Editing Advanced Video Coding (section)

=== Hardware <span class="anchor" id="HW-BASED"></span>===
{{See also|H.264/MPEG-4 AVC products and implementations}}
Because H.264 encoding and decoding requires significant computing power in specific types of arithmetic operations, software implementations that run on general-purpose CPUs are typically less power efficient. However, the latest{{when|date=January 2020}} quad-core general-purpose x86 CPUs have sufficient computation power to perform real-time SD and HD encoding. Compression efficiency depends on video algorithmic implementations, not on whether hardware or software implementation is used. Therefore, the difference between hardware and software based implementation is more on power-efficiency, flexibility and cost. To improve the power efficiency and reduce hardware form-factor, special-purpose hardware may be employed, either for the complete encoding or decoding process, or for acceleration assistance within a CPU-controlled environment.

CPU based solutions are known to be much more flexible, particularly when encoding must be done concurrently in multiple formats, multiple bit rates and resolutions ([[multi-screen video]]), and possibly with additional features on container format support, advanced integrated advertising features, etc. CPU based software solution generally makes it much easier to load balance multiple concurrent encoding sessions within the same CPU.

The 2nd generation [[Intel]] "[[Sandy Bridge]]" [[Intel Core|Core i3/i5/i7]] processors introduced at the January 2011 CES ([[Consumer Electronics Show]]) offer an on-chip hardware full HD H.264 encoder, known as [[Intel Quick Sync Video]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://software.intel.com/en-us/articles/quick-reference-guide-to-intel-integrated-graphics/ |title=Quick Reference Guide to generation Intel Core Processor Built-in Visuals |publisher=Intel Software Network |date=2010-10-01 |access-date=2011-01-19}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/architecture-and-technology/quick-sync-video/quick-sync-video-general.html |title=Intel Quick Sync Video|publisher=www.intel.com |date=2010-10-01 |access-date=2011-01-19}}</ref>

A hardware H.264 encoder can be an [[Application-specific integrated circuit|ASIC]] or an [[Field-programmable gate array|FPGA]].

ASIC encoders with H.264 encoder functionality are available from many different semiconductor companies, but the core design used in the ASIC is typically licensed from one of a few companies such as [[Chips&Media]], Allegro DVT, [[On2]] (formerly Hantro, acquired by Google), [[Imagination Technologies]], NGCodec. Some companies have both FPGA and ASIC product offerings.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.design-reuse.com/sip/?q=H.264+encoder |title=Design-reuse.com |publisher=Design-reuse.com |date=1990-01-01 |access-date=2010-05-17}}</ref>

Texas Instruments manufactures a line of ARM + DSP cores that perform DSP H.264 BP encoding 1080p at 30&nbsp;fps.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://processors.wiki.ti.com/index.php/Category:DM6467 |title=Category:DM6467 - Texas Instruments Embedded Processors Wiki |publisher=Processors.wiki.ti.com |date=2011-07-12 |access-date=2011-07-30 |archive-date=July 17, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717053351/http://processors.wiki.ti.com/index.php/Category:DM6467 |url-status=dead }}</ref> This permits flexibility with respect to codecs (which are implemented as highly optimized DSP code) while being more efficient than software on a generic CPU.