Offloading video coding processes to hardware for better density-quality tradeoffs

An apparatus for video encoding, comprising:

• a memory to store instructions;
• and
• one or more processors to execute the instructions, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
• receiving, by an encode controller, a specified performance level for an input video, the specified performance level comprising a target video quality level and a target operation latency;
• executing an optimization algorithm by determining an assignment of a plurality of encode tasks to be performed by a software encoder, a hardware encoder, or a hybrid combination of the software encoder and the hardware encoder, based on the specified performance level and functional capability data, wherein the functional capability data characterize a performance of the plurality of encode tasks on the software encoder and a performance of the plurality of encode tasks on the hardware encoder;
• and
• generating an output bitstream by performing the plurality of encode tasks in accordance with the assignment.

One or more non-transitory computer readable media storing instructions for video encoding, that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

• receiving, by an encode controller, a specified performance level for an input video, the specified performance level comprising a target video quality level and a target operation latency;
• executing an optimization algorithm by determining an assignment of a plurality of encode tasks to be performed by a software encoder, a hardware encoder, or a hybrid combination of the software encoder and the hardware encoder, based on the specified performance level and functional capability data, wherein the functional capability data characterize a performance of the plurality of encode tasks on the software encoder and a performance of the plurality of encode tasks on the hardware encoder;
• and
• generating an output bitstream by performing the plurality of encode tasks in accordance with the assignment.