nVidia introduced the Video Processing Engine or VPE with the GeForce 4 MX. It is a feature of nVidia's GeForce graphics processor line that offers dedicated hardware to offload parts of the MPEG2 decoding and encoding. The GeForce Go FX 5700 rolled out the VPE 3.0. The VPE later developed into nVidia's PureVideo.
hardware MPEG2 decoding,inverse quantization (IQ)inverse discrete cosine transform (IDCT)motion compensationcolour space conversion (CSC) functionshardware subpicture alpha blendingAdaptive De-interlacing5 Horizontal x 3 Vertical Taps Scaling & FilteringIndependent Hardware Color Enhancements and Digital Vibrance ControlComponent out supporting 720i and 1080imaster sync generator to control the sync levelsinterlacer to output 480i and 1080i interlaced modes and a TV encoder, which operates in digital-to-analogue converter (DAC) mode with Tri Level Sync. VPE supports the first two of these element and all that is required to ship a graphics board capable of YPrPb output is a TV encoder that supports tri-level sync, and to replace the 4-Pin S-Video connector with a 9 pin.geforce 4 420/440 goGeForce FX Go 5650, 5600, 5200, and 5100 modelsVideo Mixing Renderer (vmr)MPEG-2 decode engineadaptive deinterlacingdedicated independent gamma correctionMPEG-2 encode assistDigital Vibrance ControlComponent High Definition component outMPEG-2 video decode engine suitable for DVD playback, HDTV decode, and decoding streaming video up to 1920x1080Adaptive de-interlacingIndependent and dedicated gamma correctingenhanced scaling, filtering, sharpeningMPEG-2 encodeVideo Mixing Renderer (VMR) allows integration of video with other 2d and 3d windowsDigital Vibrance Control 3Inverse QuantizationInverse Discrete Cosine TransformationMotion CompensationColorspace Conversionsubpicture alpha blendingScaling enginedithering circuitThe VPE SIP core needs to be supported by the device driver. The device driver provides one or multiple interfaces, like e.g. VDPAU, VAAPI or DXVA. One of this interfaces is then used by end-user software, like e.g. VLC media player or GStreamer, to access the VPE hardware and make use of it.
Nvidia's proprietary device driver is available for multiple operating systems and support for VPE has been added to it. Additionally, a free device driver named nouveau is available. This driver also supports the VPE hardware.
