H.265 vs H.264 playback at 5.4k?

westwind77 · Feb 4, 2022

I have a pretty decent desktop with an i7 processor, Nvidia 1060 w/ 6gb ram and 64 GB system ram with SSD's.

Using the latest Paid version of Davinic.....

It will play back 4k @ any frame rate in D-Log in H.265 without an issue - however when I try 5.4k in any frame rate in D-Log with H.265 I get significant video studder.

Do you think it will playback smooth if I switch it to H.264 with 5.4k? I know I will have to deal with larger file sizes, but will there be any other drawbacks?

It will playback smooth video in 5.4k when NOT in D-log and when set to 'normal' color as I guess the 8 vs 10 bit make a big processing difference.

Excluding the whole 'there is no real reason to record in 5.4k these days', please let me know your thoughts. (I know there are ways to render the clip in the timeline as well but every time you make a cut it has to render the new clip which is a bit of a pain).

I would just take a flight and find out but we have had bad weather the last few days and will for the next few too.

Thanks!

Saladshooter · Feb 4, 2022

westwind77 said:
I have a pretty decent desktop with an i7 processor, Nvidia 1060 w/ 6gb ram and 64 GB system ram with SSD's.

Using the latest Paid version of Davinic.....

It will play back 4k @ any frame rate in D-Log in H.265 without an issue - however when I try 5.4k in any frame rate in D-Log with H.265 I get significant video studder.

Do you think it will playback smooth if I switch it to H.264 with 5.4k? I know I will have to deal with larger file sizes, but will there be any other drawbacks?

It will playback smooth video in 5.4k when NOT in D-log and when set to 'normal' color as I guess the 8 vs 10 bit make a big processing difference.

Excluding the whole 'there is no real reason to record in 5.4k these days', please let me know your thoughts. (I know there are ways to render the clip in the timeline as well but every time you make a cut it has to render the new clip which is a bit of a pain).

I would just take a flight and find out but we have had bad weather the last few days and will for the next few too.

Thanks!

H264 vs H265 shouldn't make too much of a difference and H265 is a superior format. I would use lower resolution proxies to edit your media then export at the resolution of your choice. A short video on creating proxies with DaVinci is attached below.

For playback of 5.4k media, I find VLC does a good job on my computer.

brett8883 · Feb 4, 2022

westwind77 said:
I have a pretty decent desktop with an i7 processor, Nvidia 1060 w/ 6gb ram and 64 GB system ram with SSD's.

Using the latest Paid version of Davinic.....

It will play back 4k @ any frame rate in D-Log in H.265 without an issue - however when I try 5.4k in any frame rate in D-Log with H.265 I get significant video studder.

Do you think it will playback smooth if I switch it to H.264 with 5.4k? I know I will have to deal with larger file sizes, but will there be any other drawbacks?

It will playback smooth video in 5.4k when NOT in D-log and when set to 'normal' color as I guess the 8 vs 10 bit make a big processing difference.

Excluding the whole 'there is no real reason to record in 5.4k these days', please let me know your thoughts. (I know there are ways to render the clip in the timeline as well but every time you make a cut it has to render the new clip which is a bit of a pain).

I would just take a flight and find out but we have had bad weather the last few days and will for the next few too.

Thanks!

You are talking about playback in Resolve right?

You probably will get better playback if you switch to h.264 but that kind of defeats the purpose. You get better quality with h.265 and that’s what’s required for 10 bit which does make a big difference so don’t do that.

Just turn on proxy playback in resolve when you need smooth playback and turn it off when you don’t. You can choose half or quarter playback which will certainly playback better. Your proxy playback doesn’t affect your output and it doesn’t create new files or take up space so there’s your no brainer best option.

Your other option is to tell resolve to create optimized media. That will transcode your h.265 files to an intermediate codec and it will use the optimized media instead of your originals. It takes time to convert those files and it uses a ton of space but you only have to do it once. This will potentially allow you to playback full quality full resolution in real time but the time it takes to convert the files and the space it takes up usually isn’t worth it. This option is best for when you have a way underpowered machine and you can still use proxy playback on top of it. Doesn’t seem like you are at that point yet.

Use proxy playback as needed it’s a no brainer for your situation

brett8883 · Feb 4, 2022

Saladshooter said:
H264 vs H265 shouldn't make too much of a difference and H265 is a superior format. I would use lower resolution proxies to edit your media then export at the resolution of your choice. A short video on creating proxies with DaVinci is attached below.

For playback of 5.4k media, I find VLC does a good job on my computer.

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Ok that’s actually a different way to do proxies in resolve and not what I was talking about. For my method just go to playback> On the top bar

Then proxy mode> and choose a proxy playback resolution. That way you aren’t making new copies of the media it’s just rendering the playback in a lower resolution which is saved to ram. Best of both worlds. The method in the video above is if you really really have a very under powered machine. Probably not needed in this case.

brett8883 · Feb 4, 2022

Here’s a video of what I was talking about.

The important thing to know here is you can turn this on and off as you please. So if you are cutting footage together and you want to see how the video plays, turn it on, when you are in the color page and color grading you may want to see the full resolution so you can get the color right but playback isn’t really that important so turn it off. The truth is you’ll hardly notice a difference at half resolution because the playback window isn’t usually full screen anyway but your computer will be working half as hard to play back.

Dave Maine · Feb 5, 2022

Note that as far as image quality is concerned, h264 and h265 are identical. The difference is only in file size. H265 allows files to be between 50% and 75% smaller for the same quality. The tradeoff for this is files that are much harder to play back, needing a much beefer computer, preferably with hardware decoding for the h265 material.

Saladshooter · Feb 5, 2022

Dave Maine said:
Note that as far as image quality is concerned, h264 and h265 are identical. The difference is only in file size. H265 allows files to be between 50% and 75% smaller for the same quality. The tradeoff for this is files that are much harder to play back, needing a much beefer computer, preferably with hardware decoding for the h265 material.

They are not nearly the same..... h265 was developed because it retains more detail, particularly in areas of movement. Whether or not you can see the difference when casually viewing is another thing. We mostly view our content through compressed streaming sources, Youtube and others. These sources throw so much of the image out that it doesn't matter what codec produces them. Without a doubt h264 is more than adequate for most work that drone footage is used for.

RealSting · Mar 26, 2022

Or try reducing your timeline in Resolve to 2K for the edit and then put it back to 4K when you export. That way you keep all that 10 bit goodness and don‘t have to resort to H.264 Or proxies and all that malarkey! That’s what I’ve done on my aging 2013 MacPro (slower than your machine) and it edits pretty well. Obviously the ‘Gotcha’ is the in export time.. but go for a coffee or down the pub!

LoTiTo · Apr 10, 2022

Dave Maine said:
Note that as far as image quality is concerned, h264 and h265 are identical. The difference is only in file size. H265 allows files to be between 50% and 75% smaller for the same quality. The tradeoff for this is files that are much harder to play back, needing a much beefer computer, preferably with hardware decoding for the h265 material.

Yes, however DJI implemented the h265 with the same bitrate as the h264, so both will have similar file sizes, but the h265 will offer better image quality.

Screaming Eagles · Apr 13, 2022

westwind77 said:
I have a pretty decent desktop with an i7 processor, Nvidia 1060 w/ 6gb ram and 64 GB system ram with SSD's.

Using the latest Paid version of Davinic.....

It will play back 4k @ any frame rate in D-Log in H.265 without an issue - however when I try 5.4k in any frame rate in D-Log with H.265 I get significant video studder.

Do you think it will playback smooth if I switch it to H.264 with 5.4k? I know I will have to deal with larger file sizes, but will there be any other drawbacks?

It will playback smooth video in 5.4k when NOT in D-log and when set to 'normal' color as I guess the 8 vs 10 bit make a big processing difference.

Excluding the whole 'there is no real reason to record in 5.4k these days', please let me know your thoughts. (I know there are ways to render the clip in the timeline as well but every time you make a cut it has to render the new clip which is a bit of a pain).

I would just take a flight and find out but we have had bad weather the last few days and will for the next few too.

Thanks!

I had this same issue, I removed my SD card and ran the internal memory and no more stutter in 5.4k. Get the fastest SD card available and you shouldn't have any issues.

test2000Anafi · Apr 22, 2022

Buy the cheapest M1 Mac you can find if you want to edit up to 8K video without any active fans or stutters.

Check some YouTube videos

westwind77 · May 17, 2022

So....I went ahead an upgraded my 6GB 1060 to a 12GB 3060 the other day, and wow, what a huge difference!

Even using my 'old' MPP 4k files if I tried to play the video with any noise reduction or sharpening it would be un-watchable in Davinci Studio.

Not only can the new 3060 handle the above no sweat, it can also handle the 2s 5.4k video playback in full res even with noise reduction and sharpening applied as well.

This new card is a beast!

My PSU is border line and I received a new one, but need a power adapter for one plug for my Raid controller so just being 'good' with the card for now.

I am finally glad I was able to get my hand on a new 3060 without the crazy mark ups!

jackalope · May 17, 2022

Da Vinci resolve may not be using the full capability of the NVDEC decoder. Try updating your Nvidia driver

westwind77 · May 17, 2022

jackalope said:
Da Vinci resolve may not be using the full capability of the NVDEC decoder. Try updating your Nvidia driver

My graphics drivers are and always have been up-to-date with the old 1060 and the new 3060. The 1060 just does not have the power to handle 5.4k files, not any enhancements to lower res files. Not surprising at the 1060 was released about 6 years ago.

karlblessing · May 18, 2022

Ps : if we're talking about the free version of resolve. It does not include hardware accelerated decoding for either h264 or h265. Since h265 requires nearly 8x more processing to decode that can be quite cumbersome on a program that intentionally forces software decoding. Options are to transcode (to ProRes or dnxhr), use optimized media, or the easier route of proxying. But will still have the slow down when it comes to rendering out.

Only the (paid) studio version utilizes nvenc.

westwind77 · May 18, 2022

karlblessing said:
Ps : if we're talking about the free version of resolve. It does not include hardware accelerated decoding for either h264 or h265. Since h265 requires nearly 8x more processing to decode that can be quite cumbersome on a program that intentionally forces software decoding. Options are to transcode (to ProRes or dnxhr), use optimized media, or the easier route of proxying. But will still have the slow down when it comes to rendering out.

Only the (paid) studio version utilizes nvenc.

I'm running the paid (studio) version. I was with the 1060 and now the 3060. Apples to apples as they say.

karlblessing · May 18, 2022

westwind77 said:
I'm running the paid (studio) version. I was with the 1060 and now the 3060. Apples to apples as they say.

Are you using the (Nvidia) Studio drivers, or the GRD (Game Ready Drivers), if you have GeForce experience installed you can change the option for which it checks for, otherwise you can download the studio version of the driver direct from the Nvidia website. But keep in mind even 4K 10-bit without any proxying or caching may not play back in real time in Resolve especially if you already have some grading done, there's also a preference that you may have to enable under program setting to turn on H26x acceleration.

westwind77 · May 19, 2022

karlblessing said:
Are you using the (Nvidia) Studio drivers, or the GRD (Game Ready Drivers), if you have GeForce experience installed you can change the option for which it checks for, otherwise you can download the studio version of the driver direct from the Nvidia website. But keep in mind even 4K 10-bit without any proxying or caching may not play back in real time in Resolve especially if you already have some grading done, there's also a preference that you may have to enable under program setting to turn on H26x acceleration.

Yes, I am and have been using the Studio Drivers. With the new 3060 card I can make a lot of adjustments/changes and it plays smooth.