TECHNICAL
Optimizer’s efficient implementation running on Intel hardware reduces bitrates, allowing jobs to scale easily without impacting the number of streams that can be processed.
Summary
overall viewer experience. VisualOn Optimizer suite is encoder-agnostic and seamlessly integrates into encoding workflows, irrespective of the encoder being used or the infrastructure it runs on — CPUs or GPUs. The Optimizer easily integrates with Intel Quick Sync Video, dramatically reducing bitrate and allowing more encoding sessions on the same platform. With the variety of infrastructures used across media provider data centres, at the edge, and in the cloud, VisualOn Optimizer combined with the Intel Xeon 6 SoC can help reduce the cost of operations and storage of encoded content through lower bitrates, while enhancing visual quality.
Video encoding technologies and solutions have evolved rapidly over the last few years, with CAE paving the way for more efficient content delivery. CAE uses AI to analyse content on a frame- by-frame and scene-by-scene basis to adapt encoder parameters, resulting in dramatically reduced bitrates while enhancing visual quality. Intel is working with the ecosystem that supports media delivery companies to address their challenges, using advanced Intel technologies, processors and GPUs. VisualOn provides an innovative, AI- powered solution that reduces bitrates up to 40 percent on CPU and up to 20 percent on the built-in Intel Media Transcode Accelerator, while improving
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REFERENCES 1 As shown in Table 1.
2 https://netflixtechblog.com/per-title-encode-optimization-7e99442b62a2, 12/14/2015 (per title). 3 https://netflixtechblog.com/more-efficient-mobile-encodes-for-netflix-downloads-625d7b082909, 12/1/2016 (per chunk). 4 https://netflixtechblog.com/dynamic-optimizer-a-perceptual-video-encoding-optimization-framework- e19f1e3a277f, 3/5/2018 (per shot). 5 https://netflixtechblog.com/toward-a-practical-perceptual-video-quality-metric-653f208b9652, 6/1/2016 (VMAF). 6 Ozer, Jan. “Report: Cloud-based Per-Title H.264 Encoding Benchmark Report” https://streaminglearningcenter.com/encoding/slc-releases-cloud-based-hevc-and-h-264-pertitle- quality-and-opex-reports.html 6/6/2022. 7 https://www.visualon.com/index.php/press/visualon-introduces-first-universal-content-adaptive- encoding-solution-for-video-streaming/. 8 https://www.visualon.com/index.php/press/visualon-wins-2024-nab-show-product-of-the-year-award/. 9 Testing performed by VisualOn on 7/25/2023. Source video: http://ftp.nluug.nl/pub/graphics/blender/ demo/movies/ToS/ToS-4k-1920.mov. FFmpeg command line for x264: ffmpeg -i input -b:v 7.8M -maxrate 7.8M -bufsize 15.6M output.mp4, and for x264 with Optimizer: ffmpeg -vo_optimizer -i input -vo_vmaf 98 output.mp4. Full data available at https://www.visualon.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/side-by-side-comparison.pdf. 10 Testing performed by VisualOn on 9/05/2023. Source video: http://ftp.nluug.nl/pub/graphics/blender/ demo/movies/ToS/ToS-4k-1920.mov. FFmpeg command line for x264: ffmpeg -i input -b:v 2.3M -maxrate 2.3M -bufsize 4.6M output.mp4, and for x264 with Optimizer: ffmpeg -vo_optimizer -i input output.mp4. Full data available at https://www.visualon.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/side-by-side-comparison.pdf. 11 Intel Corporation, February 22, 2025. “Revolutionizing Live Streaming: Built-in Media Transcode Accelerator Delivers 14x Performance per Watt Gains and Ultra Low-Latency.” https://www.intel.com/ content/www/us/en/content-details/846191/revolutionizing-live-streaming-built-in-media-transcode- accelerator-delivers-14x-performance-per-watt-gains-and-ultra-low-latency.html. 12 Based on testing performance by VisualOn on 8/19/2025. System configuration details: Intel® Xeon® 6553P-B (36 cores per socket), 128GB (4x32GB DDR5 6400 MT/s), 512GB SAMSUNG MZVL2512HCJQ-00A00 SSD. OS: Ubuntu 24.04.2 LTS with 6.8.0-63-generic kernel. Configuration details and full data available at https://www.visualon.com/wp-content/ uploads/2026/01/ benchmarks-H.264.pdf, configuration in the “H.264 Test Setup”, results in the “H.264 top rung comparison” tab, with Optimizer’s results extracted from the “x264 results” tab. Results from other encoders are from the report referenced in footnote 6. 13 Tested by VisualOn on 10/21/2025. System configuration details: Intel® Xeon® 6553P-B (36 cores per socket), 128GB (4x32GB DDR5 6400 MT/s), 512GB SAMSUNG MZVL2512HCJQ-00A00 SSD . OS: Ubuntu 24.04.2 LTS with 6.8.0-63-generic kernel. For full data details, see https://www.visualon.com/ wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Performance.pdf. 14 Intel Corporation, September 13, 2024. “VisualOn Optimizer Reduces Encoding Bitrate Up to 40 Percent While Enhancing Visual Quality.” https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ content-details/833276/ visualon-optimizer-reduces-encoding-bitrate-up-to-40-percent-while-enhancing-visual-quality.html. 15 Encoder presets and compression settings used in the benchmarks are as follows: for CPU-based encoding, x264 and x265 use the medium preset, and SVT-AV1 v1.4.1 uses preset 6. For hardware- accelerated encoding via VAAPI, H.264 uses compression_level 2, H.265 uses compression_level 4, and AV1 uses compression_level 3.
Volume 48 No.1 MARCH 2026
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