--- Type: article Title: NVIDIA NVENC Project: HandBrake Project_URL: https://handbrake.fr/ Project_Version: 1.5.0 Language: English Language_Code: en Authors: [ Bradley Sepos (BradleyS), Scott (s55) ] Copyright: 2022 HandBrake Team License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License_Abbr: CC BY-SA 4.0 License_URL: https://handbrake.fr/docs/license.html --- NVIDIA NVENC ============ ## Supported Hardware and Configurations - NVIDIA GeForce GTX Pascal (1050+), GTX/RTX Turing (1650+, 2060+) or Ampere (3060+) series GPU or better - NVIDIA Graphics Driver 456.71 or later - Windows 10 - Experimental Linux support is available in HandBrake’s command line interface Please note, these are not hard limits. Hardware encoding via NVENC *might* work on older series GPUs and older operating systems, but this is not officially supported. ## Enabling support Support for the NVIDIA NVENC encoder is enabled in preferences on the video tab. If your system is not supported, the option will be disabled. ## Presets The following presets are available under the 'Hardware' category in the presets menu: - H.265 NVENC 2160P 4K - H.265 NVENC 1080p These are a good starting point for configuring HandBrake to use these encoders. ## Performance HandBrake supports the NVIDIA NVENC encoder but does not support the NVDEC decoder. The CPU will still be used for: - Video decoding - All video filters - Audio encoding - HandBrake's engine, A/V sync etc - Subtitles - Muxing These operations all happen in parallel as the job progresses. As such, it is normal to see high (or even 100%) CPU utilisation even when using NVENC. It is also common, particularly on lower-end or older hardware, for the CPU to be a bottleneck which will cause lower than expected performance. To minimize this effect, disable any filters that you do not require. ## Advanced options The NVIDIA NVENC 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. If using HandBrake’s graphical interface, you can set the options in the `Advanced Options` field on the `Video` tab in the following format: option1=value1:option2=value2 If using HandBrake’s command line interface, use the `--encopts` parameter as follows: --encopts="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 | Option | Type | H.264 | H.265 | Detail | |------------------|-------------|:-----:|:-----:|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | gpu | string | ✓ | ✓ | GPU selection. Values: `any` (default), `0` (first GPU), `1` (second GPU), etc. | | coder | string | ✓ | | Coder selection. Values: `auto` (default), `cabac`, `cavlc`. | | temporal-aq | boolean | ✓ | | Set to `1` to enable Temporal Adaptive Quality, `0` to disable (default). Note the hyphen for H.264. | | temporal_aq | boolean | | ✓ | Set to `1` to enable Temporal Adaptive Quality, `0` to disable (default). Note the underscore for H.265. *Requires RTX Turing 1660 or better.* | | spatial-aq | boolean | ✓ | | Set to `1` to enable Spatial Adaptive Quality, `0` to disable (default). Note the hyphen for H.264. | | spatial_aq | boolean | | ✓ | Set to `1` to enable Spatial Adaptive Quality, `0` to disable (default). Note the underscore for H.265. | | aq-strength | int | ✓ | ✓ | When Spatial AQ is enabled, the values scale is `1` (low) – `15` (aggressive). Default: `8`. | | nonref_p | boolean | ✓ | ✓ | Set to `1` to enable automatic insertion of non-reference P-frames, `0` to disable (default). | | strict_gop | boolean | ✓ | ✓ | Set to `1` to minimize GOP-to-GOP rate fluctuations, `0` to disable (default). | | weighted_pred | boolean | ✓ | ✓ | Set to `1` to enable weighted prediction, `0` to disable (default). | | rc-lookahead | int | ✓ | ✓ | Number of frames to look ahead for rate control. Default: `0`. | | b_adapt | boolean | ✓ | | When lookahead is enabled, set this to `1` to enable adaptive B-frame decision (default), `0` to disable. | | no-scenecut | boolean | ✓ | ✓ | When lookahead is enabled, set this to `1` to disable adaptive I-frame insertion at scene cuts, `0` to enable (default). |