Compiled ffmpeg with HW decoding mjpeg (Rockchip)

[Deoptim]

Hardware-accelerated MJPEG Decoding with mjpeg_rkmpp in FFmpeg for Frigate (Rockchip)

I have compiled FFmpeg for Frigate (Rockchip) with support for hardware-accelerated MJPEG decoding using mjpeg_rkmpp. The patch was based on this Pull Request.

Using hardware decoding with the parameter input_args: -c:v mjpeg_rkmpp ... significantly reduces CPU load for MJPEG cameras. Previously, with input_args: -c:v mjpeg in my config.yaml, I observed high CPU usage: "Camera1 has high FFMPEG CPU usage (60%)". After applying the patch and switching to hardware decoding, the CPU usage dropped to "Camera1 has high FFMPEG CPU usage (21%)" (assuming the correct hwaccel_args are set in the configuration).

FFmpeg Decoder Information

deoptim@rock-3a:~$ ffmpeg -decoders | grep rkmpp
ffmpeg version 7.1.1-Jellyfin Copyright (c) 2000-2025 the FFmpeg developers
  built with gcc 14.2.0 (crosstool-NG 1.27.0.18_7458341)
  configuration: --prefix=/ffbuild/prefix --pkg-config=pkg-config --pkg-config-flags=--static --cross-prefix=aarch64-ffbuild-linux-gnu- --arch=aarch64 --cpu=armv8-a --target-os=linux --extra-version=Jellyfin --extra-cflags= --extra-cxxflags= --extra-ldflags= --extra-ldexeflags=-pie --extra-libs=-ldl --enable-gpl --enable-version3 --disable-ffplay --disable-debug --disable-doc --disable-sdl2 --disable-libxcb --disable-xlib --enable-lto=auto --enable-iconv --enable-zlib --enable-libfreetype --enable-libfribidi --enable-gmp --enable-libxml2 --enable-openssl --enable-lzma --enable-fontconfig --enable-libharfbuzz --enable-libvorbis --enable-opencl --enable-chromaprint --enable-libdav1d --enable-libfdk-aac --enable-ffnvcodec --enable-cuda --enable-cuda-llvm --enable-cuvid --enable-nvdec --enable-nvenc --enable-libass --enable-libbluray --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libopus --enable-libtheora --enable-libvpx --enable-libwebp --enable-libopenmpt --enable-rkmpp --enable-rkrga --enable-libsrt --enable-libsvtav1 --enable-libdrm --enable-vulkan --enable-libshaderc --enable-libplacebo --enable-libx264 --enable-libx265 --enable-libzimg --enable-libzvbi
  libavutil      59. 39.100 / 59. 39.100
  libavcodec     61. 19.101 / 61. 19.101
  libavformat    61.  7.100 / 61.  7.100
  libavdevice    61.  3.100 / 61.  3.100
  libavfilter    10.  4.100 / 10.  4.100
  libswscale      8.  3.100 /  8.  3.100
  libswresample   5.  3.100 /  5.  3.100
  libpostproc    58.  3.100 / 58.  3.100
 V..... av1_rkmpp            Rockchip MPP (Media Process Platform) AV1 decoder (codec av1)
 V..... h263_rkmpp           Rockchip MPP (Media Process Platform) H263 decoder (codec h263)
 V..... h264_rkmpp           Rockchip MPP (Media Process Platform) H264 decoder (codec h264)
 V..... hevc_rkmpp           Rockchip MPP (Media Process Platform) HEVC decoder (codec hevc)
 V..... mjpeg_rkmpp          Rockchip MPP (Media Process Platform) MJPEG decoder (codec mjpeg)
 V..... mpeg1_rkmpp          Rockchip MPP (Media Process Platform) MPEG1VIDEO decoder (codec mpeg1video)
 V..... mpeg2_rkmpp          Rockchip MPP (Media Process Platform) MPEG2VIDEO decoder (codec mpeg2video)
 V..... mpeg4_rkmpp          Rockchip MPP (Media Process Platform) MPEG4 decoder (codec mpeg4)
 V..... vp8_rkmpp            Rockchip MPP (Media Process Platform) VP8 decoder (codec vp8)
 V..... vp9_rkmpp            Rockchip MPP (Media Process Platform) VP9 decoder (codec vp9)
deoptim@rock-3a:~$
deoptim@rock-3a:~$ ffmpeg -h decoder=mjpeg_rkmpp
ffmpeg version 7.1.1-Jellyfin Copyright (c) 2000-2025 the FFmpeg developers
  built with gcc 14.2.0 (crosstool-NG 1.27.0.18_7458341)
  configuration: --prefix=/ffbuild/prefix --pkg-config=pkg-config --pkg-config-flags=--static --cross-prefix=aarch64-ffbuild-linux-gnu- --arch=aarch64 --cpu=armv8-a --target-os=linux --extra-version=Jellyfin --extra-cflags= --extra-cxxflags= --extra-ldflags= --extra-ldexeflags=-pie --extra-libs=-ldl --enable-gpl --enable-version3 --disable-ffplay --disable-debug --disable-doc --disable-sdl2 --disable-libxcb --disable-xlib --enable-lto=auto --enable-iconv --enable-zlib --enable-libfreetype --enable-libfribidi --enable-gmp --enable-libxml2 --enable-openssl --enable-lzma --enable-fontconfig --enable-libharfbuzz --enable-libvorbis --enable-opencl --enable-chromaprint --enable-libdav1d --enable-libfdk-aac --enable-ffnvcodec --enable-cuda --enable-cuda-llvm --enable-cuvid --enable-nvdec --enable-nvenc --enable-libass --enable-libbluray --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libopus --enable-libtheora --enable-libvpx --enable-libwebp --enable-libopenmpt --enable-rkmpp --enable-rkrga --enable-libsrt --enable-libsvtav1 --enable-libdrm --enable-vulkan --enable-libshaderc --enable-libplacebo --enable-libx264 --enable-libx265 --enable-libzimg --enable-libzvbi
  libavutil      59. 39.100 / 59. 39.100
  libavcodec     61. 19.101 / 61. 19.101
  libavformat    61.  7.100 / 61.  7.100
  libavdevice    61.  3.100 / 61.  3.100
  libavfilter    10.  4.100 / 10.  4.100
  libswscale      8.  3.100 /  8.  3.100
  libswresample   5.  3.100 /  5.  3.100
  libpostproc    58.  3.100 / 58.  3.100
Decoder mjpeg_rkmpp [Rockchip MPP (Media Process Platform) MJPEG decoder]:
    General capabilities: delay avoidprobe hardware
    Threading capabilities: none
    Supported hardware devices: rkmpp
mjpeg_rkmpp_decoder AVOptions:
  -deint             <boolean>    .D.V....... Enable IEP (Image Enhancement Processor) for de-interlacing (default true)
  -afbc              <int>        .D.V....... Enable AFBC (Arm Frame Buffer Compression) to save bandwidth (from 0 to 2) (default off)
     off             0            .D.V....... Disable AFBC support
     on              1            .D.V....... Enable AFBC support
     rga             2            .D.V....... Enable AFBC if capable RGA is available
  -fast_parse        <boolean>    .D.V....... Enable fast parsing to improve decoding parallelism (default true)
  -buf_mode          <int>        .D.V....... Set the buffer mode for MPP decoder (from 0 to 1) (default half)
     half            0            .D.V....... Half internal mode
     ext             1            .D.V....... Pure external mode

deoptim@rock-3a:~$

Instructions for Using Custom FFmpeg in Frigate Container (Docker Compose)

Below are the steps to use a custom FFmpeg version in a Frigate container (assuming Docker Compose is used, as this is my setup):

1. Prerequisites: Ensure Frigate is already installed and working correctly.

2. Copy FFmpeg Binaries: Extract the contents of the archive jellyfin-ffmpeg_7.1.1-2_portable_linuxarm64-gpl.tar.xz (files ffmpeg and ffprobe) to a convenient location on your single-board computer. For example, I chose /usr/local/bin/ (since I made them the default for my system). If you already have an installed version of FFmpeg, you don’t need to remove it — you can choose a different location to copy the files used by Frigate.

3. Edit the Frigate Configuration File docker-compose.yml:
   We are interested in the volumes parameter:

    volumes:
      ...
      - /usr/local/bin/ffmpeg:/tmp/bin/ffmpeg
      - /usr/local/bin/ffprobe:/tmp/bin/ffprobe
      ...

   (where /usr/local/bin/ffmpeg is our file on the host system, and /tmp/bin/ffmpeg is inside the Frigate container)

   If you start the container via the command line, it should look something like this:

    docker run ...your arguments... -v /usr/local/bin/ffmpeg:/tmp/bin/ffmpeg -v /usr/local/bin/ffprobe:/tmp/bin/ffprobe ...your arguments...

4. Edit the Frigate Configuration File config.yaml:

    ...
    cameras:
      camera1:
        ffmpeg:
          path: /tmp
      output_args:
    ...

   (add the parameter path: /tmp to the ffmpeg: section. Frigate will automatically append bin/ffmpeg to it. By default, Frigate for Rockchip includes three precompiled FFmpeg versions, which can be used by setting the path: parameter to /usr/lib/ffmpeg/5.0, /usr/lib/ffmpeg/6.0, or /usr/lib/ffmpeg/7.0 — these are Frigate’s internal versions)

Link to the Archive

Compiled binary: jellyfin-ffmpeg_7.1.1-2_portable_linuxarm64-gpl.tar.xz

Building FFmpeg for Rockchip with mjpeg_rkmpp Support

If you want to build FFmpeg for Rockchip with support for mjpeg_rkmpp decoding yourself:

• The patch is included with the Jellyfin 7.1.1-2 version. To apply it, copy the patch to the source directory jellyfin-ffmpeg/debian/patches/. Ensure the patch number in the filename is sequential, especially if later versions already include patches with the same number.
• Also, edit the file jellyfin-ffmpeg/debian/patches/series, adding the patch filename to the end of the list.
• I ran the build using the executable file jellyfin-ffmpeg/build-linux-arm64 as a regular user (root is not required) on WSL2.

0089-add-mjpeg-decoding-rk-ffmpeg.patch

[nyanmisaka]

FYI ffmpeg-rockchip has got RKMPP MJPEG decoder in the latest commit.
Still need @MarcA711 to update FFmpeg binary and MPP/RGA runtime.

[MarcA711]

Thanks for mentioning this, I will update today.