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Cisco Meraki Documentation

MV Encoding Improvements: Smart Codec

This document outlines the advancements in MV encoding with the introduction of Smart Codec technology, which dynamically adjusts compression levels in real-time, doubling video retention for supported cameras while significantly reducing bandwidth utilization for both cloud and local streaming, aiming to maintain video quality.

Introduction 

A standard codec such as H.264 will use one set of compression algorithms to compress a RAW video into an encoded video. A Smart Codec will dynamically adjust the parameters within the compression algorithm in real-time to efficiently increase or decrease the compression levels. On cameras that support Smart Codec, this technology enables us to DOUBLE the retention for most scenarios.

MV cameras use H.264 by default, and starting MV4.15 supported MV cameras will implement Smart Codec encoding. 

Benefits of Smart Codec 

Smart Codec can be beneficial in many ways, not limited to the following: 

  • Improved on-camera video retention (averaging 2x based on the scene)

  • Low bandwidth utilization for Cloud Archive uploads (averaging half based on the scene)

  • Low bandwidth utilization for local and cloud streaming (averaging half based on the scene)

  • Faster file exports 

As Smart Codec aims at reducing the overall size required to store videos, any action where video file sizes have an effect will be improved. 

Retention Improvements with Smart Codec 

Smart Codec aims at offering up to twice as much video retention improvement on our Gen2 and Gen3 MV product line. This would mean that a camera running a specific resolution and video quality setting will experience an approximate improvement of 2x the retention when upgraded to a firmware supporting Smart Codec. 

One of the main factors that influence the compression algorithm is the amount of motion seen by the camera at a given time. As every camera sees a different scene and, thus, a different amount of motion, the benefits of Smart Codec will also vary with other cameras. 

Due to the dynamic nature of Smart Codec, every camera will not see the exact amount of retention as it will be dependent on the scene the camera is looking at. However, all cameras will see improvements in retention. 

The following factors can affect the retention of a Smart Codec-enabled camera: 

  • Amount of motion seen throughout the day

  • The camera is in day or night mode

  • Lightning condition and noise level in the frame

With the rollout of Smart Codec, the Quality and Retention page has been updated to reflect more dynamic retention values per camera. 

Screen Shot 2021-12-02 at 10.26.33 AM.png

For every camera running Smart Codec, the retention values will be estimated based on the motion data and storage used by the video over the last three days. This will provide more accurate retention values based on each camera. 

Video Quality with Smart Codec 

The goal with Smart Codec is to achieve maximum efficiency with the compression of video while maintaining the video quality option as set on the dashboard.

Network Bandwidth and Cloud Archive Benefits  

As Smart Codec reduces the size of the video files, we can also notice the benefits of the network bandwidth required by the camera to perform local stream and cloud stream. For cameras using Cloud Archive, this network bandwidth usage will be most visible as seen below: 

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This screenshot displays the network bandwidth usage with Cloud Archive enabled for an MV using 1080p at standard video quality setting with H.264 (top) and Smart Codec (below), where you can see the reduction from 1 Mbps to between 500-600 kbps. 

Smart Codec Troubleshooting 

Different cameras with different retention days

Please note that this is not an unexpected behaviour, as the results of Smart Codec rely on various factors such as motion detection, day and night mode, lighting conditions, noise, etc.

Refer to Technical FAQs for more information.

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