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#712·LAVFilters

Cannot hardware-decode H.264 High 4:2:2 10-bit on RTX 50 series

Author: HaulocenCreated Sep 8, 2026Updated Sep 12, 2026

Summary

LAV Video Decoder 0.83.0 fails to activate hardware decoding for H.264 (AVC) High 4:2:2 10-bit content on NVIDIA RTX 50 series GPUs (Blackwell architecture, 6th-generation NVDEC), despite the GPU hardware supporting this format. The "NVIDIA CUVID (old)" decoder shows "Active Decoder: " and falls back to software decoding.

Environment

  • OS: Windows 11 23H2 (10.0.22631)
  • GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090
  • NVIDIA Driver: GeForce Game Ready 616.64 (Thu Sep3, 2026 released)
  • LAV Filters Version: 0.83.0
  • Player: PotPlayer 1.7.23122
  • Video Renderer: EVR (Custom Present)

Test File

The file is recorded by a Sony A7M4 camera in XAVC format. MediaInfo details:

  • Format: XAVC (MP4 container)
  • Codec: AVC (H.264), FourCC: avc1
  • Profile: High 4:2:[email protected]
  • Chroma subsampling: 4:2:2
  • Bit depth: 10-bit
  • Resolution: 3840×2160
  • Frame rate: 59.940 fps
  • Bit rate: ~200 Mbps (VBR)
  • Color: BT.709, Limited range
  • Audio: PCM 16-bit 48kHz stereo
  • Additional: Sony Real Time Metadata (rtmd) track

Full MediaInfo:

General Format : XAVC Codec ID : XAVC (XAVC/mp42/iso6) File size : 5.44 GiB Duration : 3 min 39 s Overall bit rate mode : Variable Overall bit rate : 213 Mb/s Frame rate : 59.940 FPS

Video ID : 1 Format : AVC Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec Format profile : High 4:2:[email protected] Format settings : CABAC / 2 Ref Frames Codec ID : avc1 Duration : 3 min 39 s Bit rate mode : Variable Bit rate : 200 Mb/s Width : 3 840 pixels Height : 2 160 pixels Display aspect ratio : 16:9 Frame rate mode : Constant Frame rate : 59.940 (60000/1001) FPS Color space : YUV Chroma subsampling : 4:2:2 Bit depth : 10 bits Scan type : Progressive Color range : Limited Color primaries : BT.709 Transfer characteristics : BT.709 Matrix coefficients : BT.709

Audio ID : 2 Format : PCM Format settings : Big / Signed Codec ID : twos Channel(s) : 2 channels Sampling rate : 48.0 kHz Bit depth : 16 bits

Steps to Reproduce

  1. In LAV Video Decoder properties, set "Hardware Decoder to use" to "NVIDIA CUVID (old)".
  2. Set "Hardware Device to use" to "Automatic".
  3. Ensure "H.264" is checked under "Codecs for HW Decoding".
  4. Ensure 4:2:2 output formats (YUY2, UYVY, P210, v210, P216) are enabled in Output Formats.
  5. In the player, assign LAV Video Decoder to H.264/AVC1 formats.
  6. Play the test file.
  7. Check LAV Video Decoder status panel and GPU Video Engine utilization.

Actual Behavior

  • LAV Video Decoder status panel shows: "Active Decoder: ", "Active Hardware Accelerator: ".
  • GPU Video Processing Engine (VPE) utilization: 0%.
  • The decoder falls back to software decoding. Output pixel format is YUY2 (8-bit 4:2:2), meaning the 10-bit depth is also truncated during software decode.
  • Playback functions but relies entirely on CPU software decoding.

Expected Behavior

  • "NVIDIA CUVID (old)" (or a newer NVIDIA NVDEC decoder option) should activate hardware decoding for H.264 4:2:2 10-bit on RTX 50 series GPUs.
  • GPU Video Engine utilization should be non-zero.
  • Hardware-decoded output should preserve 4:2:2 10-bit (e.g., P210 surface).

What I Already Tried

  1. NVIDIA CUVID (old) — Active Decoder remains <inactive>. VPE 0%. Software decode fallback.
  2. D3D11 — Also fails. The Windows D3D11 H.264 hardware decode framework only supports 4:2:0 profiles and does not support High 4:2:2 10-bit. This is a Windows OS-level limitation.
  3. PotPlayer built-in FFmpeg decoder (both native DXVA path and "Use FFmpeg DXVA decoder" option) — Also falls back to software decoding, same D3D11 limitation.
  4. HEVC 4:2:2 10-bit control test — A separate Sony XAVC file using HEVC Main 4:2:2 [email protected] (same camera family, same 4K resolution, 4:2:2 10-bit) hardware-decodes successfully via D3D11 on the same system, confirming that the GPU, driver, LAV installation, and player configuration are all functional. The failure is specific to H.264 4:2:2 10-bit.

Related Issue

This is related to #410 (closed in 2021), where H.264 High 10 (4:2:0 10-bit) hardware decoding was reported as unsupported. At that time, the issue was correctly closed because NVIDIA GPUs of that era (Ampere and earlier) did not support H.264 10-bit hardware decoding, and the author noted "High 10 is not the same as High, and unsupported in hardware."

However, the situation has changed. The NVIDIA Blackwell architecture (RTX 50 series, released 2025) features a 6th-generation NVDEC that now officially supports H.264 4:2:2 10-bit decoding. The hardware limitation cited in #410 no longer applies to RTX 50 series GPUs. This issue requests that LAV Filters be updated to take advantage of this new hardware capability.

Technical Background — Hardware Support is Confirmed

The RTX 50 series (Blackwell) 6th-generation NVDEC adds H.264 4:2:2 10-bit decoding support, confirmed by multiple sources:

  1. NVIDIA Video Codec SDK 13.0 release notes (Feb 2025): "H.264 decoding enhancements... 4:2:2 8/10-bit support" on Blackwell. https://developer.nvidia.com/blog/nvidia-video-codec-sdk-13-0-powered-by-nvidia-blackwell/

  2. NVIDIA official encode/decode support matrix: RTX 5090 (Blackwell) is listed as supporting H.264 (AVC) YUV 4:2:2. https://developer.nvidia.com/video-encode-decode-support-matrix

  3. rigaya/NVEnc GPU feature probe for RTX 5090 reports NVDec supports: "H.264/AVC: nv12, yv12, yv12(10bit), yuv422, yuv422(10bit)". https://github.com/rigaya/NVEnc/blob/master/GPUFeatures/rtx5090.txt

  4. Puget Systems testing confirms RTX 5090 can decode H.264 10-bit 4:2:2 in DaVinci Resolve and Premiere Pro, which call the native NVDEC API directly. https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/verifying-nvidia-geforce-rtx-50-series-performance/

The likely cause is that LAV's "NVIDIA CUVID (old)" path uses an older CUVID API version that does not expose H.264 4:2:2 10-bit decoding on Blackwell. A newer NVIDIA NVDEC decoder backend (based on Video Codec SDK 13.0+) may be needed to unlock this capability, similar to how FFmpeg's nvdec and mpv have transitioned to the newer API.

Request

Could you investigate whether LAV Video Decoder can be updated to support H.264 4:2:2 10-bit hardware decoding on NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs (RTX 50 series)? This would likely require either:

  1. Updating the CUVID/NVDEC backend to use the newer NVIDIA Video Codec SDK (13.0+) that exposes H.264 4:2:2 10-bit decode on Blackwell, or
  2. Adding a new "NVIDIA NVDEC" decoder option alongside the existing "NVIDIA CUVID (old)" option.

This is important for users who work with Sony XAVC and other professional H.264 4:2:2 10-bit camera footage and want to use LAV Filters as their unified decoder in media players, rather than switching between multiple applications for different footage types.

Thank you for your work on LAV Filters!

Source: Nevcairiel/LAVFilters

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