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Does x5-z8350 support hardware VP9 decoding?

JHuk
Beginner
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Hello, I'm looking for information regarding VP9 support on the x5-z8350. Some 3rd party sites claim that it has hardware VP9 decoder, for example:

https://en.wikichip.org/wiki/intel/atom_x5/x5-z8350

while others claim it doesn't.

I bought a PC stick powered by the x5-z8350, and while I am able to smoothly play movies encoded by h264 and h265 - with nearly 0% CPU utilization, when it comes to VP9 (both on YouTube, as well as with offline samples), movie stutters and CPU utilization is near 100%.

So... I would like to finally get 100% confirmed answer - does this CPU support VP9 hardware decoder or not? If it does - do I need some special drivers/codecs to make it work?

Thanks in advance.

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idata
Employee
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Hi Huk: Thank you very much for contacting the Intel® Graphics communities. We will do our best in order to try to provide the information you are looking for.

 

 

In regard to your inquiry, yes, the processor supports VP9 decoding with 1080p resolution at 30Hz. Please verify the link below to confirm that information, pages 17,21,117 and 130:

 

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/processors/atom/atom-z8000-datasheet-vol-1.html https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/processors/atom/atom-z8000-datasheet-vol-1.html

In reference to the question about the graphics driver, we recommend to install the latest one available for your product, and the codec will depend on the application being used, since some of them request to install an specific codec to work properly.

 

 

Any further questions, please let me know.

Regards,

 

Alberto R
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JHuk
Beginner
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Thank you for the answer and sorry for my late response; however, I'm still a bit confused on how to get the decoder working. I have the latest driver for 32-bit version of Windows 10 - this one to be exact:

https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/27267/Intel-Graphics-Driver-for-Windows-15-40-

I have tried various videos, both offline and online - using browsers (Chrome, MS Edge, Firefox - all 'tweaked' to have VP9 enabled) as well as offline players (MPC-HC, Kodi, VLC, Windows 10 default players), and every time it's the same:

- when playing H264 or even H265 video, the CPU usage is about 20-30%, I can see video decoder working, and everything is running fine

- while on VP9, the CPU usage skyrockets, the decoder is idle and video is choppy

Take this video for example:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asfaJZu2_K8

This is 1080P@30FPS, so if I understand correctly, it should be working - yet no player is capable of playing the VP9 version of it, with hardware acceleration.

So, the question remains - do we need something more than just latest drivers to use VP9 acceleration? As far as I can tell, players report that DXVA2 support is missing for VP9, while it is being used just fine for all other codecs... That's probably the cause, but how do we fix it?

Best regards.

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idata
Employee
4,014 Views

Huk: You are welcome. Thank you very much for providing that information. We are sorry to hear the problem remains.

 

 

We will do further research on this matter, for us to be able to do that, please provide the SSU report:

 

https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/25293/Intel-System-Support-Utility-for-Windows- https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/25293/Intel-System-Support-Utility-for-Windows-

 

 

Also, please provide the DxDiag report:

 

Click on the "Start Menu" type "DxDiag" press "Enter" -Wait for the DirectX Diagnostic Tool to finish loading

 

In the DirectX Diagnostic Tool, click "Save All Information" , save the file DxDiag.txt

 

 

To attach a file, you must click "Use Advanced Editor" in the top right corner of the response box, then the "attach" option will appear in the bottom right corner of the response box

 

 

Any questions, please let me know.

 

 

Regards,

 

Alberto R

 

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JHuk
Beginner
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Again, sorry for the late response, I have attached the requested files.

Best regards.

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idata
Employee
4,014 Views

Huk: No problem. Thank you very much for providing those files. We will do further research on this matter, as soon as I get any updates, I will post all the details on this thread.

 

 

Any questions, please let me know.

 

 

Regards,

 

Alberto R

 

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idata
Employee
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Huk: I just wanted to let you know that I just received some updates and in general Cherry Trail has HW decoding support for VP9 but only on Android platforms.

 

 

Any questions, please let me know.

 

 

Regards,

 

Alberto R

 

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JHuk
Beginner
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Thank you for the information - but does that mean that the HW decoder is physically missing from the CPU, or that it is still there, but only Android drivers know how to use it?

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idata
Employee
4,014 Views

Huk: You are welcome. It means that the HW decoder is still there but only Android drivers know how to use it.

 

 

Additionally, in order to gather further details about this matter, you can always submit your inquiry in our Intel® developer zone:

 

https://software.intel.com/en-us/forum https://software.intel.com/en-us/forum

 

 

Any questions, please let me know.

 

 

Regards,

 

Alberto R

 

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JHuk
Beginner
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Thank you for the explanation - it is weird that Windows drivers don't support this codec (since they support everything else), but I guess that is the answer.

To summarize: the VP9 HW decoder is there, but it is (at least, at the moment) not supported under Windows, only under Android (and maybe Linux - although I didn't check).

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idata
Employee
4,014 Views

Huk: You are very welcome. And yes, that is correct.

 

 

Any other inquiry, do not hesitate in contact us again.

 

 

Regards,

 

Alberto R

 

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