WebRTC Newbie...some questions

[Utkarsh]

Hi,

I am evaluating webrtc for a demo chat application.

Question 1

We have H.264 based hardware encoder in our platform that is
interfaced with the camera directly and keeps streaming encoded data.
Can I use the same instead of software based encoding to get better
performance.

Can I use H.264 at all? I read in some other post that external H.264
codec is not supported, please confirm.

Also Can I stub out video capture block, image enhancement and codec
block in video engine totally and stream the data on network. This
will save me a lot of CPU.

Question 2

Is it possible to extend the peer connection to add more controls like
changing brightness contrast of remote camera. Or I need to provide
different web services for the same.

Thanks,
Utkarsh.

[Magnus Flodman]

Hi,

Answers inline.

-Magnus

On Aug 10, 4:48 pm, Utkarsh <utkarsh.nim...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I am evaluating webrtc for a demo chat application.
>
> Question 1
>
> We have H.264 based hardware encoder in our platform that is
> interfaced with the camera directly and keeps streaming encoded data.
> Can I use the same instead of software based encoding to get better
> performance.
>

There is no current support for adding a HW camera/encoder as source.

> Can I use H.264 at all? I read in some other post that external H.264
> codec is not supported, please confirm.
>

No, there is no H.264 support.

> Also Can I stub out video capture block, image enhancement and codec
> block in video engine totally and stream the data on network.  This
> will save me a lot of CPU.
>
> Question 2
>
> Is it possible to extend the peer connection to add more controls like
> changing brightness contrast of remote camera. Or I need to provide
> different web services for the same.
>

That is not in the scope of peer connection.


> Thanks,
> Utkarsh.

You're very welcome :)

[Utkarsh Nimesh]

Hi,

Thanks for the reply. Even though H.264 is not supported, is there any technical limitation in webrtc framework as such to not be able to stream h.264 bitstream?

What will be right place to start looking into video engine and it's network interactions?

Regards,

Utkarsh. 

--
Regards,
Utkarsh

[Utkarsh Nimesh]

Hi,

Can I integrate WebRTC on platforms that do support hardware accelerate VP8 encode and decode?

Regards,

Utkarsh

On Fri, Aug 12, 2011 at 1:04 PM, Magnus Flodman <mflo...@webrtc.org> wrote:

--
Regards,
Utkarsh

[Magnus Flodman]

Hi,

We only support SW VP8 codec, our current focus is the PC platforms/browsers.

-Magnus

[Utkarsh Nimesh]

Hi,

I understand that HW encoder is currently not supported in webRTC's and that your current priority is PC/ browsers. My question was, if my platform has HW based VP8 encoder and I am ready to modify WebRTC to support the same....Is there a technical limitation to do so? From framework's point of view encoder should act like a black box right? Does it matter if its HW or SW? 

--
Regards,
Utkarsh

[Magnus Flodman]

Hi,

Ok. I see no technical limitations in this, but it's not something
we've tested.

-Magnus

On Aug 17, 7:33 pm, Utkarsh Nimesh <utkarsh.nim...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I understand that HW encoder is currently not supported in webRTC's and that
> your current priority is PC/ browsers. My question was, if my platform has
> HW based VP8 encoder and I am ready to modify WebRTC to support the
> same....Is there a technical limitation to do so? From framework's point of
> view encoder should act like a black box right? Does it matter if its HW or
> SW?
>

[Utkarsh Nimesh]

Thanks Magnus.

--
Regards,
Utkarsh

[Ville-Mikko Rautio]

Hello,

I had missed this discussion earlier. I am a software engineer from
WebM hardware group in Oulu (Finland) working to deliver VP8 decoders
and encoders for semiconductor companies and we have just kicked off a
project for integrating WebM HW IP with the WebRTC project. You can
read more about our WebM hardware offerings at http://www.webmproject.org/hardware/
and http://blog.webmproject.org/.

Have you progressed with your implementation of the integration?

Best regards,
Ville-Mikko

On Aug 17, 8:33 pm, Utkarsh Nimesh <utkarsh.nim...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I understand that HW encoder is currently not supported in webRTC's and that
> your current priority is PC/ browsers. My question was, if my platform has
> HW based VP8 encoder and I am ready to modify WebRTC to support the
> same....Is there a technical limitation to do so? From framework's point of
> view encoder should act like a black box right? Does it matter if its HW or
> SW?
>

[Utkarsh Nimesh]

Great! I knew this was suppose to happen sooner or later.

Although there are few reference designs with Hardware based encoder decoders yet this should be very helpful.

I had also asked for some questions related to the h.264 support. Ideally platforms will support multiple format encode decode capabilities and it may not be good from webrtc point of view to support only VP8 as I'll like to have one framework to support multiple codecs.

With above background, I wanted to understand if there's any technical limitation to add h.264 support in video engine component. I know VP8 will be of the highest priority from Google's view point but for developers is it even feasible to integrate h.264. As far as i think it should not have any limitation as the communication protocol is RTP. Encoded payload could be of any format. Is my understanding correct?

I am still understanding the audio video engine blocks and so have not started on the integration but it sure looks interesting.

Thanks,
Utkarsh.

--
Regards,
Utkarsh

[Ville-Mikko Rautio]

I am not expert in the video engine component, but as far as I understand, there's nothing stopping you from adding H.264 support. As you mentioned RTP has payload specifications for both H.264 and VP8.

Our work will probably pop out in the open source space after some time either as part of WebRTC or WebM. If this happens before you finish your integration, you can use the work as a basis or reference for your own work.

Ville-Mikko

[Utkarsh Nimesh]

Sure, will look forward for it. Do you guys have time line in place or it's too early to ask.

Utkarsh

--
Regards,
Utkarsh

[Ville-Mikko Rautio]

It's ready when it's ready. :) Anyway, you can be assured that we're working on it.

Ville-Mikko