Skip to main content

Video encoding could soon get a lot more efficient in Windows 11

Microsoft is bringing a new video encoding API to DirectX 12 in Windows 11. The new API aims to help app developers tap into the raw power of GPUs so that video editing tasks can be more efficient, and speedy.

Now available in preview to third-party apps, the API is native to Windows 11 and should allow video engines to better perform with the modern standards of DirectX 12. Both the N264 and HEVC codecs will be supported, which are two of the most popular in many video editors such as Filmora or Adobe Premiere.

A video editor program open on the screen.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

But how does the new API work? It’s a bit complicated, but Microsoft says that the API takes each video frame represented by ID3D12Resource textures and compresses them into an ID3D12Resource buffer. That buffer contains the slice headers and payload of each encoded frame. The company dives a bit deeper into the technicalities of the API over on GitHub.

Recommended Videos

As for which GPUs support the API, you should not be too surprised. Most modern GPUs are on the compatibility list. With AMD, that includes Radeon RX 5000 series or greater, Ryzen 2XXX series or greater. With Intel, that includes Tiger Lake, Ice Lake, and Alder Lake GPUs. Finally, with Nvidia, the list includes GeForce GTX 10xx and above, GeForce RTX 20xx and above, Quadro RTX, and Nvidia RTX. Support varies by platform, as each GPU has a minimum driver version for this new API.

“We are happy to announce that D3D12 has added a new Video Encode feature to the existing video API families, with a new set of interfaces that allow developers to perform video encoding using GPU accelerated video engines,” writes Sil Vilerino, a software engineer on the Microsoft DirectX team.

This is just one of the latest efficiency features for Windows 11. Microsoft has previously highlighted some of the performance benefits of the new operating system. Under the hood, Windows 11 is able to handle tasks that you have in the foreground a lot better than the ones that you have in the background. The operating system also resumes from sleep a lot faster. We talked about these changes, and more, in our piece comparing Windows 1o to Windows 11.

Arif Bacchus
Arif Bacchus is a native New Yorker and a fan of all things technology. Arif works as a freelance writer at Digital Trends…
Passkeys in Windows 11 are about to get safer and easier to use
Customer using 1Password on their Windows laptop, sitting on a couch.

According to a new Developer Blog post, Microsoft is expanding its support for passkeys on Windows 11 soon, with plans to let you choose how your passkeys are saved and where they're stored. A new API will also allow third-party password managers like 1Password or Bitwarden to integrate more seamlessly into the Windows passkey experience.

With Windows Hello, users will be prompted to complete a one-time setup for each passkey-friendly website using their Microsoft account. Once that's done, you can log in across all your Windows 11 devices using whichever authentication method you prefer -- PIN, fingerprint, or facial recognition. All passkeys will be secured with end-to-end encryption and use your PC's TPM (Trusted Platform Module) to keep them protected.

Read more
Launching Windows 11 apps could get up to 50% faster thanks to this new tech
Microsoft Store Ads on a Dell XPS Laptop.

Windows Latest has spotted a recent support document post from Microsoft confirming native Ahead of Time (AOT) support has been added to the Windows App SDK. According to Microsoft, this could bring major improvements to the launch times of Windows 11 apps. In its own testing, Microsoft has measured a 50% reduction in start times and around an 8x reduction in package size.

The Windows App SDK exists to help developers use classic desktop app frameworks to make apps with access to modern APIs that can be used across all kinds of Windows devices.

Read more
Windows 11 is losing in gaming performance
The Ryzen 9 9950X between someone's fingertips.

AMD’s newly launched Ryzen 9000 series desktop CPUs are finally available for purchase, and recent performance comparisons suggest that these CPUs perform better on Linux than Windows 11, particularly in gaming scenarios.

A detailed analysis done by PC Games Hardware has shown that when it comes to gaming, Linux outshines Windows 11 on Ryzen 9000 series CPUs. Tests using popular Linux distributions like Nobara, which are optimized for gaming, demonstrate higher frame rates and smoother gameplay compared to the same setups running Windows 11.

Read more