Changes/VA-API 1.0.0

VA-API 1.0.0

Summary

This change is about upgrading libva and others to version 2.0. This change affects several multimedia players as there are both API and ABI changes. This will allow some VA-API backends to be updated, improving support for recent hardware.

Owner

• Name: Nicolas Chauvet
• Email: kwizart - at - fedoraproject.org
• Release notes owner:
• Product: Spins / Workstation
• Responsible WG: Desktop

Current status

• Targeted release: Fedora 28
• Last updated: 2018-01-29
• Tracker bug: <will be assigned by the Wrangler>

Detailed Description

Updating to VA-API 1.0.0 will allow to fix and clean-up issues with the API as sum-up in this upstream topic VA-API 1.0.0:

• fix errors in API/data structure definition, e.g. 01org#32
• add new features, e.g. 01org#69,
• deprecate some useless API/data structures, e.g. libva-tpi, libva-egl.
• provide other improvement, e.g. use portable type to define data structure.

All packages using libva will be rebuilt to take into account the new API/ABI. Futhermore, the intel backend will be updated along (not provided by Fedora). Others VA-API backend such the AMD and NVIDIA backend provided by Fedora within mesa-dri-drivers will work as appropriate. Bridges between VA-API and VDPAU will continue to be supported , this is:

• libva-vdpau-driver which allows to use the VA-API enabled players with VDPAU backend (such as NVIDIA binary driver).
• libvdpau-va-gl which allows to use the VDPAU API enabled players with VA-API backends (such as intel driver).

Benefit to Fedora

Fedora will provide a better multimedia experience on recent hardware.

Scope

• Proposal owners:

Update and rebuild packages that depend on libva. DONE

Verify that everything is working as appropriate or report issue upstream. TESTING IN PROGRESS.

• Other developers: N/A

• Release engineering: #7285

• List of deliverables: N/A

• Policies and guidelines: N/A

• Trademark approval: N/A

Upgrade/compatibility impact

Users should update to the more recent version provided in repositories.

How To Test

• Hardware that are fully supported in Fedora:

AMD with mesa-dri-drivers installed

• Hardware that are fully supported in Fedora, but requires additional firmware

NVIDIA with mesa-dri-drivers installed and nouveau video firmware extracted from the NVIDIA binary driver.

• Hardware that requires package provided by third party repository.

Intel HD graphics hardwares require a separate libva-intel-driver package that need to be installed. This VA-API backend can be downloaded from a single purpose f28-free-drivers repository provided by the RPM Fusion project.

• vainfo should output the VA-API backend capabilities for your hardware

• totem with gstreamer1-vaapi installed should play the video with less CPU usage than when VAAPI backend is disabled.

User Experience

Users use less CPU resources when playing certain videos with VA-API enabled players.

Dependencies

N/A

Contingency Plan

• If a Fedora application trigger any un-acceptable regression with VA-API, this application will be built with VA-API support disabled until the VA-API support can be restored.
• Contingency mechanism:
• Contingency deadline: N/A (not a System Wide Change)
• Blocks release? N/A
• Blocks product? None

Documentation

• https://github.com/intel/libva/issues/72