Difference between VA-API and QuickSync?

With the new Emby server release, I see that there are two options for each hardware encoder/decoder now: the existing VA-API one and a new QuickSync one. My Emby Server runs directly in Debian on a Pentium Gold G5420, identified as Coffee Lake (gen9.5). So what's the difference? Which one is preferred, and why? (Technical details welcome.) Is this an "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" case or a "try it and see what works better/faster" deal? TIA 🙂

By Beebo, May 21, 2021
13 replies

Here's the right table to look at: https://github.com/Intel-Media-SDK/MediaSDK#media-sdk-support-matrix No support for Haswell in IMSDK => no "QuickSync" support in ffmpeg and Emby But you can use the processor's (limited set of) QuickSync capabilities through VAAPI on Linux.