The BEST Virtual Desktop CODEC for YOU?

[00:00] I make a lot of videos related to

[00:02] virtual desktop, like a lot. But one

[00:04] question keeps coming up repeatedly.

[00:07] Which is the best codec to use? So today

[00:10] I'm going to address this question with

[00:12] a comparison under the same strict

[00:15] testing regime where all settings are

[00:17] the same and the only variation is the

[00:20] actual codec itself. Let's get straight

[00:23] into it then. And remember, we're born

[00:24] to respawn.

[00:27] the test. My PC is running a 12th gen i9

[00:31] CPU and RTX 4080 GPU with 64 gig of DDR5

[00:36] RAM. I run a TPLink Archer AXC75 Wi-Fi

[00:40] 6E router in access mode exclusively for

[00:43] virtual desktop to maximize wireless

[00:45] performance which sits at a steady 2.4

[00:48] Gbits pers on the 6 GHz channel. Virtual

[00:51] desktop's PC streamer app settings are

[00:53] as follows. On the options tab, open XR

[00:57] runtime. I am using virtual desktop's

[01:00] own VDXR runtime. Adaptive quantization

[01:03] and two pass encoding are off as they

[01:06] only support the 10- bit codeex.

[01:08] Automatically adjust bit rate is off. I

[01:11] have manually set each bit rate to its

[01:13] maximum allowed so that there are no

[01:16] anomalies. On the advanced tab, I have

[01:18] the horizontal and vertical tangent

[01:20] sliders at 100% with the FOV stencil

[01:24] ticked just to ek out a bit more

[01:27] performance. In headset, VR graphics

[01:29] quality is at ultra. VR frame rate is 90

[01:32] fps. Bit rate is set to the maximum

[01:34] allowed by the codec. For example, H.264

[01:38] allows up to 500 megabits per second.

[01:41] Synchronous spacew walk is off.

[01:43] Snapdragon game super resolution is off.

[01:45] and video buffering is also off. These

[01:49] settings are purely to eliminate any

[01:51] interference and keep the test as pure

[01:54] as possible. I made sure that Virtual

[01:57] Desktop was running the latest build and

[01:59] that there were no interfering apps

[02:01] either. I am using my MetaQuest 3

[02:04] headset and all footage you will see was

[02:06] recorded internally so that you could

[02:08] see the virtual desktop performance

[02:10] overlay in real time. All in-game

[02:13] graphics were on the ultra preset except

[02:16] for trackside TV displays which are

[02:18] turned off and the grid was restricted

[02:20] to 20 cars. That's it for the settings.

[02:22] As I stated, all these will remain the

[02:25] same throughout all five tests and the

[02:28] codec will be the only variable. I will

[02:31] do one lap of Monza in my favorite

[02:34] McLaren GT3 car at midday with the same

[02:37] weather for each test. I will show the

[02:39] whole lap with the virtual desktop

[02:41] performance overlay showing in real time

[02:43] so that you can see how each codec

[02:46] performed. Then I will run the same laps

[02:48] side by side for a direct comparison.

[02:51] The final part of the video will be my

[02:53] conclusion which if you haven't fallen

[02:56] asleep by then will be less

[02:58] science-based and more on the feeling of

[03:00] which codec delivered the best balance

[03:03] of latency and visual performance for

[03:04] me. So, if you're a proper geek like me,

[03:09] make sure to stay till the end of the

[03:10] video for that. Ready? Let's go.

[03:15] H264,

[03:17] the oldest codec here, running at 200

[03:20] megabits pers. It should deliver the

[03:23] lowest latency, but with video quality

[03:25] compromised. Let's see how it does.

[03:31] Yeah.

[03:36] [Music]

[03:44] [Music]

[03:54] Heat.

[03:58] Heat.

[04:00] [Music]

[04:12] [Music]

[04:17] Heat.

[04:21] [Music]

[04:34] Heat. Heat.

[04:46] [Music]

[05:02] [Music]

[05:07] [Music]

[05:13] H264

[05:15] Plus. This is a modification of the

[05:18] H.264 codec, allowing for better

[05:20] compression efficiency and can run up to

[05:24] 500 megabits per second.

[05:27] [Music]

[05:40] Hey,

[05:42] hey,

[05:45] [Music]

[05:54] hey.

[06:02] Heat. Heat.

[06:03] [Music]

[06:13] [Music]

[06:22] Heat. Heat.

[06:24] [Music]

[06:40] [Music]

[06:42] Heat. Heat.

[06:46] [Music]

[07:01] [Music]

[07:12] HVC,

[07:14] sometimes referred to as H.265.

[07:17] This is the successor to H.264 and

[07:20] should allow better compression and

[07:22] quality over its predecessor.

[07:25] [Music]

[07:28] Hey,

[07:34] [Music]

[07:40] hey,

[07:44] hey.

[07:47] [Music]

[07:55] Heat.

[07:58] [Music]

[08:07] [Music]

[08:14] Heat.

[08:16] [Music]

[08:19] Help.

[08:21] [Music]

[08:37] [Music]

[08:39] Heat.

[08:43] [Music]

[08:57] [Music]

[09:09] HEVC 10bit. An evolution of HEVC where

[09:13] the 10 bit refers to each color red,

[09:16] green, and blue being represented by 10

[09:18] bits and evolution required for higher

[09:21] resolutions like 4K and 8K.

[09:32] [Music]

[09:38] Heat.

[09:40] [Music]

[09:47] [Music]

[09:49] Heat.

[09:59] Hey,

[10:09] heat.

[10:16] [Music]

[10:28] Hallelujah.

[10:35] [Music]

[10:38] Heat.

[10:41] [Music]

[10:58] [Music]

[11:07] AV1 10 bit offering better compression

[11:10] and color than older codecs. This is

[11:13] currently the most modern codec used by

[11:15] virtual desktop.

[11:18] Heat.

[11:20] [Music]

[11:30] [Music]

[11:40] Heat.

[11:43] [Music]

[11:54] Heat.

[11:57] [Music]

[12:07] Heat.

[12:15] Heat.

[12:17] [Music]

[12:26] Heat.

[12:33] [Music]

[12:54] [Music]

[13:02] Right, let's sit back and run them all

[13:05] side by side for a direct comparison.

[13:11] [Music]

[13:19] [Music]

[13:27] Heat. Heat.

[13:29] [Music]

[13:44] [Music]

[13:54] [Music]

[13:56] Conclusion. Unsurprisingly, all the

[13:59] codecs performed well with consistent

[14:01] frame rates and manageable latency with

[14:03] my PC and wireless setup. As expected,

[14:06] H.264 264 at 200 megabits per second

[14:09] consistently gave the lowest latency

[14:11] overall between 31 to 48 milliseconds

[14:15] with good frame rate between 87 and 90

[14:17] and an average across most of the lab of

[14:20] 90 fps with 37 milliseconds latency. But

[14:23] to me the visual fidelity was clearly

[14:26] lower. H264 plus at 500 megabits per

[14:29] second had higher latency between 34 to

[14:32] 55 milliseconds. probably due to the

[14:34] higher bit rate. A good frame rate

[14:36] between 86 to 90 with an average 90 fps

[14:40] across most of the lap with 40

[14:42] milliseconds latency. And like H.264,

[14:45] my opinion is that the visual clarity

[14:47] wasn't as good. HEVC at 200 megabits per

[14:51] second had slightly higher latency at 37

[14:54] to 52 milliseconds. Frame rate between

[14:56] 84 to 90 with an average across the lap

[14:59] at 90 FPS with 48 milliseconds latency.

[15:02] However, the visuals were a definite

[15:05] step up from H.264 and 264 Plus. HEVC

[15:09] 10bit and AV110 bit had an almost

[15:12] identical performance with both

[15:14] latencies between 32 to 56 milliseconds.

[15:17] Frame rates between 86 to 90 with an

[15:19] average across the lap at 90 FPS with 37

[15:24] milliseconds latency. In my opinion,

[15:27] both these codecs gave a sharper, more

[15:29] colorful image than the three previous

[15:31] codecs. And if I had to choose between

[15:33] them, it's a difficult one as the

[15:36] differences are very very marginal. For

[15:38] me, after this test, I would choose HEVC

[15:43] 10 bit just for the tiny difference in

[15:45] consistency. But of course, this is my

[15:48] opinion. At the end of the day, it is

[15:50] your choice. Prefer latency, pick H.264,

[15:53] which consistently had the lowest

[15:55] latency overall. prefer graphical

[15:57] sharpness and better colors, then either

[16:00] HEVC 10bit or AV110 bit would have you

[16:04] covered. Plus, for consistency across

[16:06] the test, I had no adaptive

[16:09] quantization, no two passing coding, no

[16:13] adjustment of the horizontal field of

[16:15] view sliders, plus synchronous spacew

[16:17] walk and snapdragon game super

[16:19] resolution were turned off. These

[16:21] settings can have a massive influence on

[16:24] performance, but can also cause issues.

[16:26] I have done a full video on this subject

[16:28] here. So, if this video has piqu your

[16:31] interests, go check it out for some

[16:33] serious performance gains with just a

[16:35] few little tweaks. As always though,

[16:38] what do you think? Do you prefer lower

[16:40] latency over graphical fidelity, or are

[16:43] you like me, a massive graphics tart who

[16:46] must have all the shiny things? You know

[16:49] the drill. Get involved and comment down

[16:51] below. Well, that's it for today. If you

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