nvdec_tutorial.py

"""
Accelerated video decoding with NVDEC
=====================================

.. _nvdec_tutorial:

**Author**: `Moto Hira <moto@meta.com>`__

This tutorial shows how to use NVIDIA’s hardware video decoder (NVDEC)
with TorchAudio, and how it improves the performance of video decoding.
"""

######################################################################
#
# .. note::
#
#    This tutorial requires FFmpeg libraries compiled with HW
#    acceleration enabled.
#
#    Please refer to
#    :ref:`Enabling GPU video decoder/encoder <enabling_hw_decoder>`
#    for how to build FFmpeg with HW acceleration.
#

import torch
import torchaudio

print(torch.__version__)
print(torchaudio.__version__)

######################################################################
#
import os
import time

import matplotlib
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
from torchaudio.io import StreamReader

matplotlib.rcParams["image.interpolation"] = "none"

######################################################################
#
# Check the prerequisites
# -----------------------
#
# First, we check that TorchAudio correctly detects FFmpeg libraries
# that support HW decoder/encoder.
#

from torchaudio.utils import ffmpeg_utils

######################################################################
#

print("FFmpeg Library versions:")
for k, ver in ffmpeg_utils.get_versions().items():
    print(f"  {k}:\t{'.'.join(str(v) for v in ver)}")

######################################################################
#

print("Available NVDEC Decoders:")
for k in ffmpeg_utils.get_video_decoders().keys():
    if "cuvid" in k:
        print(f" - {k}")

######################################################################
#

print("Avaialbe GPU:")
print(torch.cuda.get_device_properties(0))

######################################################################
#
# We will use the following video which has the following properties;
#
# - Codec: H.264
# - Resolution: 960x540
# - FPS: 29.97
# - Pixel format: YUV420P
#
# .. raw:: html
#
#    <video style="max-width: 100%" controls>
#      <source src="https://download.pytorch.org/torchaudio/tutorial-assets/stream-api/NASAs_Most_Scientifically_Complex_Space_Observatory_Requires_Precision-MP4_small.mp4" type="video/mp4">
#    </video>

######################################################################
#

src = torchaudio.utils.download_asset(
    "tutorial-assets/stream-api/NASAs_Most_Scientifically_Complex_Space_Observatory_Requires_Precision-MP4_small.mp4"
)

######################################################################
# Decoding videos with NVDEC
# --------------------------
#
# To use HW video decoder, you need to specify the HW decoder when
# defining the output video stream by passing ``decoder`` option to
# :py:meth:`~torchaudio.io.StreamReader.add_video_stream` method.
#

s = StreamReader(src)
s.add_video_stream(5, decoder="h264_cuvid")
s.fill_buffer()
(video,) = s.pop_chunks()

######################################################################
#
# The video frames are decoded and returned as tensor of NCHW format.

print(video.shape, video.dtype)

######################################################################
#
# By default, the decoded frames are sent back to CPU memory, and
# CPU tensors are created.

print(video.device)

######################################################################
#
# By specifying ``hw_accel`` option, you can convert the decoded frames
# to CUDA tensor.
# ``hw_accel`` option takes string values and pass it
# to :py:class:`torch.device`.
#
# .. note::
#
#    Currently, ``hw_accel`` option and
#    :py:meth:`~torchaudio.io.StreamReader.add_basic_video_stream`
#    are not compatible. ``add_basic_video_stream`` adds post-decoding
#    process, which is designed for frames in CPU memory.
#    Please use :py:meth:`~torchaudio.io.StreamReader.add_video_stream`.
#

s = StreamReader(src)
s.add_video_stream(5, decoder="h264_cuvid", hw_accel="cuda:0")
s.fill_buffer()
(video,) = s.pop_chunks()

print(video.shape, video.dtype, video.device)


######################################################################
# .. note::
#
#    When there are multiple of GPUs available, ``StreamReader`` by
#    default uses the first GPU. You can change this by providing
#    ``"gpu"`` option.
#
# .. code::
#
#    # Video data is sent to CUDA device 0, decoded and
#    # converted on the same device.
#    s.add_video_stream(
#        ...,
#        decoder="h264_cuvid",
#        decoder_option={"gpu": "0"},
#        hw_accel="cuda:0",
#    )
#
# .. note::
#
#    ``"gpu"`` option and ``hw_accel`` option can be specified
#    independently. If they do not match, decoded frames are
#    transfered to the device specified by ``hw_accell``
#    automatically.
#
# .. code::
#
#    # Video data is sent to CUDA device 0, and decoded there.
#    # Then it is transfered to CUDA device 1, and converted to
#    # CUDA tensor.
#    s.add_video_stream(
#        ...,
#        decoder="h264_cuvid",
#        decoder_option={"gpu": "0"},
#        hw_accel="cuda:1",
#    )

######################################################################
# Visualization
# -------------
#
# Let's look at the frames decoded by HW decoder and compare them
# against equivalent results from software decoders.
#
# The following function seeks into the given timestamp and decode one
# frame with the specificed decoder.


def test_decode(decoder: str, seek: float):
    s = StreamReader(src)
    s.seek(seek)
    s.add_video_stream(1, decoder=decoder)
    s.fill_buffer()
    (video,) = s.pop_chunks()
    return video[0]


######################################################################
#

timestamps = [12, 19, 45, 131, 180]

cpu_frames = [test_decode(decoder="h264", seek=ts) for ts in timestamps]
cuda_frames = [test_decode(decoder="h264_cuvid", seek=ts) for ts in timestamps]

######################################################################
#
# .. note::
#
#    Currently, HW decoder does not support colorspace conversion.
#    Decoded frames are YUV format.
#    The following function performs YUV to RGB covnersion
#    (and axis shuffling for plotting).


def yuv_to_rgb(frames):
    frames = frames.cpu().to(torch.float)
    y = frames[..., 0, :, :]
    u = frames[..., 1, :, :]
    v = frames[..., 2, :, :]

    y /= 255
    u = u / 255 - 0.5
    v = v / 255 - 0.5

    r = y + 1.14 * v
    g = y + -0.396 * u - 0.581 * v
    b = y + 2.029 * u

    rgb = torch.stack([r, g, b], -1)
    rgb = (rgb * 255).clamp(0, 255).to(torch.uint8)
    return rgb.numpy()


######################################################################
#
# Now we visualize the resutls.
#


def plot():
    n_rows = len(timestamps)
    fig, axes = plt.subplots(n_rows, 2, figsize=[12.8, 16.0])
    for i in range(n_rows):
        axes[i][0].imshow(yuv_to_rgb(cpu_frames[i]))
        axes[i][1].imshow(yuv_to_rgb(cuda_frames[i]))

    axes[0][0].set_title("Software decoder")
    axes[0][1].set_title("HW decoder")
    plt.setp(axes, xticks=[], yticks=[])
    plt.tight_layout()


plot()

######################################################################
#
# They are indistinguishable to the eyes of the author.
# Feel free to let us know if you spot something. :)
#


######################################################################
# HW resizing and cropping
# ------------------------
#
# You can use ``decoder_option`` argument to provide decoder-specific
# options.
#
# The following options are often relevant in preprocessing.
#
# - ``resize``: Resize the frame into ``(width)x(height)``.
# - ``crop``: Crop the frame ``(top)x(bottom)x(left)x(right)``.
#   Note that the specified values are the amount of rows/columns removed.
#   The final image size is ``(width - left - right)x(height - top -bottom)``.
#   If ``crop`` and ``resize`` options are used together,
#   ``crop`` is performed first.
#
# For other available options, please run
# ``ffmpeg -h decoder=h264_cuvid``.
#


def test_options(option):
    s = StreamReader(src)
    s.seek(87)
    s.add_video_stream(1, decoder="h264_cuvid", hw_accel="cuda:0", decoder_option=option)
    s.fill_buffer()
    (video,) = s.pop_chunks()
    print(f"Option: {option}:\t{video.shape}")
    return video[0]


######################################################################
#

original = test_options(option=None)
resized = test_options(option={"resize": "480x270"})
cropped = test_options(option={"crop": "135x135x240x240"})
cropped_and_resized = test_options(option={"crop": "135x135x240x240", "resize": "640x360"})


######################################################################
#


def plot():
    fig, axes = plt.subplots(2, 2, figsize=[12.8, 9.6])
    axes[0][0].imshow(yuv_to_rgb(original))
    axes[0][1].imshow(yuv_to_rgb(resized))
    axes[1][0].imshow(yuv_to_rgb(cropped))
    axes[1][1].imshow(yuv_to_rgb(cropped_and_resized))

    axes[0][0].set_title("Original")
    axes[0][1].set_title("Resized")
    axes[1][0].set_title("Cropped")
    axes[1][1].set_title("Cropped and resized")
    plt.tight_layout()
    return fig


plot()

######################################################################
# Comparing resizing methods
# --------------------------
#
# Unlike software scaling, NVDEC does not provide an option to choose
# the scaling algorithm.
# In ML applicatoins, it is often necessary to construct a
# preprocessing pipeline with a similar numerical property.
# So here we compare the result of hardware resizing with software
# resizing of different algorithms.
#
# We will use the following video, which contains the test pattern
# generated using the following command.
#
# .. code::
#
#    ffmpeg -y -f lavfi -t 12.05 -i mptestsrc -movflags +faststart mptestsrc.mp4
#
# .. raw:: html
#
#    <video style="max-width: 100%" controls>
#      <source src="https://download.pytorch.org/torchaudio/tutorial-assets/mptestsrc.mp4" type="video/mp4">
#    </video>


######################################################################
#

test_src = torchaudio.utils.download_asset("tutorial-assets/mptestsrc.mp4")


######################################################################
# The following function decodes video and
# apply the specified scaling algorithm.
#


def decode_resize_ffmpeg(mode, height, width, seek):
    filter_desc = None if mode is None else f"scale={width}:{height}:sws_flags={mode}"
    s = StreamReader(test_src)
    s.add_video_stream(1, filter_desc=filter_desc)
    s.seek(seek)
    s.fill_buffer()
    (chunk,) = s.pop_chunks()
    return chunk


######################################################################
# The following function uses HW decoder to decode video and resize.
#


def decode_resize_cuvid(height, width, seek):
    s = StreamReader(test_src)
    s.add_video_stream(1, decoder="h264_cuvid", decoder_option={"resize": f"{width}x{height}"}, hw_accel="cuda:0")
    s.seek(seek)
    s.fill_buffer()
    (chunk,) = s.pop_chunks()
    return chunk.cpu()


######################################################################
# Now we execute them and visualize the resulting frames.

params = {"height": 224, "width": 224, "seek": 3}

frames = [
    decode_resize_ffmpeg(None, **params),
    decode_resize_ffmpeg("neighbor", **params),
    decode_resize_ffmpeg("bilinear", **params),
    decode_resize_ffmpeg("bicubic", **params),
    decode_resize_cuvid(**params),
    decode_resize_ffmpeg("spline", **params),
    decode_resize_ffmpeg("lanczos:param0=1", **params),
    decode_resize_ffmpeg("lanczos:param0=3", **params),
    decode_resize_ffmpeg("lanczos:param0=5", **params),
]


######################################################################
#


def plot():
    fig, axes = plt.subplots(3, 3, figsize=[12.8, 15.2])
    for i, f in enumerate(frames):
        h, w = f.shape[2:4]
        f = f[..., : h // 4, : w // 4]
        axes[i // 3][i % 3].imshow(yuv_to_rgb(f[0]))
    axes[0][0].set_title("Original")
    axes[0][1].set_title("nearest neighbor")
    axes[0][2].set_title("bilinear")
    axes[1][0].set_title("bicubic")
    axes[1][1].set_title("NVDEC")
    axes[1][2].set_title("spline")
    axes[2][0].set_title("lanczos(1)")
    axes[2][1].set_title("lanczos(3)")
    axes[2][2].set_title("lanczos(5)")

    plt.setp(axes, xticks=[], yticks=[])
    plt.tight_layout()


plot()

######################################################################
# None of them is exactly the same. To the eyes of authors, lanczos(1)
# appears to be most similar to NVDEC.
# The bicubic looks close as well.

######################################################################
#
# Benchmark NVDEC with StreamReader
# ---------------------------------
#
# In this section, we compare the performace of software video
# decoding and HW video decoding.
#

######################################################################
# Decode as CUDA frames
# ---------------------
#
# First, we compare the time it takes for software decoder and
# hardware encoder to decode the same video.
# To make the result comparable, when using software decoder, we move
# the resulting tensor to CUDA.
#
# The procedures to test look like the following
#
# - Use hardware decoder and place data on CUDA directly
# - Use software decoder, generate CPU Tensors and move them to CUDA.
#
# .. note:
#
#    Because HW decoder currently only supports reading videos as
#    YUV444P format, we decode frames into YUV444P format for the case of
#    software decoder as well.
#


######################################################################
# The following function implements the hardware decoder test case.


def test_decode_cuda(src, decoder, hw_accel="cuda", frames_per_chunk=5):
    s = StreamReader(src)
    s.add_video_stream(frames_per_chunk, decoder=decoder, hw_accel=hw_accel)

    num_frames = 0
    chunk = None
    t0 = time.monotonic()
    for (chunk,) in s.stream():
        num_frames += chunk.shape[0]
    elapsed = time.monotonic() - t0
    print(f" - Shape: {chunk.shape}")
    fps = num_frames / elapsed
    print(f" - Processed {num_frames} frames in {elapsed:.2f} seconds. ({fps:.2f} fps)")
    return fps


######################################################################
# The following function implements the software decoder test case.


def test_decode_cpu(src, threads, decoder=None, frames_per_chunk=5):
    s = StreamReader(src)
    s.add_video_stream(frames_per_chunk, decoder=decoder, decoder_option={"threads": f"{threads}"})

    num_frames = 0
    device = torch.device("cuda")
    t0 = time.monotonic()
    for i, (chunk,) in enumerate(s.stream()):
        if i == 0:
            print(f" - Shape: {chunk.shape}")
        num_frames += chunk.shape[0]
        chunk = chunk.to(device)
    elapsed = time.monotonic() - t0
    fps = num_frames / elapsed
    print(f" - Processed {num_frames} frames in {elapsed:.2f} seconds. ({fps:.2f} fps)")
    return fps


######################################################################
# For each resolution of video, we run multiple software decoder test
# cases with different number of threads.


def run_decode_tests(src, frames_per_chunk=5):
    fps = []
    print(f"Testing: {os.path.basename(src)}")
    for threads in [1, 4, 8, 16]:
        print(f"* Software decoding (num_threads={threads})")
        fps.append(test_decode_cpu(src, threads))
    print("* Hardware decoding")
    fps.append(test_decode_cuda(src, decoder="h264_cuvid"))
    return fps


######################################################################
# Now we run the tests with videos of different resolutions.
#
# QVGA
# ----

src_qvga = torchaudio.utils.download_asset("tutorial-assets/testsrc2_qvga.h264.mp4")
fps_qvga = run_decode_tests(src_qvga)

######################################################################
# VGA
# ---

src_vga = torchaudio.utils.download_asset("tutorial-assets/testsrc2_vga.h264.mp4")
fps_vga = run_decode_tests(src_vga)

######################################################################
# XGA
# ---

src_xga = torchaudio.utils.download_asset("tutorial-assets/testsrc2_xga.h264.mp4")
fps_xga = run_decode_tests(src_xga)


######################################################################
# Result
# ------
#
# Now we plot the result.


def plot():
    fig, ax = plt.subplots(figsize=[9.6, 6.4])

    for items in zip(fps_qvga, fps_vga, fps_xga, "ov^sx"):
        ax.plot(items[:-1], marker=items[-1])
    ax.grid(axis="both")
    ax.set_xticks([0, 1, 2], ["QVGA (320x240)", "VGA (640x480)", "XGA (1024x768)"])
    ax.legend(
        [
            "Software Decoding (threads=1)",
            "Software Decoding (threads=4)",
            "Software Decoding (threads=8)",
            "Software Decoding (threads=16)",
            "Hardware Decoding (CUDA Tensor)",
        ]
    )
    ax.set_title("Speed of processing video frames")
    ax.set_ylabel("Frames per second")
    plt.tight_layout()


plot()

######################################################################
#
# We observe couple of things
#
# - Increasing the number of threads in software decoding makes the
#   pipeline faster, but the performance saturates around 8 threads.
# - The performance gain from using hardware decoder depends on the
#   resolution of video.
# - At lower resolutions like QVGA, hardware decoding is slower than
#   software decoding
# - At higher resolutions like XGA, hardware decoding is faster
#   than software decoding.
#
#
# It is worth noting that the performance gain also depends on the
# type of GPU.
# We observed that when decoding VGA videos using V100 or A100 GPUs,
# hardware decoders are slower than software decoders. But using A10
# GPU hardware deocder is faster than software decodr.
#

######################################################################
# Decode and resize
# -----------------
#
# Next, we add resize operation to the pipeline.
# We will compare the following pipelines.
#
# 1. Decode video using software decoder and read the frames as
#    PyTorch Tensor. Resize the tensor using
#    :py:func:`torch.nn.functional.interpolate`, then send
#    the resulting tensor to CUDA device.
# 2. Decode video using software decoder, resize the frame with
#    FFmpeg's filter graph, read the resized frames as PyTorch tensor,
#    then send it to CUDA device.
# 3. Decode and resize video simulaneously with HW decoder, read the
#    resulting frames as CUDA tensor.
#
# The pipeline 1 represents common video loading implementations.
#
# The pipeline 2 uses FFmpeg's filter graph, which allows to manipulate
# raw frames before converting them to Tensors.
#
# The pipeline 3 has the minimum amount of data transfer from CPU to
# CUDA, which significantly contribute to performant data loading.
#


######################################################################
# The following function implements the pipeline 1. It uses PyTorch's
# :py:func:`torch.nn.functional.interpolate`.
# We use ``bincubic`` mode, as we saw that the resulting frames are
# closest to NVDEC resizing.
#


def test_decode_then_resize(src, height, width, mode="bicubic", frames_per_chunk=5):
    s = StreamReader(src)
    s.add_video_stream(frames_per_chunk, decoder_option={"threads": "8"})

    num_frames = 0
    device = torch.device("cuda")
    chunk = None
    t0 = time.monotonic()
    for (chunk,) in s.stream():
        num_frames += chunk.shape[0]
        chunk = torch.nn.functional.interpolate(chunk, [height, width], mode=mode, antialias=True)
        chunk = chunk.to(device)
    elapsed = time.monotonic() - t0
    fps = num_frames / elapsed
    print(f" - Shape: {chunk.shape}")
    print(f" - Processed {num_frames} frames in {elapsed:.2f} seconds. ({fps:.2f} fps)")
    return fps


######################################################################
# The following function implements the pipeline 2. Frames are resized
# as part of decoding process, then sent to CUDA device.
#
# We use ``bincubic`` mode, to make the result comparable with
# PyTorch-based implementation above.
#


def test_decode_and_resize(src, height, width, mode="bicubic", frames_per_chunk=5):
    s = StreamReader(src)
    s.add_video_stream(
        frames_per_chunk, filter_desc=f"scale={width}:{height}:sws_flags={mode}", decoder_option={"threads": "8"}
    )

    num_frames = 0
    device = torch.device("cuda")
    chunk = None
    t0 = time.monotonic()
    for (chunk,) in s.stream():
        num_frames += chunk.shape[0]
        chunk = chunk.to(device)
    elapsed = time.monotonic() - t0
    fps = num_frames / elapsed
    print(f" - Shape: {chunk.shape}")
    print(f" - Processed {num_frames} frames in {elapsed:.2f} seconds. ({fps:.2f} fps)")
    return fps


######################################################################
# The following function implements the pipeline 3. Resizing is
# performed by NVDEC and the resulting tensor is placed on CUDA memory.


def test_hw_decode_and_resize(src, decoder, decoder_option, hw_accel="cuda", frames_per_chunk=5):
    s = StreamReader(src)
    s.add_video_stream(5, decoder=decoder, decoder_option=decoder_option, hw_accel=hw_accel)

    num_frames = 0
    chunk = None
    t0 = time.monotonic()
    for (chunk,) in s.stream():
        num_frames += chunk.shape[0]
    elapsed = time.monotonic() - t0
    fps = num_frames / elapsed
    print(f" - Shape: {chunk.shape}")
    print(f" - Processed {num_frames} frames in {elapsed:.2f} seconds. ({fps:.2f} fps)")
    return fps


######################################################################
#
# The following function run the benchmark functions on given sources.
#


def run_resize_tests(src):
    print(f"Testing: {os.path.basename(src)}")
    height, width = 224, 224
    print("* Software decoding with PyTorch interpolate")
    cpu_resize1 = test_decode_then_resize(src, height=height, width=width)
    print("* Software decoding with FFmpeg scale")
    cpu_resize2 = test_decode_and_resize(src, height=height, width=width)
    print("* Hardware decoding with resize")
    cuda_resize = test_hw_decode_and_resize(src, decoder="h264_cuvid", decoder_option={"resize": f"{width}x{height}"})
    return [cpu_resize1, cpu_resize2, cuda_resize]


######################################################################
#
# Now we run the tests.

######################################################################
# QVGA
# ----

fps_qvga = run_resize_tests(src_qvga)

######################################################################
# VGA
# ---

fps_vga = run_resize_tests(src_vga)

######################################################################
# XGA
# ---

fps_xga = run_resize_tests(src_xga)

######################################################################
# Result
# ------
# Now we plot the result.
#


def plot():
    fig, ax = plt.subplots(figsize=[9.6, 6.4])

    for items in zip(fps_qvga, fps_vga, fps_xga, "ov^sx"):
        ax.plot(items[:-1], marker=items[-1])
    ax.grid(axis="both")
    ax.set_xticks([0, 1, 2], ["QVGA (320x240)", "VGA (640x480)", "XGA (1024x768)"])
    ax.legend(
        [
            "Software decoding\nwith resize\n(PyTorch interpolate)",
            "Software decoding\nwith resize\n(FFmpeg scale)",
            "NVDEC\nwith resizing",
        ]
    )
    ax.set_title("Speed of processing video frames")
    ax.set_xlabel("Input video resolution")
    ax.set_ylabel("Frames per second")
    plt.tight_layout()


plot()

######################################################################
#
# Hardware deocder shows a similar trend as previous experiment.
# In fact, the performance is almost the same. Hardware resizing has
# almost zero overhead for scaling down the frames.
#
# Software decoding also shows a similar trend. Performing resizing as
# part of decoding is faster. One possible explanation is that, video
# frames are internally stored as YUV420P, which has half the number
# of pixels compared to RGB24, or YUV444P. This means that if resizing
# before copying frame data to PyTorch tensor, the number of pixels
# manipulated and copied are smaller than the case where applying
# resizing after frames are converted to Tensor.
#

######################################################################
#
# Tag: :obj:`torchaudio.io`