NVIDIA GPUs are equipped with specialized encoders and decoders for video processing, known as NVENC and NVDEC respectively. The Video Codec SDK allows developers to utilize the power of GPU-accelerated video processing, including AV1 encoding and 8k 60fps video on the Ada architecture.
Some of the new features available in the latest version include Explicit Split Frame encoding which enables users to toggle split frame encoding or use default automatic mode, NVENC Low Level API for H.264, HEVC and AV1 encoders which includes Iterative Encoding allowing the same frame to be encoded multiple times with different QP values without advancing encoder state, ReCon providing access to NVENC reconstructed frames, and NVENC Low Level Stats enabling encoded frame output stats at row and block level. Additionally, External lookahead is now available through an API that can invoke lookahead explicitly while CABR (Content Adaptive Bit Rate) acceleration using NVENC Low Level API has also been introduced.