[FFmpeg-devel] [PR] avcodec/nvenc: change default H.264 profile from main to high (PR #22317)

[Diego de Souza via ffmpeg-devel <ffmpeg-devel@ffmpeg.org>]

PR #22317 opened by Diego de Souza (ddesouza)
URL: https://code.ffmpeg.org/FFmpeg/FFmpeg/pulls/22317
Patch URL: https://code.ffmpeg.org/FFmpeg/FFmpeg/pulls/22317.patch

The NVENC H.264 high profile provides up to 16% bitrate savings
(BD-Rate measured with VMAF) compared to the main profile.

Since most users do not explicitly set a profile, changing the
default benefits the common case. Users requiring the main profile
for legacy decoder compatibility can still set it explicitly.

The change is gated behind a versioned define so it only takes
effect on the next major version bump (libavcodec 63).

Signed-off-by: Diego de Souza <ddesouza@nvidia.com>


>From 6b70524cef19cd614a777cafbf3dd2eb4673e4da Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Diego de Souza <ddesouza@nvidia.com>
Date: Fri, 27 Feb 2026 17:47:03 +0100
Subject: [PATCH] avcodec/nvenc: change default H.264 profile from main to high

The NVENC H.264 high profile provides up to 16% bitrate savings
(BD-Rate measured with VMAF) compared to the main profile.

Since most users do not explicitly set a profile, changing the
default benefits the common case. Users requiring the main profile
for legacy decoder compatibility can still set it explicitly.

The change is gated behind a versioned define so it only takes
effect on the next major version bump (libavcodec 63).

Signed-off-by: Diego de Souza <ddesouza@nvidia.com>
---
 libavcodec/nvenc_h264.c    | 4 ++++
 libavcodec/version_major.h | 2 ++
 2 files changed, 6 insertions(+)

diff --git a/libavcodec/nvenc_h264.c b/libavcodec/nvenc_h264.c
index 842e4eef60..2fbd1cad87 100644
--- a/libavcodec/nvenc_h264.c
+++ b/libavcodec/nvenc_h264.c
@@ -57,7 +57,11 @@ static const AVOption options[] = {
     { "ull",         "Ultra low latency",                   0,                    AV_OPT_TYPE_CONST, { .i64 = NV_ENC_TUNING_INFO_ULTRA_LOW_LATENCY },        0, 0, VE, .unit = "tune" },
     { "lossless",    "Lossless",                            0,                    AV_OPT_TYPE_CONST, { .i64 = NV_ENC_TUNING_INFO_LOSSLESS },                 0, 0, VE, .unit = "tune" },
 #endif
+#if FF_API_NVENC_H264_MAIN
     { "profile",      "Set the encoding profile",           OFFSET(profile),      AV_OPT_TYPE_INT,   { .i64 = NV_ENC_H264_PROFILE_MAIN }, NV_ENC_H264_PROFILE_BASELINE, NV_ENC_H264_PROFILE_HIGH_444P, VE, .unit = "profile" },
+#else
+    { "profile",      "Set the encoding profile",           OFFSET(profile),      AV_OPT_TYPE_INT,   { .i64 = NV_ENC_H264_PROFILE_HIGH }, NV_ENC_H264_PROFILE_BASELINE, NV_ENC_H264_PROFILE_HIGH_444P, VE, .unit = "profile" },
+#endif
     { "baseline",     "",                                   0,                    AV_OPT_TYPE_CONST, { .i64 = NV_ENC_H264_PROFILE_BASELINE },  0, 0, VE, .unit = "profile" },
     { "main",         "",                                   0,                    AV_OPT_TYPE_CONST, { .i64 = NV_ENC_H264_PROFILE_MAIN },      0, 0, VE, .unit = "profile" },
     { "high",         "",                                   0,                    AV_OPT_TYPE_CONST, { .i64 = NV_ENC_H264_PROFILE_HIGH },      0, 0, VE, .unit = "profile" },
diff --git a/libavcodec/version_major.h b/libavcodec/version_major.h
index 5eed53e038..5965e7e1b1 100644
--- a/libavcodec/version_major.h
+++ b/libavcodec/version_major.h
@@ -55,4 +55,6 @@
 // reminder to remove Sonic decoder on next-next major bump
 #define FF_CODEC_SONIC_DEC         (LIBAVCODEC_VERSION_MAJOR < 63)
 
+#define FF_API_NVENC_H264_MAIN     (LIBAVCODEC_VERSION_MAJOR < 63)
+
 #endif /* AVCODEC_VERSION_MAJOR_H */
-- 
2.52.0

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