NVIDIA Jetson AGX Thor - H264 GStreamer Pipelines

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NVIDIA®Jetson AGX Thor™
Introduction
SoM Overview Carrier Boards NVIDIA Developer Kit Auvidea X241 Connect Tech Gauntlet
JetPack 7.0
Getting Started Installing JetPack Flashing the Board with GUI Installer JetPack Components Compiling Kernel and DTB Flashing the Board from Command Line Flashing the Board from USB Performance Tuning Evaluating Performance Set Values Manually Tuning Power Maximizing Performance
Development in the Board
Board Access Methods Using Serial Console Using SSH Using Ubuntu Login Installing Packages
Camera Support
Camera Over Ethernet (CoE) MIPI CSI IMX477 + J20 Driver
Blackwell GPU
GStreamer Pipelines
Capture and Display H.264 H.265
Holoscan
PVA
DeepStream
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GStreamer Pipelines using H.264

This section presents GStreamer pipelines to demonstrate H.264 encoding and decoding on Jetson AGX Thor. The examples go from raw video playback and software encoding, to full camera capture pipelines with hardware acceleration. Performance metrics are provided for each case, tested under multiple power modes.

Note

Tested System: All pipelines were validated on the Jetson AGX Thor Developer Kit using JetPack 7.0 (Jetson Linux 38.2 / Ubuntu 24.04).

For benchmarking methodology, see GStreamer Pipelines Overview.

H.264 Encoding

H.264 (also known as AVC) is a widely used video compression format known for its high compression efficiency and low-latency support. Jetson AGX Thor supports H.264 encoding via NVIDIA hardware encoders as well as a CPU-based encoder.

Available Encoders

Table 1: H.264 Encoders Comparison

Feature	nvv4l2h264enc	nvautogpuh264enc	nvcudah264enc	nvh264enc	x264enc (CPU)
Backend	V4L2 (NVIDIA)	NVCODEC auto GPU	NVCODEC CUDA	NVENC API	libx264
GPU Support	yes	yes	yes	yes	no
Input Memory	NVMM	CUDA, GLMemory	CUDA	CUDA	System
Input Formats	NV12, I420, Y444, etc.	NV12, Y444	NV12, Y444	NV12, YV12, RGBA	I420, YUV420
Output Format	byte-stream, AU/NAL	avc/byte-stream	avc/byte-stream	byte-stream	byte-stream
B-frames	0-2	0-4	0-4	0-4	full support
Notes	Lowest latency	Auto GPU selection	Manual GPU selection	GPU0 only	High CPU usage

Raw Video Encoding

This section demonstrates encoding synthetic video (no camera involved). Useful for testing encoder behavior and CPU/GPU load.

FILE=/tmp/test.mp4
WIDTH=1920
HEIGHT=1080
FRAMERATE=30/1

With x264enc (CPU)

gst-launch-1.0 videotestsrc is-live=true ! \
  "video/x-raw, width=$WIDTH, height=$HEIGHT, framerate=$FRAMERATE" ! \
  x264enc tune=zerolatency ! h264parse ! qtmux ! filesink location=$FILE -e

With nvv4l2h264enc

gst-launch-1.0 videotestsrc is-live=true ! \
  video/x-raw, width=$WIDTH, height=$HEIGHT, framerate=$FRAMERATE ! \
  nvvidconv ! "video/x-raw(memory:NVMM)" ! nvv4l2h264enc ! h264parse ! qtmux ! filesink location=$FILE -e

With nvautogpuh264enc

gst-launch-1.0 videotestsrc is-live=true ! \
  video/x-raw, width=$WIDTH, height=$HEIGHT, framerate=$FRAMERATE ! \
  nvautogpuh264enc ! h264parse ! qtmux ! filesink location=$FILE -e

With nvh264enc

gst-launch-1.0 videotestsrc is-live=true ! \
  video/x-raw, width=$WIDTH, height=$HEIGHT, framerate=$FRAMERATE ! \
  nvh264enc ! h264parse ! qtmux ! filesink location=$FILE -e

Camera Encoding Pipelines

MIPI CSI Camera (IMX676)

WIDTH=3552
HEIGHT=3556
FRAMERATE=64/1
FORMAT=NV12
FILE=/tmp/filename.mp4

With x264enc (CPU)

gst-launch-1.0 nvarguscamerasrc ! \
  video/x-raw,width=$WIDTH,height=$HEIGHT,framerate=$FRAMERATE ! \
  x264enc tune=zerolatency ! h264parse ! qtmux ! filesink location=$FILE -e

With nvv4l2h264enc (HW, NVMM path)

gst-launch-1.0 nvarguscamerasrc ! \
  video/x-raw(memory:NVMM),width=$WIDTH,height=$HEIGHT,framerate=$FRAMERATE ! \
  nvv4l2h264enc ! h264parse ! qtmux ! filesink location=$FILE -e

With nvautogpuh264enc (HW, NVCODEC auto-GPU)

gst-launch-1.0 nvarguscamerasrc ! \
  video/x-raw,width=$WIDTH,height=$HEIGHT,framerate=$FRAMERATE ! \
  nvautogpuh264enc ! h264parse ! qtmux ! filesink location=$FILE -e

With nvh264enc (HW, NVENC)

gst-launch-1.0 nvarguscamerasrc ! \
  video/x-raw,width=$WIDTH,height=$HEIGHT,framerate=$FRAMERATE ! \
  nvh264enc ! h264parse ! qtmux ! filesink location=$FILE -e

USB Camera

WIDTH=1920
HEIGHT=1080
FRAMERATE=30/1
FILE=/tmp/usb_out.mp4

With x264enc (CPU)

gst-launch-1.0 v4l2src device=/dev/video2 ! \
  video/x-raw,width=$WIDTH,height=$HEIGHT,framerate=$FRAMERATE ! \
  x264enc tune=zerolatency ! h264parse ! qtmux ! filesink location=$FILE -e

With nvv4l2h264enc (HW, NVMM path)

gst-launch-1.0 v4l2src device=/dev/video2 ! \
  video/x-raw,width=$WIDTH,height=$HEIGHT,framerate=$FRAMERATE ! \
  nvvidconv ! "video/x-raw(memory:NVMM)" ! \
  nvv4l2h264enc ! h264parse ! qtmux ! filesink location=$FILE -e

With nvautogpuh264enc (HW, NVCODEC auto-GPU)

gst-launch-1.0 v4l2src device=/dev/video2 ! \
  video/x-raw,width=$WIDTH,height=$HEIGHT,framerate=$FRAMERATE ! \
  nvautogpuh264enc ! h264parse ! qtmux ! filesink location=$FILE -e

With nvh264enc (HW, NVENC)

gst-launch-1.0 v4l2src device=/dev/video2 ! \
  video/x-raw,width=$WIDTH,height=$HEIGHT,framerate=$FRAMERATE ! \
  nvh264enc ! h264parse ! qtmux ! filesink location=$FILE -e

Camera over Ethernet (CoE)

Coming soon...

Encoding Performance

Table 1: Video Encoding Benchmark (1920x1080@30) — with encoder hardware utilization

Encoder	Backend	Hardware Block	Mode	CPU (%)	GPU 3D (%)	NVENC0 (%)	NVENC1 (%)	FPS	Latency (ms)
x264enc	libx264	CPU	Default (120W)	37.96	—	—	—	14.45	52.86
x264enc	libx264	CPU	Max Perf	32.98	—	—	—	27.67	28.59
nvv4l2h264enc	V4L2 (NVIDIA)	NVENC (HW)	Default (120W)	1.38	0.42	TBD	TBD	30.61	15.08
nvv4l2h264enc	V4L2 (NVIDIA)	NVENC (HW)	Max Perf	0.78	0.13	TBD	TBD	30.57	12.76
nvautogpuh264enc	NVCodec (auto)	NVENC (HW)	Default (120W)	1.71	0.49	TBD	TBD	30.24	4.75
nvautogpuh264enc	NVCodec (auto)	NVENC (HW)	Max Perf	0.93	0.36	TBD	TBD	30.23	3.41
nvh264enc	NVENC API	NVENC (HW)	Default (120W)	1.17	1.10	TBD	TBD	30.06	4.06
nvh264enc	NVENC API	NVENC (HW)	Max Perf	0.68	0.33	TBD	TBD	30.06	2.93

Note

Tip: On Jetson, hardware encoder/decoder utilization can be observed with tegrastats (look for NVENC/NVDEC fields). GPU 3D (%) typically remains low for NVENC/NVDEC pipelines unless CUDA pre/post-processing is involved.

H.264 Decoding

Decoders Available

Table 4: H.264 Decoders Comparison

Decoder	Backend	Hardware Accel
nvv4l2decoder	V4L2 (NVIDIA)	Yes
avdec_h264	libav	No (CPU-based)

Playback Pipelines

You may use this pipelines to decode the videos recorded with any of the encoding methods of the previous sections.

Hardware Decode with nv3dsink

gst-launch-1.0 filesrc location=/tmp/filename.mp4 ! qtdemux ! h264parse ! nvv4l2decoder ! nv3dsink

Software Decode with xvimagesink

gst-launch-1.0 filesrc location=/tmp/filename.mp4 ! qtdemux ! h264parse ! avdec_h264 ! videoconvert ! xvimagesink

Decoding Performance

Table 2: Decoding Benchmark (1920x1080@30) — with decoder hardware utilization

Decoder	Backend	Hardware Block	Mode	CPU (%)	GPU 3D (%)	NVDEC0 (%)	NVDEC1 (%)	FPS	Latency (ms)
avdec_h264	libav	CPU	Default			—	—
avdec_h264	libav	CPU	Max Perf			—	—
nvv4l2decoder	V4L2 (NVIDIA)	NVDEC (HW)	Default
nvv4l2decoder	V4L2 (NVIDIA)	NVDEC (HW)	Max Perf

H.264 Transcoding

In many multimedia applications, video streams must be decoded and then re-encoded. This is common in:

• Transcoding to reduce bitrate or change codec settings
• Real-time processing such as object detection or watermarking
• Pipeline compatibility adjustments for container formats or playback devices

Pipelines

The following pipelines demonstrate decoding and encoding using various decoder and encoder elements available on Jetson AGX Thor. All pipelines assume the source is a H.264-encoded MP4 file.

Set up common variables:

FILE=/tmp/filename.mp4
OUTFILE=/tmp/reencoded.mp4

nvv4l2decoder + nvv4l2h264enc

gst-launch-1.0 filesrc location=$FILE ! qtdemux ! h264parse ! nvv4l2decoder ! nvvidconv ! "video/x-raw(memory:NVMM)" ! nvv4l2h264enc ! h264parse ! qtmux ! filesink location=$OUTFILE -e

nvv4l2decoder + nvh264enc

gst-launch-1.0 filesrc location=$FILE ! qtdemux ! h264parse ! nvv4l2decoder ! nvvidconv ! video/x-raw ! nvh264enc ! h264parse ! qtmux ! filesink location=$OUTFILE -e

nvh264dec + nvh264enc

gst-launch-1.0 filesrc location=$FILE ! qtdemux ! h264parse ! nvh264dec ! nvh264enc ! h264parse ! qtmux ! filesink location=$OUTFILE -e

avdec_h264 + x264enc (CPU-only)

gst-launch-1.0 filesrc location=$FILE ! qtdemux ! h264parse ! avdec_h264 ! videoconvert ! x264enc ! h264parse ! qtmux ! filesink location=$OUTFILE -e

Plugin Reference Links

• NVIDIA V4L2 plugins (e.g., nvv4l2h264enc, nvv4l2decoder, nvvidconv, nv3dsink): Linux Multimedia API – GStreamer Plugins
• NVCodec/NVENC plugins (e.g., nvh264enc, nvh264dec, nvautogpuh264enc, nvcudah264enc): GStreamer NVCodec Plugin
• x264enc (CPU): GStreamer x264enc
• avdec_h264 (CPU): GStreamer avdec_h264
• h264parse: GStreamer h264parse
• qtdemux: GStreamer qtdemux
• videoconvert: GStreamer videoconvert