CPU Utilization VP8 vs H264

Off Topic
1

Hello, I wanted to get some feedback from experts on if what we are seeing is normal or are we missing something. Generally what I have been told is that, if you have a desktop application use H264 for Video and Screen as that should result is lower CPU utilization at the client. We are seeing the opposite of it. I am using a Windows 10 laptop. Specs are Intel Core i5 6200 u CPU @2.30 GHz and 8 GB RAM. Chrome as browser 90.0.4430.93 and I am seeing a higher CPU utilization when I am using H264 as codec instead of VP8.
Below is my config file… my question is whether this behavior is normal or not.
routerOptions: {

  mediaCodecs: [

    {

      kind: "audio",

      mimeType: "audio/opus",

      clockRate: 48000,

      channels: 2,

    },

    //  Only using H264 for Video and Screen to reduce CPU on end points

    {

      kind: "video",

      mimeType: "video/VP8",

      clockRate: 90000,

      parameters: {

        "x-google-start-bitrate": 1000,

      },

    },

    {

      kind: "video",

      mimeType: "video/VP9",

      clockRate: 90000,

      parameters: {

        "profile-id": 2,

        "x-google-start-bitrate": 1000,

      },

    },

    {

      kind: "video",

      mimeType: "video/h264",

      clockRate: 90000,

      parameters: {

        "packetization-mode": 1,

        "profile-level-id": "4d0032",

        "level-asymmetry-allowed": 1,

        "x-google-start-bitrate": 1000,

      },

    },

    {

      kind: "video",

      mimeType: "video/h264",

      clockRate: 90000,

      parameters: {

        "packetization-mode": 1,

        "profile-level-id": "42e01f",

        "level-asymmetry-allowed": 1,

        "x-google-start-bitrate": 1000,

      },

    },

  ],
2

I think you are asking the wrong question. The outcome you are using is CPU utilization, but what you are probably looking for is a codec that has hardware support (which reduces CPU utilization and battery consumption).

See this thread for some details:

In summary, h264 has wide support across more devices than VP8, and some h264 profiles even have hardware support on mobile devices (which addresses your need), whereas hardware support for VP8 is limited and it’s likely to be implemented via a software based CPU heavy solution for encoding/decoding.

PS. Be careful about which profile id you use - some profile ids are supported by some devices but not others. This is very browser and device specific.

3

dimoochka thank you for your response and sharing the article… setting the constraints as mentioned by Jose helped… thank you for sharing the post… H264 with constraints mentioned dropped CPU utilization by 15% on same workload