Video Wall: GPU-Assisted Acceleration

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(Updated 2016.10.03)

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Introduction

GPU-Assisted Acceleration is a feature where the onboard GPU can aide the rendering of certain video wall content. This application is most useful when displaying HTML5, Flash, or WebGL content in a Web Browser session, which is typical for digital signage and kiosks.

Requirements and Setup

To support this feature, the following requirements and caveats must be met:

1. Use any one of the following CPU/GPU chipsets:

• Intel® 4th Gen HD GPU (max video wall canvas 4096x4096 pixels)
• Intel® 3rd Gen HD GPU (max video wall canvas 2048x2048 pixels)
• Intel® 2nd Gen HD GPU (max video wall canvas 1920x1080 pixels)

2. Configure a video wall with the Enable GPU-Assisted Acceleration checkbox enabled.

Note: Only one video wall can have this feature enabled. If you enable a second video wall with this feature, the first video wall will no longer access the GPU.

Note: If the checkbox is disabled, system GPU is not compatible with this feature.

3. The video wall should be assigned to a supported session container (Web Browser, or Cloud Desktop, or Rise Vision, or Signagelive Player, or NetDisplay PADS4, or UIEvolution Player)

(Only these session container types support this feature)

Verification

After its enabled, assign a compatible session container to your video wall and use the intel_gpu_top utility to confirm that GPU-Assisted Acceleration is working.
To do so:

• Open terminal as root user, and run the following command:

$ intel_gpu_top

The output looks something like:

                  render busy:  50%:  █████████              render space: 2/4096
               bitstream busy:   7%:  █                      bitstream space: 3/4096
                 blitter busy:   0%:                         blitter space: 0/4096

You should find render busy value to be non-zero. The field “render busy” reflects actual GPU utilization.

Please Note: DO NOT leave the intel_gpu_top program running for more than a few minutes. Leaving it active while running a video wall can affect overall stability.

Related Links

• Configuring Video Wall
• Station Mapping Guide