I've been having bad performance with ffmpeg that I don't see with ffplay and VLC. I find this strange since ffplay uses ffmpeg under the hood.
Simply if I stream an HEVC/h265 stream with ffmpeg and pipe it to ffplay, it would stutter and perform worse than if it played the stream directly with ffplay.
What I'm trying to say is that I expect this command ffplay rtsp://stream-ip to perform the same as ffmpeg -i rtsp://stream-ip -f matroska - | ffplay - but it doesn't, ffplay plays noticeably smoother. Also, if I try to stream it with VLC, it is as smooth as ffplay.
here is the log for ffplay:
$ ffplay rtsp://admin:1234@192.168.1.47:554/StdCh1
ffplay version n4.4 Copyright (c) 2003-2021 the FFmpeg developers
built with gcc 11.1.0 (GCC)
configuration: --prefix=/usr --disable-debug --disable-static --disable-stripping --enable-amf --enable-avisynth --enable-cuda-llvm --enable-lto --enable-fontconfig --enable-gmp --enable-gnutls --enable-gpl --enable-ladspa --enable-libaom --enable-libass --enable-libbluray --enable-libdav1d --enable-libdrm --enable-libfreetype --enable-libfribidi --enable-libgsm --enable-libiec61883 --enable-libjack --enable-libmfx --enable-libmodplug --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libopencore_amrnb --enable-libopencore_amrwb --enable-libopenjpeg --enable-libopus --enable-libpulse --enable-librav1e --enable-librsvg --enable-libsoxr --enable-libspeex --enable-libsrt --enable-libssh --enable-libsvtav1 --enable-libtheora --enable-libv4l2 --enable-libvidstab --enable-libvmaf --enable-libvorbis --enable-libvpx --enable-libwebp --enable-libx264 --enable-libx265 --enable-libxcb --enable-libxml2 --enable-libxvid --enable-libzimg --enable-nvdec --enable-nvenc --enable-shared --enable-version3
libavutil 56. 70.100 / 56. 70.100
libavcodec 58.134.100 / 58.134.100
libavformat 58. 76.100 / 58. 76.100
libavdevice 58. 13.100 / 58. 13.100
libavfilter 7.110.100 / 7.110.100
libswscale 5. 9.100 / 5. 9.100
libswresample 3. 9.100 / 3. 9.100
libpostproc 55. 9.100 / 55. 9.100
Input #0, rtsp, from 'rtsp://admin:1234@192.168.1.47:554/StdCh1':
Metadata:
title : KNS-224C
comment : http80 rtsp554 a0 ba0 pt0 rc2 rv2 ua2 tk3 vs3 vd3 pc0 sc0 af0
Duration: N/A, start: 0.000000, bitrate: N/A
Stream #0:0: Video: hevc (Main), yuvj420p(pc, bt709), 1920x1080, 30.30 tbr, 90k tbn, 90k tbc
Stream #0:1: Data: none
and here is the log for ffmpeg piped into ffplay:
$ ffmpeg -i rtsp://admin:1234@192.168.1.47:554/StdCh1 -f matroska - | ffplay -
ffplay version n4.4ffmpeg version n4.4 Copyright (c) 2003-2021 the FFmpeg developers Copyright (c) 2000-2021 the FFmpeg developers
built with gcc 11.1.0 (GCC)
built with gcc 11.1.0 (GCC)
configuration: --prefix=/usr --disable-debug --disable-static --disable-stripping --enable-amf --enable-avisynth --enable-cuda-llvm --enable-lto --enable-fontconfig --enable-gmp --enable-gnutls --enable-gpl --enable-ladspa --enable-libaom --enable-libass --enable-libbluray --enable-libdav1d --enable-libdrm --enable-libfreetype --enable-libfribidi --enable-libgsm --enable-libiec61883 --enable-libjack --enable-libmfx --enable-libmodplug --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libopencore_amrnb --enable-libopencore_amrwb --enable-libopenjpeg --enable-libopus --enable-libpulse --enable-librav1e --enable-librsvg --enable-libsoxr --enable-libspeex --enable-libsrt --enable-libssh --enable-libsvtav1 --enable-libtheora --enable-libv4l2 --enable-libvidstab --enable-libvmaf --enable-libvorbis --enable-libvpx --enable-libwebp --enable-libx264 --enable-libx265 --enable-libxcb --enable-libxml2 --enable-libxvid --enable-libzimg --enable-nvdec --enable-nvenc --enable-shared --enable-version3
configuration: --prefix=/usr --disable-debug --disable-static --disable-stripping --enable-amf --enable-avisynth --enable-cuda-llvm --enable-lto --enable-fontconfig --enable-gmp --enable-gnutls --enable-gpl --enable-ladspa --enable-libaom --enable-libass --enable-libbluray --enable-libdav1d --enable-libdrm --enable-libfreetype --enable-libfribidi --enable-libgsm --enable-libiec61883 --enable-libjack --enable-libmfx --enable-libmodplug --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libopencore_amrnb --enable-libopencore_amrwb --enable-libopenjpeg --enable-libopus --enable-libpulse --enable-librav1e --enable-librsvg --enable-libsoxr --enable-libspeex --enable-libsrt --enable-libssh --enable-libsvtav1 --enable-libtheora --enable-libv4l2 --enable-libvidstab --enable-libvmaf --enable-libvorbis --enable-libvpx --enable-libwebp --enable-libx264 --enable-libx265 --enable-libxcb --enable-libxml2 --enable-libxvid --enable-libzimg --enable-nvdec --enable-nvenc --enable-shared --enable-version3
libavutil 56. 70.100 / 56. 70.100
libavcodec 58.134.100 / 58.134.100
libavutil 56. 70.100 / 56. 70.100
libavformat 58. 76.100 / 58. 76.100
libavcodec 58.134.100 / 58.134.100
libavdevice 58. 13.100 / 58. 13.100
libavformat 58. 76.100 / 58. 76.100
libavfilter 7.110.100 / 7.110.100
libavdevice 58. 13.100 / 58. 13.100
libswscale 5. 9.100 / 5. 9.100
libavfilter 7.110.100 / 7.110.100
libswresample 3. 9.100 / 3. 9.100
libswscale 5. 9.100 / 5. 9.100
libpostproc 55. 9.100 / 55. 9.100
libswresample 3. 9.100 / 3. 9.100
libpostproc 55. 9.100 / 55. 9.100
Input #0, rtsp, from 'rtsp://admin:1234@192.168.1.47:554/StdCh1':
Metadata:
title : KNS-224C
comment : http80 rtsp554 a0 ba0 pt0 rc2 rv2 ua2 tk3 vs3 vd3 pc0 sc0 af0
Duration: N/A, start: 0.000000, bitrate: N/A
Stream #0:0: Video: hevc (Main), yuvj420p(pc, bt709), 1920x1080, 30.30 tbr, 90k tbn, 90k tbc
Stream #0:1: Data: none
Stream mapping:
Stream #0:0 -> #0:0 (hevc (native) -> h264 (libx264))
Press [q] to stop, [?] for help
[hevc @ 0x561e88468480] Could not find ref with POC 0
[libx264 @ 0x561e8845a480] using cpu capabilities: MMX2 SSE2Fast SSSE3 SSE4.2 AVX FMA3 BMI2 AVX2
[libx264 @ 0x561e8845a480] profile High, level 4.2, 4:2:0, 8-bit0
[libx264 @ 0x561e8845a480] 264 - core 161 r3039 544c61f - H.264/MPEG-4 AVC codec - Copyleft 2003-2021 - http://www.videolan.org/x264.html - options: cabac=1 ref=3 deblock=1:0:0 analyse=0x3:0x113 me=hex subme=7 psy=1 psy_rd=1.00:0.00 mixed_ref=1 me_range=16 chroma_me=1 trellis=1 8x8dct=1 cqm=0 deadzone=21,11 fast_pskip=1 chroma_qp_offset=-2 threads=12 lookahead_threads=2 sliced_threads=0 nr=0 decimate=1 interlaced=0 bluray_compat=0 constrained_intra=0 bframes=3 b_pyramid=2 b_adapt=1 b_bias=0 direct=1 weightb=1 open_gop=0 weightp=2 keyint=250 keyint_min=25 scenecut=40 intra_refresh=0 rc_lookahead=40 rc=crf mbtree=1 crf=23.0 qcomp=0.60 qpmin=0 qpmax=69 qpstep=4 ip_ratio=1.40 aq=1:1.00
Output #0, matroska, to 'pipe:':
Metadata:
title : KNS-224C
comment : http80 rtsp554 a0 ba0 pt0 rc2 rv2 ua2 tk3 vs3 vd3 pc0 sc0 af0
encoder : Lavf58.76.100
Stream #0:0: Video: h264 (H264 / 0x34363248), yuvj420p(pc, bt709, progressive), 1920x1080, q=2-31, 30.30 fps, 1k tbn
Metadata:
encoder : Lavc58.134.100 libx264
Side data:
cpb: bitrate max/min/avg: 0/0/0 buffer size: 0 vbv_delay: N/A
Input #0, matroska,webm, from 'pipe:': vq= 0KB sq= 0B f=0/0 /A speed= 0x
Metadata:
title : KNS-224C
COMMENT : http80 rtsp554 a0 ba0 pt0 rc2 rv2 ua2 tk3 vs3 vd3 pc0 sc0 af0
ENCODER : Lavf58.76.100
Duration: N/A, start: 0.000000, bitrate: N/A
Stream #0:0: Video: h264 (High), yuvj420p(pc, bt709, progressive), 1920x1080, 30.30 fps, 30.30 tbr, 1k tbn, 60.61 tbc (default)
Metadata:
ENCODER : Lavc58.134.100 libx264
I'm wondering why is this happening? shouldn't hardware acceleration be applied in both cases?
Beyond this I'm trying to create a video mosaic, the performance problem becomes very clear when displaying the streams together in a command like this:
$ ffmpeg -i rtsp://stream1 \
-i rtsp://stream2 \
-i rtsp://stream3 \
-filter_complex "[0:v] scale=960x540 [a0];
[1:v] scale=960x540 [a1];
[2:v] scale=960x540 [a2];
[a0][a1][a2] xstack=inputs=3:layout=0_0|0_h0|w0_0[out]" \
-map "[out]" -f matroska - | ffplay -
This performs much worse than trying the same mosaic in VLC. Is there something I'm doing wrong?
I want to note that it performs perfectly fine if I independently streamed all sources with ffplay at the same time.
