AV1 encoding test

[donawalt]

I haven't seen any benchmarks of the Pro Max M3 encoding in AV1 format, since hardware encoding is new on the M3, so I thought I would try it since Handbrake 1.7 supports AV1 encoding now.

I took one of my own movies in M4V format, it runs 1:18:44 in length. I ran the 3 encoding choices for AV1 - SVT and (10 bit) SVT, and ran them on 3 different MacBook Pro's:

M1 Max Pro, 64GB
M2 Max Pro, 96 GB
M3 Max Pro, 128 GB

All 3 are their respective max configs of E and P cores.

I took all the default settings as they came in Handbrake.

Here are the results:

SVT (10 bit) SVT

M1 Max Pro, 64GB 21:18 22:34

M2 Max Pro, 96GB 17:35 21:13

M3 Max Pro, 128GB 12:50 13:46

 

[MacDevil7334]

I think the M3 generation only includes hardware accelerated AV1 decoding. But those are still some nice performance gains just from the new CPU/GPU cores.

 

[chrfr]

I haven't seen any benchmarks of the Pro Max M3 encoding in AV1 format, since hardware encoding is new on the M3

As the post above indicates, M3 chips get hardware AV1 decoding, not encoding.

Apple unveils M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max, the most advanced chips for a personal computer

M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max feature groundbreaking technologies that deliver dramatically increased performance and unleash new capabilities for Mac.

www.apple.com

 

[donawalt]

Thanks folks - I have brain like a sieve, I figured I would mess something up lol - but hopefully it's still a little bit of useful info!

 

[lJoSquaredl]

What is AV1 anyways, I get cleaner live streams but does it do other stuff? Will it possibly get rid of that slight robotic audio when speeding up videos in Safari compared to Chrome/Brave/etc?

 

[MacDevil7334]

What is AV1 anyways, I get cleaner live streams but does it do other stuff? Will it possibly get rid of that slight robotic audio when speeding up videos in Safari compared to Chrome/Brave/etc?

AV1 is the codec used by videos on services like Netflix and YouTube. All previous Macs could decode AV1 using the main CPU cores. What M3 does is add dedicated hardware on the chip for decoding AV1. That hardware is more efficient at decoding AV1 streams than doing it in software using the main CPU cores. The result is that you should get less heat and better battery life when watching videos on services like Netflix. I don’t know if if the dedicated hardware results in better video or audio quality. I don’t think it does but I am not an expert.

 

[lJoSquaredl]

AV1 is the codec used by videos on services like Netflix and YouTube. All previous Macs could decode AV1 using the main CPU cores. What M3 does is add dedicated hardware on the chip for decoding AV1. That hardware is more efficient at decoding AV1 streams than doing it in software using the main CPU cores. The result is that you should get less heat and better battery life when watching videos on services like Netflix. I don’t know if if the dedicated hardware results in better video or audio quality. I don’t think it does but I am not an expert.

Watched a video earlier and at least for live streaming it does pump out cleaner video at a lower bitrate. I assume platforms like Netflix would rather use that bitrate headroom for something else or charge you for the better quality lol but regardless it does seem to be one of the efficiencies with M3 for battery. Battery tests involving just video playback for hours last a lil longer on the M3 models, not a huge upgrade over older models same with the Bluetooth/Wifi of the M2 models...but overtime it'll start to add up I guess? (even the raytracing doesn't seem to do much for most games sadly)

 

[JimmyG]

I haven't seen any benchmarks of the Pro Max M3 encoding in AV1 format, since hardware encoding is new on the M3, so I thought I would try it since Handbrake 1.7 supports AV1 encoding now.

I took one of my own movies in M4V format, it runs 1:18:44 in length. I ran the 3 encoding choices for AV1 - SVT and (10 bit) SVT, and ran them on 3 different MacBook Pro's:

M1 Max Pro, 64GB
M2 Max Pro, 96 GB
M3 Max Pro, 128 GB

All 3 are their respective max configs of E and P cores.

I took all the default settings as they came in Handbrake.

Here are the results:

SVT (10 bit) SVT

M1 Max Pro, 64GB 21:18 22:34

M2 Max Pro, 96GB 17:35 21:13

M3 Max Pro, 128GB 12:50 13:46

Thanks so much for your MacOS/AV1 sleuthing and for performing and sharing your results here, it's greatly appreciated! I've been concerned that there might not be any AV1 support (hardware, OS, or software) for us Mac users at the 6-year mark since Apple joined the AOMedia camp back in January 2018...

Apple joins alliance to shrink your online videos - CNET

Apple joins an alliance to shrink your online videos

It's the last of tech's biggest companies to endorse compression tech designed to go easy on your data plan.

www.cnet.com

_____________

As of this writing Apple has yet to provide AV1 encode or decode to FCP 10.7...

Media formats supported in Final Cut Pro for Mac - Apple Support

Media formats supported in Final Cut Pro for Mac

In Final Cut Pro for Mac, you can import and work with a variety of video, audio, and still-image formats.

support.apple.com

Export formats supported in Final Cut Pro for Mac - Apple Support

Export formats supported in Final Cut Pro for Mac

In Final Cut Pro for Mac, export to a number of formats natively using the Master File share destination. Export to additional formats using Compressor settings.

support.apple.com

And DaVinci Resolve 18.5 only provides support of AV1 decode on Mac...

DaVinci Resolve 18.5 Supported Formats and Codecs - DaVinci_Resolve_18_Supported_Codec_List.pdf

https://documents.blackmagicdesign.com/SupportNotes/DaVinci_Resolve_18_Supported_Codec_List.pdf?_v=1658361163000

As yet another embarrassment and "stick-in-the-eye" for Tim and company, full AV1 encode and decode are available for both Windows 10 and Rocky Linux 8.6 (CUDA) Resolve users!
_____________

Now, we'll all have to figure out how to export our projects with AV1 using some sort of roundtrip through Handbrake! Really, Tim?!

Oofah. :\

 

[Admiral]

Here are the results:

SVT (10 bit) SVT

M1 Max Pro, 64GB 21:18 22:34

M2 Max Pro, 96GB 17:35 21:13

M3 Max Pro, 128GB 12:50 13:46

I wouldn't expect that RAM makes all that much difference, at least not as between 64GB and 128GB, so this seems like a pretty good CPU-to-CPU comparison. The improvement between M1 Max and M3 Max for this task is nothing short of breathtaking — 70%. I'll guess that there's at least a decent possibility M4 would be a "tweak" of M3 as M2 was to M1, but for those of us with encoding needs on M1, at least, and certainly for anyone still on Intel, the impetus to upgrade is strong.

M3 finally has hardware AV1 decoding, but encoding must be in software. M4 will almost certainly get hardware AV1 encoding, and is guaranteed to get Thunderbolt 5. I'm very impressed with software AV1 encoding on M1 Pro, so the future of this is really bright.