MPP¶

MPP (Media Process Platform) is the hardware encoding and decoding framework for Rockchip platforms, providing 4K ultra‑HD hardware encoding and decoding capabilities. It is suitable for Debian / Ubuntu systems.

Specifications Overview¶

Hardware Decoding¶

Codec Format	Specification	Max Resolution / Frame Rate
H.265 HEVC	Main10 L5.1 yuv444	4K@120fps
H.264 AVC	High10 L5.1 yuv422	4K@60fps
H.264 MVC	—	1080P@60fps
VP9	Profile 0/2 L5.1	4K@120fps
AVS2	Profile 0/2 L10.2.6	4K@120fps
AV1	Main10 L5.3	4K@120fps

Hardware Encoding¶

Codec Format	Max Resolution / Frame Rate
H.264 AVC	4K@60fps
H.265 HEVC	4K@60fps

Debugging¶

Enable debugging:

export mpp_syslog_perror=1
echo 0x100 > /sys/module/rk_vcodec/parameters/mpp_dev_debug

After enabling, when hardware codec is called, dmesg will output the time taken for each frame:

[  893.134037] rk_vcodec: 27b00100.rkvdec:0 session 3705:19 time: 1333 us hw 1312 us
[  893.167444] rk_vcodec: 27b00100.rkvdec:0 session 3705:19 time: 1381 us hw 1313 us
[  893.200503] rk_vcodec: 27b00100.rkvdec:0 session 3705:19 time: 1420 us hw 1313 us

Note

time: total software + hardware time; hw: pure hardware time

Disable debugging:

export mpp_syslog_perror=0
echo 0 > /sys/module/rk_vcodec/parameters/mpp_dev_debug

Hardware Encoding Test¶

Use the mpi_enc_test tool to test hardware encoding. Check results with tail -f /var/log/syslog.

H.264 Encoding — 4K 100 frames:

mpi_enc_test -w 4096 -h 2160 -t 7 -o ./test.h264 -n 100

Example output:

kickpi mpp[3557]: mpi_enc_test: chn 0 encode 100 frames time 3763 ms delay 27 ms fps 26.57 bps 10605252

H.265 Encoding — 4K 100 frames:

mpi_enc_test -w 4096 -h 2160 -t 16777220 -o ./test.h265 -n 100

Example output:

kickpi mpp[3560]: mpi_enc_test: chn 0 encode 100 frames time 4086 ms delay 36 ms fps 24.47 bps 19594276

Hardware Decoding Test¶

Use the mpi_dec_test tool to test hardware decoding. Check results with tail -f /var/log/syslog.

H.264 Decoding — 4K 100 frames:

mpi_dec_test -t 7 -i test.h264 -n 100

Example output:

kickpi mpp[3564]: mpi_dec_test: decode 100 frames time 596 ms delay 25 ms fps 167.53

H.265 Decoding — 4K 100 frames:

mpi_dec_test -t 16777220 -i test.h265 -n 100

Example output:

kickpi mpp[3569]: mpi_dec_test: decode 100 frames time 803 ms delay 49 ms fps 124.47

Browser Video Test (Chromium)¶

Connect a display to the board and run the following command to launch the Chromium video test:

source /rockchip-test/chromium/test_chromium_with_video.sh

If Chromium does not use hardware decoding, run the fix script:

source /rockchip-test/chromium/chromium_mpp_fix.sh

Note

After configuration, Chromium will use hardware decoding by default.

GStreamer Video Test¶

The presence of mpp in the logs indicates that hardware decoding has been successfully invoked.

sudo GST_DEBUG=2 gst-launch-1.0 playbin uri=file:///usr/local/test.mp4 video-sink="autovideosink" audio-sink=fakesink

To enable hardware decoding in GStreamer, run the fix script (network connection required):

source /rockchip-test/gstreamer/gstreamer_mpp_fix.sh

Compatibility Note: On Ubuntu systems, hardware decoding configurations for Rockchip Chromium and GStreamer are mutually exclusive. Chromium hardware decoding is prioritised by default. To switch to GStreamer, run the fix script above.