11 ms·

I assume the videos available on iTunes are encoded in an H.264 profile that can be decoded entirely on the GPU, so the CPU would indeed be mostly idling during

I assume the videos available on iTunes are encoded in an H.264 profile that can be decoded entirely on the GPU, so the CPU would indeed be mostly idling during playback.

izacus 10y ago
Yep, you'll also get H.264 served on Safari, while Chrome will get VP9 which isn't hardware decoded and will cause the fans to whirr. There's a h264ify chrome extension that forces YouTube to serve H.264 to Chrome on OS X so it can be hardware decoded. It significantly reduces battery drain.
- gchokov 10y ago
  Cool tip! Thank you.
- Relys 10y ago
  Why is there no official support? Don't you already pay for the license for the hardware decoder?
  - wolf550e 10y ago
    You get accelerated H264 in Chrome which you paid for (through Apple), but YouTube prefer to serve vp9 if you can decode it, to save their own licensing fees. MS Edge only reports being able to decode vp9 if you have hardware acceleration for it, for battery life.
    - astrodust 10y ago
      The "not invented here" principle strikes again.
    - magicalist 10y ago
      > but YouTube prefer to serve vp9 if you can decode it, to save their own licensing fees There are no licensing fees for distributing free/ad-supported h264.
      - wolf550e 10y ago
        Ah. Well, YouTube has a paid service and I guess they're fighting the codec monopoly.
    - izacus 10y ago
      Not so much licensing fees as bandwidth - VP9 as a new generation codec (H.265 being a rough equivalent) uses less of Googles bandwidth which probably saves Google a lot of money for a "minor" cost of users power draw :)
  - izacus 10y ago
    Most Apple devices don't have VP9 capable hardware decoders. Even those that could do it (new Intels) do not have such capability enabled or exposed in OS X.
- yohui 10y ago
  Intel Skylake, included in the new MacBook, supports "partial" hardware acceleration for VP9: http://www.anandtech.com/show/9483/intel-skylake-review-6700k-6600k-ddr4-ddr3-ipc-6th-generation/4 http://www.anandtech.com/show/9483/intel-skylake-review-6700... Intel's next generation, Kaby Lake, should have full support. Most new mobile SoCs already support VP9, IIRC.
- ApolloRising 10y ago
  Thanks for the info about the extension! Trying this out now. Do you know if there is something similar for Netflix?

I assume the videos available on iTunes are encoded in an H.264 profile that can be decoded entirely on the GPU, so the CPU would indeed be mostly idling during playback.

izacus 10y ago

Yep, you'll also get H.264 served on Safari, while Chrome will get VP9 which isn't hardware decoded and will cause the fans to whirr. There's a h264ify chrome extension that forces YouTube to serve H.264 to Chrome on OS X so it can be hardware decoded. It significantly reduces battery drain.

gchokov 10y ago
Cool tip! Thank you.
Relys 10y ago
Why is there no official support? Don't you already pay for the license for the hardware decoder?
- wolf550e 10y ago
  You get accelerated H264 in Chrome which you paid for (through Apple), but YouTube prefer to serve vp9 if you can decode it, to save their own licensing fees. MS Edge only reports being able to decode vp9 if you have hardware acceleration for it, for battery life.
  - astrodust 10y ago
    The "not invented here" principle strikes again.
  - magicalist 10y ago
    > but YouTube prefer to serve vp9 if you can decode it, to save their own licensing fees There are no licensing fees for distributing free/ad-supported h264.
    - wolf550e 10y ago
      Ah. Well, YouTube has a paid service and I guess they're fighting the codec monopoly.
  - izacus 10y ago
    Not so much licensing fees as bandwidth - VP9 as a new generation codec (H.265 being a rough equivalent) uses less of Googles bandwidth which probably saves Google a lot of money for a "minor" cost of users power draw :)
- izacus 10y ago
  Most Apple devices don't have VP9 capable hardware decoders. Even those that could do it (new Intels) do not have such capability enabled or exposed in OS X.
yohui 10y ago
Intel Skylake, included in the new MacBook, supports "partial" hardware acceleration for VP9: http://www.anandtech.com/show/9483/intel-skylake-review-6700k-6600k-ddr4-ddr3-ipc-6th-generation/4 http://www.anandtech.com/show/9483/intel-skylake-review-6700... Intel's next generation, Kaby Lake, should have full support. Most new mobile SoCs already support VP9, IIRC.
ApolloRising 10y ago
Thanks for the info about the extension! Trying this out now. Do you know if there is something similar for Netflix?