[FFmpeg-devel] [PATCH 09/13] avcodec/svq1dec: clear MMX state after MB decode loop

[u-9iep at aetey.se]

On Wed, Oct 26, 2016 at 05:08:56PM +0200, Hendrik Leppkes wrote:
> > One of the highly appreciated virtues of ffmpeg is its efficiency,
> > this makes hardware much more useful. Please do not cut off the low
> > end systems when possible.

> Its not about low-end, its about 15+ years old hardware. At some point

With all respect, I find such an argument hardly appropriate for two reasons:
it is formally incorrect (see below),
it shifts the attention from the functionality/usability to emotionally
charged aspects like age.

I am participating in the discussion as a concerned _packager_.
Nevertheless I am a ffmpeg "user" too.

As a matter of fact I am running several low power units which have mmx but no sse.
Several of them exist for handling video, either for playback or encoding or both.

They have been set up this way because they fit the bill very nicely,
among others thanks to ffmpeg.

The one I looked at recently is manufactured 10 years ago and is not
youngest in its generation. So we have to wait at least extra 5 years
to make it 15+.

> you just have to replace this stuff.
> For $100 you can buy a system at least 10 times as fast then those.
> Heck even a RPi might rival those for $20 or so.

Such arguments can not be passed on to the users without an offer of
a corresponding amount in cache. :)

More seriously, the act of replacement itself has its costs too, in
cases like this one such cost is much higher than the cost of hardware.

(regrettably, this cost or gain is not trivial to convert to a
compensation for the ffmpeg developers, unless video is one's main
business, sorry for that!)

Regards,
Rune