.. _edgematic_simaai_encoder:


simaaiencoder
=============

Description
+++++++++++

:menuselection:`Catalog --> PLUGINS --> SiMa Plugins --> hardware_plugins`

:menuselection:`Catalog --> PLUGINS --> Plugin Group --> ethernet_output`

**GStreamer plugin reference**: :ref:`plugin_simaaiencoder`

This is Sima.ai's hardware-accelerated encoder plugin. The encoder plugin is responsible for compressing raw audio/video
streams into an encoded format including H.264 and H.265 (HEVC). These encoded formats are more efficient for storage,
transmission, and playback on various devices.

.. image:: media/plugin_simaaiencoder_hover_name.png
    :scale: 120%
    :align: center
|

Plugin Configurations
+++++++++++++++++++++

All plugins in Edgematic have options and configurations that can be accessed via:

#. The configuration icon on the top right of each plugin (|plugin_config_button|).
#. The source code found in :menuselection:`Explorer --> SOURCE --> plugins`.

Plugin configuration options
****************************

The plugin configurator provides 3 tabs:

* :guilabel:`GENERAL`: Generic configuration options shared among plugins. Usually contains mostly which processor this
  plugin is executing on. In this case, it should state ``CVU``.
* :guilabel:`CONFIGURATION`: This is where the configurations for ``input_buffers`` block and ``output_memory_order`` 
  block could be set/reviewed.
* :guilabel:`ADVANCED`: 

    * ``Encoder width (Optional)``
        * The width (in pixels) of the video frames to be encoded.
    * ``Encoder height (Optional)``
        * The height (in pixels) of the video frames to be encoded.
    * ``Encoder bitrate``
        * The target bitrate (in kilobits per second, Kbps) for the encoded video stream.

Plugin source configurations (advanced)
***************************************

If you wish to directly alter the code or configurations for the plugin, simply click on the plugin on the canvas and
the source will be highlighted in orange on the left :menuselection:`Explorer --> SOURCE` panel.

.. |plugin| replace:: simaaiencoder
.. |plugin_highlighted| replace:: ``simaaiencoder``
.. |plugin_config_button| image:: media/plugin_config_button.png
   :width: 25px
   :height: 25px