VP8 "Constrained Quality" (CQ) Encoding Explained
In the Bali release post, we mentioned a that we've added a new encoding mode called "constrained quality" (CQ) to the VP8 Codec SDK (libvpx).
The idea for CQ mode arose as we began testing approaches for encoding WebM versions, in multiple resolutions, of every file in the YouTube corpus. Approaching video encoding on such an immense scale sets one to thinking very carefully about how every bit is used; wasting even small amounts of data across many millions of files adds up very quickly, translating to higher storage and bandwidth costs.
After trying a few approaches it became apparent that we needed not a better way to allocate bits within each WebM file, but rather a better way to distribute them across all the WebM files. The result was CQ mode.
I presented the slides below at the February WebM Summit to explain CQ in general terms and summarize its benefits to content publishers when applied across large collections of WebM files. I hope you find it informative and welcome your feedback in the comments.
The idea for CQ mode arose as we began testing approaches for encoding WebM versions, in multiple resolutions, of every file in the YouTube corpus. Approaching video encoding on such an immense scale sets one to thinking very carefully about how every bit is used; wasting even small amounts of data across many millions of files adds up very quickly, translating to higher storage and bandwidth costs.
After trying a few approaches it became apparent that we needed not a better way to allocate bits within each WebM file, but rather a better way to distribute them across all the WebM files. The result was CQ mode.
I presented the slides below at the February WebM Summit to explain CQ in general terms and summarize its benefits to content publishers when applied across large collections of WebM files. I hope you find it informative and welcome your feedback in the comments.
Paul Wilkins is a Senior Software Engineer for the WebM Project.
Polite, on-topic comments are welcomed on the webm-discuss mailing list. Please link to this post when commenting.
