InterDigital Inc (IDCC)

[Monterey2000]

IDCC may have the technology Meta needs for its MSVP ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) chip.

Interdigital Deep Video and M2M Compression

Deep Video and M2M Compression
Efficient video compression is critical for the storage and transmission of growing video content, especially as deep learning-based approaches have quickly caught up with traditional approaches for image compression. InterDigital is a leader in the design of disruptive video codecs based on deep learning techniques. Building on top of its open sourced library CompressAI, Interdigital also offers solutions suited for interpretation by other neural networks or machines, like IoT devices.

High Efficiency Video Coding

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
HEVC / H.265 / MPEG-H Part 2
High efficiency video coding
Status In force
First published 7 June 2013
Latest version 8.0
22 August 2021
Organization ITU-T, ISO, IEC
Committee SG16 (Secretary: Simao Campos) (VCEG), MPEG
Base standards H.261, H.262, H.263, H.264, MPEG-1
Related standards H.266, MPEG-5
Domain Video compression
License MPEG LA[1]
Website www.itu.int/rec/T-REC-H.265
High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), also known as H.265 and MPEG-H Part 2, is a video compression standard designed as part of the MPEG-H project as a successor to the widely used Advanced Video Coding (AVC, H.264, or MPEG-4 Part 10). In comparison to AVC, HEVC offers from 25% to 50% better data compression at the same level of video quality, or substantially improved video quality at the same bit rate. It supports resolutions up to 8192×4320, including 8K UHD, and unlike the primarily 8-bit AVC, HEVC's higher fidelity Main 10 profile has been incorporated into nearly all supporting hardware.

While AVC uses the integer discrete cosine transform (DCT) with 4×4 and 8×8 block sizes, HEVC uses both integer DCT and discrete sine transform (DST) with varied block sizes between 4×4 and 32×32. The High Efficiency Image Format (HEIF) is based on HEVC.[2] As of 2019, HEVC is used by 43% of video developers, and is the second most widely used video coding format after AVC.[3]

Meta Discloses Its Second Custom Processor, And This Should Interest Investors

MSVP: Meta Scalable Video Processor

MTIA isn't Meta's first custom silicon. The MSVP, or "Meta Scalable Video Processor," is in production. A few details on the video transcoder emerged last year, but the company has decided to disclose even more today.

According to Meta, Facebook users spend 50% of their time watching 4B videos per day. Each video gets compressed after being uploaded, stored, and then decompressed into a suitable format when the user wants to view it. Those videos are transcoded (compressed/decompressed) using standard formats like H.264 and VP9. The trick is to make the file small quickly, store it quickly, and stream it at the highest quality for the appropriate device (i.e., phone, tablet, PC) at the highest quality possible.

This type of workload characteristic is perfect for an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), a workload that needs the highest efficiency across a fixed standard. ASICs are the most efficient but not as programmable as a CPU or GPU. When the video standard changes from H.264 and VP9 to AV1, which is likely to happen in the future, Meta will need to create a new ASIC, a new version of MSVP.

Meta said that in the future, it will be optimizing for "short-form videos, enabling efficient delivery of generative AI, AR/VR, and other metaverse content." You can find an MSVP focused-write-up here.