Intel's AV1 Encoder Is An Ace For Arc In Game Streaming Versus NVIDIA And AMD

If you've ever done any livestreaming on the internet, then you already know that one of the most important technical aspects of doing so is properly configuring your stream settings. Your selection of video encoder and its bitrate can have a particular influence. Most folks streaming these days are using the open-source Open Broadcaster Software (OBS) and its built-in x264 software encoder. This CPU-based software encoder is generally considered to give better results at the same bitrate compared to GPU-based hardware encoders.

Nobody is using AV1 for livestreaming yet, and there are two reasons for that. One is simply that it is too complex for all but the fastest CPUs to encode in "real-time." That means continuously encoding the video stream at its full frame rate, something that is obviously necessary for live streaming. We can work around that problem by using a hardware encoder, but neither NVIDIA nor AMD can encode AV1 video with their GPUs. There are video cards that can, though, and those are Intel's fledgling Arc GPUs.
YouTuber EposVox, the self-described "Stream Professor," has done a great many videos dissecting the differences between video encoders and their settings. If you're an aspiring livestreamer, you would do well to check out his content, but particularly this latest video, where he got ahold of a Gunnir Arc A380 Photon card and tested Intel's AV1 encoder.

However, the results at 3.5 Mbps—a more realistic upload speed for a majority of the world—are even more impressive. At this low bitrate, encoding 1080p60 video usually results in a blocky, blurry mess. Intel's AV1 encoder produces a relatively clean video compared to x264—and both of these options utterly obliterate NVIDIA and AMD's GPU encoders, which seriously struggle with too-low bitrates.

Does that mean Arc's AV1 encoding ability is useless? No, not even close. AV1 video is still a preferable option for uploading to the internet, and YouTube in particular—YouTube uses the AV1 codec internally, so if you upload in AV1, your videos will complete the "conversion" process super-fast, meaning HD video is ready sooner. Plus, your actual uploads can be significantly smaller thanks to the superior compression ratios offered by AV1.

Besides, it's not likely to be much longer before someone figures out a way to use AV1 for livestreaming. The benefits, particularly at low bitrates, are too big to ignore for long. We expect AMD and NVIDIA to have AV1 encoding integrated in their GPUs sooner than later, but this is still a win for Arc in the interim.