How to get perfect smooth video playback using SVP with RIFE?

[William Sokol Erhard]

This is a super odd issue. I haven't run into it as far as I can tell using RIFE in my Vint software. I am using RIFE in a different pipeline than SVP so maybe that accounts for the different. I've had a few users tell me they feel that Vint is smoother than SVP in their usage so maybe the pipeline is the difference.

I will also note that TensorRT usage is not accurately reflected in overall GPU utilization. The most accurate indicator of usage I've found on Windows 10 is the 'CUDA' utilization graph in task manager but unfortunately that option appears to have been removed in Windows 11.

I hope we learn more about what exactly is going on here so I can determine whether Vint is at all affected and if so, what I can do to mitigate/fix the issue.

[Milincho]

This is a super odd issue. I haven't run into it as far as I can tell using RIFE in my Vint software.

Didn't know your software even existed. If it's using the same RIFE models, how are its results different than SVP RIFE? I mean in terms of smoothness / artifacts quality, not the microstuttering issue.

So far my main problem with SVP is that I have to downscale 4K to 1440p on a RTX4080 for stable 24-to-60fps RIFE playback, even on the most optimized models like 4.22 v2, but I guess that is just a RIFE limit and it's gonna happen the same with your software?

[William Sokol Erhard]

Didn't know your software even existed. If it's using the same RIFE models, how are its results different than SVP RIFE? I mean in terms of smoothness / artifacts quality, not the microstuttering issue.

So far my main problem with SVP is that I have to downscale 4K to 1440p on a RTX4080 for stable 24-to-60fps RIFE playback, even on the most optimized models like 4.22 v2, but I guess that is just a RIFE limit and it's gonna happen the same with your software?

Using the same model, the artifacts and 'smoothness' of the images for a, let's say, doubling of framerate should be identical. Vint does handle non-integer upscaling differently (better) and is integrated better into the video player so the effective result may be improved but images generated using the same model will be deterministic and theoretically identical.

Vint does use newer dependencies for TensorRT acceleration and the pipeline is different so there can be performance differences. RIFE is very high quality but computationally expensive. A 4080 is going to have a tough time running 4k stably. I would recommend scaling 24fps to 48fps instead of 60fps in a GPU limited situation because RIFE is more efficient at scaling integer values. I recommend having more GPU power to create an adequate overhead for the smoothest experience.

I will note, Vint using Lanczos scaling and can produce very high quality (spatial) image quality even scaling 4k to 1440p, interpolating with RIFE, then scaling back to 4k. Personally, I find a 4k bluray scaled all the way down to 720p using Vint's Lanczos scaling looks far better than native 4k streaming from youtube, netflix, or the like.

I hope that provides a better understanding.

[Milincho]

Thanks for the detailed explanation. SVP currently allows to choose different scaling methods: Bilinear, Bicubic, Lanczos, Spline36 and Spline64.

As I understand, your solution works launching a custom configured version of MPV?

Can it work with other video players? I'm not a fan of MPV and use a heavily customized PotPlayer instead, which SVP uses VapourSynth to connect to.

[William Sokol Erhard]

So yes, Vint is integrated with MPV. Essentially all of the configurations Vint does are at runtime so the base MPV install can be swapped out. Unfortunately I haven't integrated support for any other players but I have found that MPV provides the best performance and integration when running RIFE. It should be possible to support other players but that's low on my priority list at the moment. Queues, scrubbing, and features like subtitles and youtube streaming all integrate really well with MPV.

Vint has integrated support for Nvidia VSR and works with RTX autoHDR. MPV also has unique support for variable refresh rate which can be quite useful when interpolating.