Video Playback Performance

LightAct supports different video formats and codecs. For the best performance, we recommend using HAP codec. For highest quality, we recommend using NotchLC codec.

Video Playback Testing

For video playback testing purposes, we created a minimalistic testing procedure. We repeated the same testing procedure for several different codecs. The goal was to find a codec which works best with LightAct, leading to better video playback performance.

To give this test a measurable quality which could be used for comparison, we came up with the Max videos parameter. This parameter refers to the maximum number of videos we were able to play, without the videos starting to drop frames during playback.

For example, if the Max videos value equals 58, it means we were able to play 58 videos in a single project without any of the videos missing frames. The minimalistic project environment helped us eliminate other possible causes for frame rate drops or missed frames during video playback. We followed three simple steps for each codec:

1. Create a project with a layer playing Max videos through the Play video or Image sequence nodes. For the first test, choose a random Max videos value.

2. Save and reopen the project. In the Sequence window, hit play.

3. Observe the fps and missed frames counter for each video:

   1. if the fps is optimal and no frames are missed, use a higher Max videos number and repeat

   2. if fps is dropping and there are missed frames, lower the Max videos number and repeat

   3. if you found the perfect threshold, repeat the test several times to make sure the result is valid.

The Max videos parameter can be observed in the testing tables included for each codec.

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