HandBrake Documentation

Intel Quick Sync Video

Supported Hardware and Configurations

• Intel Skylake (6th Generation Core) CPU or later with Intel HD Graphics or better
• Windows 10
• Linux

Please note, these are not hard limits. Hardware encoding via Intel QSV might work on older series GPUs and older operating systems, but this is not officially supported.

A plugin with all required components for Intel QSV encoding using the Flatpak distribution of HandBrake is available on the official HandBrake website.

Enabling support

Support for the Intel QSV encoder is enabled in preferences on the video tab. If your system is not supported, the option will be disabled.

Performance

Only video encoding is performed by the hardware encoder. Every stage prior to and after video encoding including decoding, filters, audio/video sync, audio encoding, muxing, etc., is performed by the CPU. As a result, it is normal to have high (even 100%) CPU utilisation during encodes.

It is common, particularly on lower-end hardware, for the CPU to be a bottleneck for the hardware video encoder. To minimize this effect, disable any filters that you do not require.

Advanced options

The QSV hardware encoder has a limited set of advanced encoder options. Generally speaking, it is not recommended to change these parameters, as the built-in presets offer a good range of options for common uses.

From HandBrake’s command line interface, use the --encopts parameter as follows:

--encopts="option1=value1:option2=value2"

From HandBrake’s graphical interface, set the options in the Advanced Options field on the Video tab:

option1=value1:option2=value2

Option value types

The following value types are supported (each option only accepts one value type):

• integer
  A number that can be written without a fractional or decimal component.

• boolean
  0 means off (or disabled).
  1 means on (or enabled).

• string
  An alphanumeric string of characters. See the option’s comments for acceptable values.

Options list

• target-usage (or tu)

  • Sets the trade-off between quality and speed, from 1 (best quality) to 7 (fastest speed).
  • Default: 2

• num-ref-frame (or ref)

  • Number of reference frames, from 1 to 16.
  • 0 means unspecified (set at runtime by the implementation).
  • Default: 0 (unspecified)

• gop-ref-dist

  • Distance between I or P reference frames, from 1 to 16.
  • -1 means automatic (4 in constant QP mode, 3 otherwise).
  • 0 means unspecified (set at runtime by the implementation).
  • 1 means B-frames will not be used.
  • Default: -1 (automatic)
  • Note: may be sanitized to a lower value in some cases to avoid hangs.

• gop-pic-size (or keyint)

  • Number of pictures within the current GOP (aka “keyframe interval”).
  • -1 means automatic (32 in constant QP mode, 1 second long otherwise).
  • 0 means unspecified (set at runtime by the implementation).
  • 1 means only I-frames will be used.
  • 2 means B-frames will not be used.
  • Default: -1 (automatic)

• cavlc

  • Use CAVLC instead of CABAC entropy coding. Reduces compression efficiency.
  • It may improve encoding performance slightly, especially on older hardware.
  • Note: you can also use cabac (same as cavlc with reversed meaning).
  • Default: 0 (CAVLC off, CABAC on)

• b-pyramid

  • Enables or disables “Pyramidal B-frames” which can improve compression efficiency.
  • It may be incompatible with some playback devices (such as the first generation AppleTV).
  • Note that this options modifies other parameters (gop-ref-dist, num-ref-frame, gop-pic-size).
  • -1 means automatic (on in constant QP mode, off otherwise).
  • 0 means off (disabled).
  • 1 means on (enabled).
  • Default: -1 (automatic)
  • Caveats: requires hardware support (4th gen. Intel Core processor or equivalent), and driver support for version 1.6 of the Media SDK API.

• mbbrc

  • Enables macroblock-level bitrate control that generally improves subjective visual quality.
  • It may have a negative impact on performance and objective visual quality metrics.
  • Default: 1 (on)
  • Note: not compatible with Constant QP or LookAhead rate control methods (ignored).
  • Caveats: requires hardware support (4th gen. Intel Core processor or equivalent), and driver support for version 1.6 of the Media SDK API.

• extbrc

  • Use extended bitrate control algorithms.
  • It generally improves objective visual quality metrics and subjective visual quality,
  • but can also lead to violation of HRD conformance and may significantly reduce performance.
  • Default: 0 (off)
  • Note: not compatible with Constant QP or LookAhead rate control methods (ignored).
  • Caveats: requires driver support for version 1.6 of the Media SDK API.

• trellis

  • Enables trellis quantization.
  • 0 means trellis is disabled.
  • 1 means trellis is enabled for I-frames only.
  • 2 means trellis is enabled for I and P-frames.
  • 3 means trellis is enabled for all frames (I, P and B).
  • Default: 0 (disabled)
  • Note: ignored if the target-usage is too low (usually, only works in combination with tu=1).
  • Caveats: requires hardware support (4th gen. Intel Core processor or equivalent), and driver support for version 1.7 of the Media SDK API.

• lookahead (or la)

  • Use the LookAhead (LA or LA_ICQ) bitrate control algorithm.
  • Default: 1 (on)
  • Caveats: requires hardware support (4th gen. Intel Core processor or equivalent), and driver support for version 1.7 (1.8 for LA_ICQ) of the Media SDK API.

• lookahead-depth (or la-depth)

  • If LookAhead bitrate control is enabled, number of frames that are analyzed before encoding, from 11 to 60.
  • Default: 40
  • Note: may be sanitized to a lower value in some cases to avoid hangs.
  • Caveats: requires hardware support (4th gen. Intel Core processor or equivalent), and driver support for version 1.7 of the Media SDK API.

• force-cqp

  • In Constant Quality mode, use Constant QP rate control, even if Intelligent Constant Quality is available.
  • Default: 0 (ICQ enabled if available)

• cqp-offset-i | cqp-offset-p | cqp-offset-b

  • In constant QP (CQP) bitrate control mode, specify offset from the global quality/QP value for I, P and B-frames.
  • Defaults are 0, 2 and 4, respectively.

• vbv-maxrate

  • Sets the maximum rate the VBV buffer should be assumed to refill at, in kilobits per second (Kbps).
  • Default: 0 (set at runtime by the implementation)
  • Note: not compatible with Constant QP, Intelligent Constant Quality or LookAhead rate control methods (ignored).

• vbv-bufsize

  • Sets the size of the VBV buffer in kilobits (Kb).
  • Default: 0 (set at runtime by the implementation)
  • Note: not compatible with Constant QP, Intelligent Constant Quality or LookAhead rate control methods (ignored).

• vbv-init

  • Sets how full the VBV Buffer must be before playback starts.
  • If it is less than 1, then the initial fill is: vbv-init * vbv-bufsize.
  • Otherwise it is interpreted as the initial fill in kilobits (Kb).
  • Default: 0 (set at runtime by the implementation)
  • Note: not compatible with Constant QP, Intelligent Constant Quality or LookAhead rate control methods (ignored).