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For your orientation we have tested a selection of hardware configurations.
The result may help you to find the optimized hardware configuration for your need.
Download the performace sheet here
We recomment that you read this important information describing the test-procedure:
Tested software:
easyDCP Player+ 2.0.8 using the CPU for JPEG 2000 decompression. The used memory-, storage- and graphics card-configuration had NO impact on the decoding performances.
Test material:
We generated Test-DCPs with white noise. White noise images can be regarded as a worst-case scenario for JPEG 2000 as well as many other image/video compression formats. We generated white noise DCPs for 2K/2D, 2K/3D and 4K/2D. We also used different container-sizes known as Flat (2K: 1998x1080, 4K: 3996x2160), Scope (2K: 2048x858, 4K: 4096x1716) and Full-Container (2K: 2048x1080, 4K: 4096x2160). Even if easyDCP Player has to decode more pixels in Full-Container-mode compared to either Flat or Scope, we did not notice a huge difference in the decoding-performances.
Another effect that has to be considered is a special encoder setting when generating DCPs: easyDCP Creator, for example, generates JPEG 2000 files using Variable Bit Rate (VBR). This means, that, regardless of the maximum bitrate, source images with little details result in compressed JPEG 2000 files comprising a small file-size. On the other hand, source images with plenty of details result in larger file-sizes. Only the maximum size is limited by the maximum bitrate that was specified when encoding the images. When required, the encoder stops to include more information in the compressed images so as not to violate the maximum bitrate. For our worst-case DCPs, the encoder has constantly hit the maximum bitrate, so the data-rate appears in fact to be constant. VBR-encoded DCPs, however, usually show a varying data-rate throughout the playback of the DCP. The data-rate has a very strong impact on easyDCP Player’s playback performance. If a source DCP was encoded with a very low data-rate it may be possible to playback the movie in real-time, even when using a slow hardware configuration. Since the data-rate in our test-DCPs does not vary at all, the measured results show a worst-case behavior. So it may be possible to playback a DCP without any issues in real-time, even if the table shows an orange bullet-point for the test case.
* Quality Slider (QS):
Since version 2.0, easyDCP Player is capable of trading decoding precision for a better performance. Especially, when viewing DCPs (which have 36 bits per pixel) on a computer monitor (24 bits per pixel), some information from the JPEG 2000 codestream can safely be ignored without a significant impact on the resulting image quality.
** Level Skipping:
Using easyDCP Player’s Level-Skipping feature , one or more resolution levels of the JPEG 2000 code-stream can be discarded. Of course, the reduction of resolution levels has direct impact on the playback performance on the one hand. On the other hand, skipping a resolution level will half the resolution in both dimensions. Discarding the highest resolution level is often sufficient to allow for real-time playback even on notebooks.
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Performance measurement easyDCP Player+ CPU/GPU
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6-core CPU |
GeForce 980 GTX |
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50% |
100% Quality |
50% |
100% Quality |
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DCP 2k 24 fps 2048x857 250 Mbit/s |
69 fps |
46 fps |
138 fps |
115 fps |
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DCP 2k 30 fps 2048x857 250 Mbit/s |
67 fps |
53 fps |
137 fps |
127 fps |
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DCP 2k 50 fps 2048x857 250 Mbit/s |
80 fps |
77 fps |
156 fps |
144 fps |
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DCP 4k 24 fps 4096x2160 150 Mbit/s |
43 fps |
39 fps |
49 fps |
45 fps |
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DCP 4k 24 fps 4096x1714 250 Mbit/s |
36 fps |
23 fps |
56 fps |
53 fps |
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IMF UHD 25 fps 3840x2160, 4:2:2 30 bit, 840 Mbit/s |
30 fps |
12 fps |
35 fps |
30 fps |
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IMF UHD 50 fps 3840x2160, 4:2:2 30 bit, 840 Mbit/s |
26 fps |
16 fps |
40 fps |
38 fps |
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There are two different options for running easyDCP Player+/IMF Player.
1. Real-time-playback using a fast CPU.
Allows for real-time-playback of 2k/4k DCP and IMF-Packages on a standard PC/Mac. Use this option if you have a sufficiently fast CPU. The software codec will work on macOS 10.14 and Windows 7/10 64-Bit.
Minimum system specification:
- 6-core CPU
- At least 4 GB of RAM
- Graphics device with at least 500 MB memory attached to monitor (primary graphics card)
- Fast hard disk is also recommended
2. Real-time-playback using a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) as accelerator.
Allows for real-time-playback of 2k/4k DCPs and IMF-Packages *) on a standard PC.
*) limited to lossy with code block size 32x32
This option requires two graphics cards:
1. GPU: Primary device for rendering (OpenGL) to which the display is attached.
2. GPU: Secondary CUDA-enabled device for the JPEG 2000 decompression.
Minimum system specification:
- 4-core CPU
- 1x primary graphics device attached to monitor
- recent NVIDIA GeForce or Quadro series graphics device
- at least 1 GB VRAM
- preferably connected with 16 PCIx lanes
- 1x secondary graphics device not attached to monitor
- NVIDIA GeForce with at least 500 CUDA cores
- least 2 GB of VRAM
- preferably connected with 16 PCIx lanes
- At least 4 GB RAM
- Fast harddisk/SSD is also recommended
The GPU-accelerated codec is only available for Windows, not for Mac OS X.
3D Video output options:
For best stereo video output, we recommend a NVIDIA Quadro device with at least 2 GB memory (e.g. Quadro K600). When using Nvidia 3D vision, the display needs to have a refresh rate of at least 120 Hz (e.g. Acer GD245QH). Alternatively, a 3D projector can be connected via Dual-DVI. This does not require a professional Nvidia Quadro card, but can also be achieved with a NVIDIA GeForce card.
Furthermore, a 3D LCD can be connected via HDMI or DVI to play out stereo in side-by-side/top-and-bottom/line-by-line or other interleaved modes.
HD-SDI output option:
easyDCP Player supports Blackmagic Design UltraStudio oder DeckLink series output devices.
When Option HD-SDI "enable subtitling, color processing and scaling" is enabled, decoded images will first be processed by the primary graphics card, before they get sent to the SDI-output device.
This works best, when the primary graphics card is a NVIDIA Quadro card.
View our performance test:
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What is easyDCP Player + NE and why is this product available?
The easyDCP Player + NE is a special version of the easyDCP Player +.
The additional designation "NE" means No Export.
In this special version of easyDCP Player + NE all export options for a DCP have been removed.
At customer's request, the export functionality was removed for a secured use within studios and post-productions. So the encrypted playback of DCPs can also be made possible for non-production departments or external employees without hesitation, since the lack of an export function means that DCPs cannot be exported or converted into other video formats.
In some use cases, this version is also installed for playback in cinemas. Due to the removed export functions, some film distributors are ready to provide KDMs for an easyDCP Player + NE.
If you intend to use it in the cinema, we recommend to get confirmation from your distributor(s) in advance whether they are ready to create KDMs for an easyDCP Player + NE.
easyDCP Player+ (NE) is combliant to DCI specification but it is not a DCI certified playback unit.
Note: When using roaming operation, mixed use of easyDCP Player + and easyDCP Player + NE is also possible.
How to get the easyDCP Player+ NE: Please download the whole easyDCP Plus Package. The download contains the easyDCP Player+ NE Installer.