate, resolution, bitrate, and color depth

A key factor in performance is the pixels per second being produced by all outputs in all events.

The following characteristics of each video encode affect pixels per second:

Characteristic Field in the Video section of the Output section Comment
Resolution Resolution

Frame rate

Frame Rate

Bitrate Rate Control Mode See Setting up QVBR and rate control mode.
Color depth: 8-bit or 10-bit Part of the profile of the codec: Video Stream, then Advanced, then Profile

Group of pictures

For more information, see Group of pictures (GOP) configuration.

Lookahead

For more information, see Miscellaneous video tuning parameters.

Quantization

For more information, see Quantization controls.

Slices

This parameter affects CPU usage.

The number of slices in each video frame affects the CPU usage. You must balance the desired quality against the processing demands of that quality.

We recommend that you set the slices to automatic, to let Elemental Live set the value that works best for the video resolution. For more information, see Miscellaneous video tuning parameters.