Anyone with 2017 MBP - youtube/vp9 request

[ls1dreams]

Hi all,

For anyone that has the new 2017 13" or 15" macbook pro, I'm curious to see how well hardware decoding works with kaby lake.

Could you please try this?

1. Close all other apps
2. Launch chrome and youtube, and search for a 4k video that's encoded with VP9, such as this one:

3. Make sure resolution is set to 2160p (4k)
4. Open up activity monitor, and let me know what your cpu usage is! (User %)

On my 2011 macbook pro, vp9 uses 80%+ cpu. Forcing h.264 (with chrome extension h264ify) runs around 30-50%.

 

[avnspb]

I've got Macbook Pro 15 inch 2017 model (core i7 2,9ghz Kaby Lake,16gb DDR3, 512 SSD)

CPU usage of Google Chrome running this 4k video - 10%-19%

 

[white7561]

I've got Macbook Pro 15 inch 2017 model (core i7 2,9ghz Kaby Lake,16gb DDR3, 512 SSD)

CPU usage of Google Chrome running this 4k video - 10%-19%

Can you open the video. Go to 4K. Right click the video when playing. And click stats or somekind and screenshot it. Thanks

 

[avnspb]

is this ok?

 

[white7561]

is this ok?

Yeah I think it supports it. . I hope

 

[EugW]

Is there any hardware decoding of VP9 in Chrome on Macs? Cuz in Sierra on my 2017 iMac, I didn't see any evidence of this. I don't think there is hardware VP9 decoding in Chrome in High Sierra either, but I could be wrong since I don't have a High Sierra machine.

Maybe I'm wrong but I posted my results in this thread. The part about VP9 is in this post, about half-way down the post.

I could not play the 2160p VP9 file cleanly in Chrome using my 2017 Kaby Lake m3 MacBook. Furthermore, although it played cleanly with my 2017 Kaby Lake Core i7 4.2 GHz iMac, I was getting 200% CPU usage.

Or has Chrome been updated in the last few days or something? I did those tests several days ago, and since then have been using Safari. I did try some different Chrome settings, but perhaps I did it wrong.

Note that 200% on a 8 thread iMac is 25% CPU usage. However, on my MacBook it was 300% usage which is 75% CPU usage, but only got stuttery playback. Fortunately, there is no real point to YouTube 2160p VP9 on a 12" MacBook. You're better off using 1440p, since that matches the MacBook's screen resolution anyway, and you get that with Safari h.264.

I've got Macbook Pro 15 inch 2017 model (core i7 2,9ghz Kaby Lake,16gb DDR3, 512 SSD)

CPU usage of Google Chrome running this 4k video - 10%-19%

Is that 10-19% out of 100% or 800%? Because if it's 10-19% out of 800%, then clearly I am doing something wrong.

 

[avnspb]

Is there any hardware decoding of VP9 in Chrome on Macs? Cuz in Sierra on my 2017 iMac, I didn't see any evidence of this. I don't think there is hardware VP9 decoding in Chrome in High Sierra either, but I could be wrong since I don't have a High Sierra machine.

Maybe I'm wrong but I posted my results in this thread. The part about VP9 is in this post, about half-way down the post.

I could not play the 2160p VP9 file cleanly in Chrome using my 2017 Kaby Lake m3 MacBook. Furthermore, although it played cleanly with my 2017 Kaby Lake Core i7 4.2 GHz iMac, I was getting 200% CPU usage.

Or has Chrome been updated in the last few days or something? I did those tests several days ago, and since then have been using Safari. I did try some different Chrome settings, but perhaps I did it wrong.

Note that 200% on a 8 thread iMac is 25% CPU usage. However, on my MacBook it was 300% usage which is 75% CPU usage, but only got stuttery playback. Fortunately, there is no real point to YouTube 2160p VP9 on a 12" MacBook. You're better off using 1440p, since that matches the MacBook's screen resolution anyway, and you get that with Safari h.264.


Is that 10-19% out of 100% or 800%? Because if it's 10-19% out of 800%, then clearly I am doing something wrong.

On my macbook pro 15 inch (kaby lake) 4k video runs perfect. I am running Sierra 10.12.5

 

[EugW]

On my macbook pro 15 inch (kaby lake) 4k video runs perfect. I am running Sierra 10.12.5

Your results are similar to mine. Your screengrab there indicates it's around 165% CPU usage.

Yes it plays fine on your quad core i7, but the somewhat high CPU usage suggests to me that there is no hardware VP9 acceleration, at least in Sierra 10.12.5. You're likely playing it all in software, which is fine if it's working properly, but it would affect battery life on laptops.

 

[avnspb]

you should look at the bottom part of a screenshot... this one! so it shows that 67% of system power is idle!!!

Your results are similar to mine. Your screengrab there indicates it's around 165% CPU usage.

Yes it plays fine on your quad core i7, but the somewhat high CPU usage suggests to me that there is no hardware VP9 acceleration, at least in Sierra 10.12.5. You're likely playing it all in software, which is fine if it's working properly, but it would affect battery life on laptops.

have a look at this screenshot! so it shows that 67% of system power is idle!!!


100% is the maximum so you can't use your system more then 100%


i don't know about hardware support of VP9 but i suppose it should be supported only in upcoming High Sierra!

 

[ls1dreams]

One interesting note is that even with h.264 my old 2011 macbook shows 15-20% cpu usage. I think Chrome might just have a lot of overhead? Still seems like too much though.
[doublepost=1498657757][/doublepost]

Is there any hardware decoding of VP9 in Chrome on Macs? Cuz in Sierra on my 2017 iMac, I didn't see any evidence of this. I don't think there is hardware VP9 decoding in Chrome in High Sierra either, but I could be wrong since I don't have a High Sierra machine.

Maybe I'm wrong but I posted my results in this thread. The part about VP9 is in this post, about half-way down the post.

I could not play the 2160p VP9 file cleanly in Chrome using my 2017 Kaby Lake m3 MacBook. Furthermore, although it played cleanly with my 2017 Kaby Lake Core i7 4.2 GHz iMac, I was getting 200% CPU usage.

Or has Chrome been updated in the last few days or something? I did those tests several days ago, and since then have been using Safari. I did try some different Chrome settings, but perhaps I did it wrong.

Note that 200% on a 8 thread iMac is 25% CPU usage. However, on my MacBook it was 300% usage which is 75% CPU usage, but only got stuttery playback. Fortunately, there is no real point to YouTube 2160p VP9 on a 12" MacBook. You're better off using 1440p, since that matches the MacBook's screen resolution anyway, and you get that with Safari h.264.


Is that 10-19% out of 100% or 800%? Because if it's 10-19% out of 800%, then clearly I am doing something wrong.

Were you using Chrome or Safari? VP9 is a google/youtube open source technology. I'm not sure that Safari supports it. Apple generally doesn't like these newer codecs because they compete with HEVC, which they invest in.

 

[ls1dreams]

One interesting note is that even with h.264 my old 2011 macbook shows 15-20% cpu usage. I think Chrome might just have a lot of overhead? Still seems like too much though.
[doublepost=1498657757][/doublepost]

Were you using Chrome or Safari? VP9 is a google/youtube open source technology. I'm not sure that Safari supports it. Apple generally doesn't like these newer codecs because they compete with HEVC, which they invest in.

Chrome w/ h.264ify runs ~ 20%. When leaving it run with VP9 it's 40-50%