⭐ 2025-03-25 ⭐ The demo has been upgraded into commercially available form factor, please visit https://iccapturecodecs.alax.info/ for further information. This build will stop stable operation (demonstration) as scheduled.
The project is a demonstration of efficient CineForm DirectShow encoder implementation for The Imaging Source's IC Capture software.
IC Capture is image acquisition software for Windows which works with the hardware from The Imaging Source. The advanced cameras offer wide dynamic range (WDR) exceeding 8 bits per pixel component, and this reduces the range of codecs capable to preserve the video quality. For example, DXK 38UX253 model offers 12-bit dynamic range with streaming over USB 3.1 get 1 hardware interface. This camera streams USB3 Vision BayerRG12p (UVC RGCp) encoded video over the hardware interface, which is then expanded into 64-bit RGB encoding using The Imaging Source UVC driver (Device Driver for The Imaging Source USB 33U, 37U and 38U Cameras).
IC Capture is capable to streams video to AVI files either as uncompressed files or via software codecs for image compression. The uncompressed stream is huge enough to be saved directly, and the available codecs in most cases cannot interface well to this kind of video stream. Additionally, performance factor is important when it comes to processing of high bandwidth video.
This codec is designed to address the problem of storage with quality preservation. The codec:
- is based on GoPro CineForm SDK, an open sourced nowadays codec
- is implemented for
x64platform - offers DirectShow interface and integrates well with IC Capture 2.5 for recording, also available for use in custom DirectShow pipelines with WDR hardware from The Imaging Source
- supports The Imaging Source's expanded 64-bit RGB encoding as input signal, and also 32-bit RGB encoding for development/testing needs
- preserves 12-bit color depth and produces CFHD encoding with 12-bit precision (as opposed to other implementation that for technical reasons have to reduce precision to 10 bits)
The coded is executed fully on CPU without GPU acceleration. A better than average CPU 1-2-3 generations older than current should be good enough to handle the feed. The output is huge, make sure that storage is fast enough to accept the data. Since the encoding is truly 12-bit, the CineForm output remains large even at the lowest codec quality, 250 MBit/s and more.
The downloads are in this repository in bin\x64.
DirectShowCineFormCodec.dllis the implementation/binaryDirectShowCineFormCodec.Configuration.jsonis the (optional) configuration file
This includes only the bare minimum for the codec, hence there are some manual steps involved. Specifically, you are expected to manage codec registration and unregistration yourselves, and the codec configuration is non-visual and is offered as a configuration file.
It might be necessary to install Latest Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable Version, especially if there is nothing recent installed in the operating system. The only necessary redistributable is vc_redist.x64.exe. I suggest to skip this step and return here in the case you see a failure with regsvr32 command below.
Download the files from the previous section or, if you are developer, rather clone the entire repository with these files. Have the files placed in local file system (e.g. C:\Codec or whereever it is cloned/pulled to).
Open elevated command prompt (press Windows key, type "cmd" and click "Run as administrator"), change directory to the location of the downloaded DLL and execute the command below:
C:\Codec>regsvr32 DirectShowCineFormCodec.dll
You should see the message confirming successful registration. To unregister any time and clean up, execute regsvr32 DirectShowCineFormCodec.dll /u. At this point the typical problems are either missing redistributable (see above) or lack of permissions in the local system.
The codec is registered and should be visible to 64-bit version of IC Capture as well as other 64-bit DirectShow application. Start IC Capture and good luck with recording!
IC Capture software manages the encoding session in a straightforward way, and hence the recording pipeline can be easily reproduced in a third party application.
IC Capture creates a DirectShow filter graph of the following kind:
The Camera -> Smart Tee Filter [Capture] -> Alax.Info CFHD Encoder -> AVI Mux -> Filter Writer
[Preview] -> RGB Transform -> Video Renderer
A couple of The Imaging Source's internal filters are omitted, as they are optional and are used by the application - presumably - to offer better user interface and statistics during the capture process. "Alax.Info CFHD Encoder" is the name of this encoder.
"RGB Transform" is essential filter for visualization since 64-bit RGB format cannot be presented directly, the application developers need to provide their own filter to act instead of packaged into The Imaging Source's software.
Smart Tee Filter, AVI Mux, Filter Writer, Video Renderer are standard filters supplied with stock Windows as a part of DirectShow infrastructure.
The demonstration is operational until this summer.
The codec submits a summary of the successful sessions online via Telegram API. Depersonalized and nothing fancy, do not get scared.
Processor Count: 16
Frame Size: 4096 x 3000
Frame Rate: 20.34
Session Time: 0.061 + 100.184 + 0.209 seconds
Session Sample Count: 2025 (20.3 per second)
Private Memory: 1.97, 2.78, 1.98, 0.36 GB
Process: IC Capture.exe
Process Load: 42.4%
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DirectShowCineFormCodec.dll 20250125.1 (Release)
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Given the state of the technology, the video feed from the camera can also be compressed with GPU hardware acceleration. It is possible to implement this including in similar form factor for IC Capture software integration, however this is outside of the scope of this development (also IC Capture offers similar options out of the box, however they are subject to limitations and do not allow full quality preservation).
- Microsoft Windows Implementation Libraries (WIL) - MIT License
- Microsoft Windows Classic Samples (DirectShow BaseClasses) - MIT License
- GoPro CineForm SDK - MIT License
- "IC Capture" is the software product created by The Imaging Source, which, in turn, is a registered trademark of The Imaging Source Europe GmbH
- "CineForm" and the CineForm logo are registered trademarks of GoPro, Inc.
- All other trademarks, logos, and service marks mentioned are the property of their respective owners