Video Code Engine (VCE; earlier referred to asVideo Coding Engine,^[1]Video Compression Engine^[2] orVideo Codec Engine^[3] in official documentation) isAMD'svideo encodingapplication-specific integrated circuit implementing thevideo codecH.264/MPEG-4 AVC. Since 2012 it was integrated into all of theirGPUs andAPUs except Oland.

VCE was introduced with theRadeon HD 7000 series on 22 December 2011.^[4][5][6] VCE occupies a considerable amount of thedie surface at the time of its introduction^[7] and is not to be confused with AMD'sUnified Video Decoder (UVD).

As ofAMD Raven Ridge (released January 2018), UVD and VCE were succeeded byVideo Core Next (VCN).

The handling of video data involves computation ofdata compression algorithms and possibly ofvideo processing algorithms. As the templatecompression methods shows, lossy video compression algorithms involve the steps:motion estimation (ME),discrete cosine transform (DCT), andentropy encoding (EC).

AMD Video Code Engine (VCE) is a full hardware implementation of the video codec H.264/MPEG-4 AVC. It is capable of delivering 1080p at 60 frames/sec. Because its entropy encoding block is also a separately accessible Video Codec Engine, it can be operated in two modes: full-fixed mode and hybrid mode.^[8][9]

By employingAMD APP SDK, available for Linux and Microsoft Windows, developers can create hybrid encoders that pair custom motion estimation, inverse discrete cosine transform and motion compensation with the hardware entropy encoding to achieve faster than real-time encoding. In hybrid mode, only the entropy encoding block of the VCE unit is used, while the remaining computation is offloaded to the 3D engine of the GPU, so the computing scales with the number of available compute units (CUs).

VCE^[1] Version 1.0 supports H.264 YUV420 (I & P frames), H.264 SVC Temporal Encode VCE, andDisplay Encode Mode (DEM).

It can be found on:

• Piledriver-based
  • Trinity APUs (Ax-5xxx, e.g. A10-5800K)
  • Richland APUs (Ax-6xxx, e.g. A10-6800K)
• GPUs of the Southern Islands generation (GCN1: CAYMAN, ARUBA (Trinity/Richland), CAPE VERDE, PITCAIRN, TAHITI). These are
  • Radeon HD 7700 series (except HD 7790 with VCE 2.0)
  • Radeon HD 7800 series
  • Radeon HD 7900 series
  • Radeon HD 8570 to 8990 (except HD 8770 with VCE 2.0)
  • Radeon R7 250E, 250X, 265 / R9 270, 270X, 280, 280X
  • Radeon R7 360, 370, 455 / R9 370, 370X
  • Mobile Radeon HD 77x0M to HD 7970M
  • Mobile Radeon HD 8000-Series
  • Mobile Radeon Rx M2xx Series (except R9 M280X with VCE 2.0 and R9 M295X with VCE 3.0)
  • Mobile Radeon R5 M330 to R9 M390
  • FirePro cards with 1st Generation GCN (GCN1) (Except W2100, which is Oland XT)

Compared to the first version, VCE 2.0 adds H.264 YUV444 (I-Frames), B-frames for H.264 YUV420, and improvements to the DEM (Display Encode Mode), which results in a better encoding quality.

It can be found on:

• Steamroller-based
  • Kaveri APUs (Ax-7xxx, e.g. A10-7850K)
  • Godavari APUs (Ax-7xxx, e.g. A10-7890K)
• Jaguar-based
  • Kabini APUs (e.g. Athlon 5350, Sempron 2650)
  • Temash APUs (e.g. A6-1450, A4-1200)
• Puma-based
  • Beema and Mullins
• GPUs of the Sea Islands generation as well Bonaire or Hawaii GPUs (2nd Generation Graphics Core Next), such as
  • Radeon HD 7790, 8770
  • Radeon R7 260, 260X / R9 290, 290X, 295X2
  • Radeon R7 360 / R9 390, 390X
  • Mobile Radeon R9 M280X
  • Mobile Radeon R9 M385, M385X
  • Mobile Radeon R9 M470, M470X
  • FirePro W4300, W5100, W8100, W9100, S9100, S9150, S9170
  • Mobile FirePro M6100, W6150M, W6170M

Video Code Engine 3.0 (VCE 3.0) technology features a new high-quality video scaling and - since version 3.4 -High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC/H.265).^[10][11]

It, together withUVD 6.0, can be found on 3rd generation of Graphics Core Next (GCN3) with "Tonga" and "Fiji" (VCE 3.0) based graphics controller hardware, which is now usedAMD Radeon Rx 300 series (Pirate Islands GPU family) and VCE 3.4 by actualAMD Radeon Rx 400 series andAMD Radeon 500 series (both Polaris GPU family).

• Tonga: Radeon R9 285, 380, 380X; Mobile Radeon R9 M390X, M395, M395X, M485X
• Tonga XT: FirePro W7100, S7100X, S7150, S7150 X2
• Fiji: Radeon R9 Fury, Fury X, Nano; Radeon Pro Duo (2016); FirePro S9300, W7170M; Instinct MI8
• Polaris: RX 460, 470, 480; RX 550, 560, 570, 580; Radeon Pro Duo (2017)

AMD'sCarrizo platform features VCE 3.1, retaining the same capabilities as the VCE found in "Fiji" and "Tonga".^[12]

Stoney Ridge features a cut down version of VCE 3.4 without HEVC/H.265 encoding and is accompanied by a UVD 6.2 engine.^[13]

VCE 3.0 removes support for H.264 B-frames.^[14]

The Video Code Engine 4.0 encoder and UVD 7.0 decoder are included in the Vega-based GPUs.^[15][16]

AMD's Vega20 GPU, present in the Instinct Mi50, Instinct Mi60 and Radeon VII cards, include VCE 4.1 and two UVD 7.2 instances.^[17][18]

The following table shows features ofAMD's processors with 3D graphics, includingAPUs (see also:List of AMD processors with 3D graphics).

Platform			High, standard and low power														Low and ultra-low power
Codename	Server	Basic						Toronto
		Micro																Kyoto
	Desktop	Performance													Raphael	Phoenix
		Mainstream	Llano	Trinity	Richland	Kaveri	Kaveri Refresh (Godavari)	Carrizo	Bristol Ridge	Raven Ridge	Picasso	Renoir	Cezanne
		Entry
		Basic																Kabini				Dalí
	Mobile	Performance										Renoir	Cezanne	Rembrandt	Dragon Range
		Mainstream	Llano	Trinity	Richland	Kaveri		Carrizo	Bristol Ridge	Raven Ridge	Picasso	Renoir Lucienne	Cezanne Barceló			Phoenix
		Entry																				Dalí			Mendocino
		Basic															Desna, Ontario, Zacate	Kabini, Temash	Beema, Mullins	Carrizo-L	Stoney Ridge		Pollock
	Embedded			Trinity		Bald Eagle		Merlin Falcon, Brown Falcon		Great Horned Owl		Grey Hawk					Ontario, Zacate	Kabini	Steppe Eagle,Crowned Eagle, LX-Family		Prairie Falcon	Banded Kestrel		River Hawk
Released			Aug 2011	Oct 2012	Jun 2013	Jan 2014	2015	Jun 2015	Jun 2016	Oct 2017	Jan 2019	Mar 2020	Jan 2021	Jan 2022	Sep 2022	Jan 2023	Jan 2011	May 2013	Apr 2014	May 2015	Feb 2016	Apr 2019	Jul 2020	Jun 2022	Nov 2022
CPUmicroarchitecture			K10	Piledriver		Steamroller		Excavator	"Excavator+"[19]	Zen	Zen+	Zen 2	Zen 3	Zen 3+	Zen 4		Bobcat	Jaguar	Puma	Puma+[20]	"Excavator+"	Zen		Zen+	"Zen 2+"
ISA			x86-64 v1	x86-64 v2				x86-64 v3							x86-64 v4		x86-64 v1	x86-64 v2			x86-64 v3
Socket	Desktop	Performance	—												AM5	—	—
		Mainstream	—					AM4						—		—
		Entry	FM1	FM2		FM2+		FM2+[a],AM4	AM4					—
		Basic	—														—	AM1	—			FP5	—
	Other		FS1	FS1+,FP2		FP3		FP4		FP5		FP6		FP7	FL1	FP7 FP7r2 FP8	FT1	FT3	FT3b		FP4	FP5	FT5	FP5	FT6
PCI Express version			2.0			3.0								4.0	5.0	4.0	2.0				3.0
CXL			—														—
Fab. (nm)			GF32SHP (HKMGSOI)			GF28SHP (HKMG bulk)				GF14LPP (FinFET bulk)	GF12LP (FinFET bulk)	TSMCN7 (FinFET bulk)		TSMCN6 (FinFET bulk)	CCD: TSMCN5 (FinFET bulk) cIOD: TSMCN6 (FinFET bulk)	TSMC4nm (FinFET bulk)	TSMCN40 (bulk)	TSMCN28 (HKMG bulk)	GF 28SHP (HKMG bulk)			GF14LPP (FinFET bulk)		GF12LP (FinFET bulk)	TSMCN6 (FinFET bulk)
Die area (mm2)			228	246		245		245	250	210[21]		156	180	210	CCD: (2x) 70 cIOD: 122	178	75(+ 28FCH)	107		?	125	149			~100
MinTDP (W)			35	17				12				10		15	65	35	4.5	4	3.95	10	6			12	8
Max APUTDP (W)			100			95		65						45	170	54	18	25					6	54	15
Max stock APU base clock (GHz)			3	3.8	4.1	4.1		3.7	3.8	3.6	3.7	3.8	4.0	3.3	4.7	4.3	1.75	2.2	2	2.2	3.2	2.6	1.2	3.35	2.8
Max APUs per node[b]			1														1
Max core dies per CPU			1												2	1	1
Max CCX per core die			1									2	1				1
Max cores per CCX			4										8				2	4			2			4
MaxCPU[c]cores per APU			4									8			16	8	2	4			2			4
Maxthreads per CPU core			1							2							1					2
Integer pipeline structure			3+3	2+2						4+2		4+2+1	1+3+3+1+2				1+1+1+1				2+2	4+2			4+2+1
i386, i486, i586, CMOV, NOPL, i686,PAE,NX bit, CMPXCHG16B,AMD-V,RVI,ABM, and 64-bit LAHF/SAHF
IOMMU[d]			—	v2													v1		v2
BMI1,AES-NI,CLMUL, andF16C																	—
MOVBE			—
AVIC,BMI2,RDRAND, and MWAITX/MONITORX																	—
SME[e],TSME[e],ADX,SHA,RDSEED,SMAP,SMEP, XSAVEC, XSAVES, XRSTORS, CLFLUSHOPT, CLZERO, and PTE Coalescing			—														—
GMET, WBNOINVD, CLWB, QOS, PQE-BW, RDPID, RDPRU, and MCOMMIT			—														—
MPK,VAES			—														—
SGX			—														—
FPUs percore			1	0.5						1							1				0.5	1
Pipes per FPU			2														2
FPU pipe width			128-bit									256-bit					80-bit	128-bit							256-bit
CPUinstruction setSIMD level			SSE4a[f]	AVX				AVX2							AVX-512		SSSE3	AVX			AVX2
3DNow!			3DNow!+	—													—
PREFETCH/PREFETCHW
GFNI			—														—
AMX			—
FMA4, LWP,TBM, andXOP			—							—							—					—
FMA3
AMD XDNA			—														—
L1 data cache per core (KiB)			64	16				32									32
L1 data cacheassociativity (ways)			2	4				8									8
L1 instruction caches percore			1	0.5						1							1				0.5	1
Max APU total L1 instruction cache (KiB)			256	128		192				256					512	256	64		128		96	128
L1 instruction cacheassociativity (ways)			2			3				4		8					2				3	4			8
L2 caches percore			1	0.5						1							1				0.5	1
Max APU total L2 cache (MiB)			4					2				4			16		1	2			1			2
L2 cacheassociativity (ways)			16							8							16					8
Max on-dieL3 cache per CCX (MiB)			—							4			16		32		—						4
Max 3D V-Cache per CCD (MiB)										—					64	—							—
Max total in-CCDL3 cache per APU (MiB)										4		8	16		64								4
Max. total 3D V-Cache per APU (MiB)										—					64	—							—
Max. boardL3 cache per APU (MiB)										—													—
Max totalL3 cache per APU (MiB)										4		8	16		128								4
APU L3 cacheassociativity (ways)										16													16
L3 cache scheme										Victim													Victim
Max.L4 cache			—														—
Max stockDRAM support			DDR3-1866		DDR3-2133			DDR3-2133,DDR4-2400	DDR4-2400	DDR4-2933		DDR4-3200,LPDDR4-4266		DDR5-4800,LPDDR5-6400	DDR5-5200	DDR5-5600,LPDDR5x-7500	DDR3L-1333	DDR3L-1600	DDR3L-1866		DDR3-1866,DDR4-2400	DDR4-2400	DDR4-1600	DDR4-3200	LPDDR5-5500
MaxDRAM channels per APU			2														1					2	1	2
Max stockDRAMbandwidth (GB/s) per APU			29.866		34.132			38.400		46.932		68.256		102.400	83.200	120.000	10.666	12.800	14.933		19.200	38.400	12.800	51.200	88.000
GPUmicroarchitecture			TeraScale 2 (VLIW5)	TeraScale 3 (VLIW4)		GCN 2nd gen		GCN 3rd gen		GCN 5th gen[22]				RDNA 2		RDNA 3	TeraScale 2 (VLIW5)	GCN 2nd gen			GCN 3rd gen[22]	GCN 5th gen			RDNA 2
GPUinstruction set			TeraScale instruction set			GCN instruction set								RDNA instruction set			TeraScale instruction set	GCN instruction set							RDNA instruction set
Max stock GPU base clock (MHz)			600	800	844	866		1108		1250	1400	2100		2400	400		538	600	?	847	900	1200	600	1300	1900
Max stock GPU baseGFLOPS[g]			480	614.4	648.1	886.7		1134.5		1760	1971.2	2150.4		3686.4	102.4		86	?	?	?	345.6	460.8	230.4	1331.2	486.4
3D engine[h]			Up to 400:20:8	Up to 384:24:6		Up to 512:32:8				Up to 704:44:16[23]		Up to 512:32:8		768:48:8	128:8:4		80:8:4	128:8:4			Up to 192:12:8	Up to 192:12:4	192:12:4	Up to 512:?:?	128:?:?
			IOMMUv1			IOMMUv2											IOMMUv1		?		IOMMUv2
Video decoder			UVD 3.0			UVD 4.2		UVD 6.0		VCN 1.0[24]		VCN 2.1[25]	VCN 2.2[25]	VCN 3.1		?	UVD 3.0	UVD 4.0	UVD 4.2		UVD 6.2	VCN 1.0			VCN 3.1
Video encoder			—	VCE 1.0		VCE 2.0		VCE 3.1									—	VCE 2.0			VCE 3.4
AMD Fluid Motion
GPU power saving			PowerPlay	PowerTune													PowerPlay	PowerTune[26]
TrueAudio			—			[27]							?				—
FreeSync						1 2												1 2
HDCP[i]			?			1.4				2.2				2.3			?	1.4				2.2			2.3
PlayReady[i]			—							3.0 not yet							—					3.0 not yet
Supported displays[j]			2–3	2–4				3		3 (desktop) 4 (mobile, embedded)		4					2				3	4		4
/drm/radeon[k][29][30]									—												—
/drm/amdgpu[k][31]			—			[32]											—	[32]

The following table shows features ofAMD/ATI'sGPUs (see also:List of AMD graphics processing units).

Name ofGPU series	Wonder	Mach	3D Rage	Rage Pro	Rage 128	R100	R200	R300	R400	R500	R600	RV670	R700	Evergreen	Northern Islands		Southern Islands	Sea Islands	Volcanic Islands	Arctic Islands/Polaris	Vega	Navi 1x	Navi 2x	Navi 3x	Navi 4x
Released	1986	1991	Apr 1996	Mar 1997	Aug 1998	Apr 2000	Aug 2001	Sep 2002	May 2004	Oct 2005	May 2007	Nov 2007	Jun 2008	Sep 2009	Oct 2010	Dec 2010	Jan 2012	Sep 2013	Jun 2015	Jun 2016, Apr 2017, Aug 2019	Jun 2017, Feb 2019	Jul 2019	Nov 2020	Dec 2022	Feb 2025
Marketing Name	Wonder	Mach	3D Rage	Rage Pro	Rage 128	Radeon 7000	Radeon 8000	Radeon 9000	Radeon X700/X800	Radeon X1000	Radeon HD 2000	Radeon HD 3000	Radeon HD 4000	Radeon HD 5000	Radeon HD 6000		Radeon HD 7000	Radeon 200	Radeon 300	Radeon 400/500/600	Radeon RX Vega, Radeon VII	Radeon RX 5000	Radeon RX 6000	Radeon RX 7000	Radeon RX 9000
AMD support
Kind	2D		3D
Instruction set architecture	Not publicly known										TeraScale instruction set						GCN instruction set					RDNA instruction set
Microarchitecture	Not publicly known					GFX1		GFX2			TeraScale 1 (VLIW5) (GFX3)			TeraScale 2 (VLIW5) (GFX4)	TeraScale 2 (VLIW5) up to 68xx (GFX4)	TeraScale 3 (VLIW4) in 69xx[33][34] (GFX5)	GCN 1st gen (GFX6)	GCN 2nd gen (GFX7)	GCN 3rd gen (GFX8)	GCN 4th gen (GFX8)	GCN 5th gen (GFX9)	RDNA (GFX10.1)	RDNA 2 (GFX10.3)	RDNA 3 (GFX11)	RDNA 4 (GFX12)
Type	Fixed pipeline[a]						Programmable pixel & vertex pipelines				Unified shader model
Direct3D	—		5.0	6.0		7.0	8.1	9.0 11 (9_2)	9.0b 11 (9_2)	9.0c 11 (9_3)	10.0 11 (10_0)	10.1 11 (10_1)		11 (11_0)			11 (11_1) 12 (11_1)	11 (12_0) 12 (12_0)			11 (12_1) 12 (12_1)		11 (12_1) 12 (12_2)
Shader model	—						1.4	2.0+	2.0b	3.0	4.0	4.1		5.0			5.1	5.1 6.5			6.7				6.8
OpenGL	—			1.1	1.2	1.3		1.5[b][35]			3.3			4.6[36][c]
Vulkan	—															1.1[c][d]	1.3[37][e]		1.4[38]
OpenCL	—										Close to Metal		1.1 (not supported byMesa)	1.2+ (onLinux: 1.1+ (no Image support on Clover, with by Rusticl) with Mesa, 1.2+ on GCN 1.Gen)				2.0+ (Adrenalin driver onWin7+) (onLinux ROCm, Mesa 1.2+ (no Image support in Clover, but in Rusticl with Mesa, 2.0+ and 3.0 with AMD drivers or AMD ROCm), 5th gen: 2.2 win 10+ and Linux RocM 5.0+				2.2+ and 3.0 Windows 8.1+ and Linux ROCm 5.0+ (Mesa Rusticl 1.2+ and 3.0 (2.1+ and 2.2+ wip))[39][40][41]
HSA /ROCm	—																					?
Video decodingASIC	—										Avivo/UVD	UVD+	UVD 2	UVD 2.2	UVD 3		UVD 4	UVD 4.2	UVD 5.0 or6.0	UVD 6.3	UVD 7[15][f]	VCN 2.0[15][f]	VCN 3.0[42]	VCN 4.0	VCN 5.0
Video encodingASIC	—																VCE 1.0	VCE 2.0	VCE 3.0 or 3.1	VCE 3.4	VCE 4.0[15][f]
Fluid Motion[g]																								?
Power saving	?										PowerPlay				PowerTune		PowerTune &ZeroCore Power					?
TrueAudio	—																	Via dedicatedDSP		Via shaders
FreeSync	—																	1 2
HDCP[h]	—										?							1.4		2.2		2.3[43]
PlayReady[h]	—																			3.0		3.0
Supported displays[i]						1–2	2							2–6								?			4
Max.resolution	?													2–6 × 2560×1600			2–6 × 4096×2160 @ 30 Hz			2–6 × 5120×2880 @ 60 Hz	3 × 7680×4320 @ 60 Hz[44]	7680×4320 @ 60 HzPowerColor		7680x4320 @165 Hz	7680x4320
/drm/radeon[j]																			—
/drm/amdgpu[j]	—																	Optional[45]

The VCE SIP core needs to be supported by thedevice driver. The device driver provides one or multipleinterfaces, e. g.OpenMAX IL. One of these interfaces is then used by end-user software, likeGStreamer orHandBrake (HandBrake rejected VCE support in December 2016,^[46] but added it in December 2018^[47]), to access the VCE hardware and make use of it.

AMD'sproprietary device driverAMD Catalyst is available for multiple operating systems and support for VCE was added to it^{[citation needed]}. Additionally, afree device driver is available. This driver also supports the VCE hardware.

• Initial VCE support was added on 4 February 2014 by Christian König of AMD to the free radeon driver.^[48]
• Gallium3D state tracker forOpenMAX was added 24 October 2013 toMesa 3D.^[49]
• Thefree and open-source Radeon driver was adapted to use OpenMAX with theGStreamer OpenMAX (gst-omx) support for exposing the VCE video encode engine.^[50]
• AMD employee Leo Liu implementedh264 level support into the Mesa 3D state tracker.^[51]

The software "MediaShow Espresso Video Transcoding" seems to utilize VCE and UVD to the fullest extent possible.^[52]

XSplit Broadcaster supports VCE from version 1.3.^[53]

Open Broadcaster Software (OBS Studio) supports VCE for recording and streaming. The original Open Broadcaster Software (OBS) requires a fork build in order to enable VCE.^[54]

AMD Radeon Software supports VCE with built in game capture ("Radeon ReLive") and use AMD AMF/VCE on APU or Radeon Graphics card to reduce FPS drop when capturing game or video content.^[55]

HandBrake added Video Coding Engine support in version 1.2.0 in December 2018.^[47]

The VCE was succeeded by AMD Video Core Next in the Raven Ridge series of APUs released in October 2017. The VCN combines both encode (VCE) and decode (UVD).^[56]

• Video Core Next -AMD
• Video Coding Engine -AMD
• Unified Video Decoder -AMD
• Video Shader -ATI

• Intel Quick Sync Video – Intel's equivalent SIP core
• Nvidia NVENC – Nvidia's equivalent SIP core
• Qualcomm Hexagon - Qualcomm's equivalent SIP core

• Video acceleration
• AMD IP cores
• Video compression and decompression ASIC

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