# intel/media-driver

Intel Graphics Media Driver to support hardware decode, encode and video processing.

Repository: https://github.com/intel/media-driver
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/media-driver
Homepage: https://github.com/intel/media-driver/wiki
Language: C
License: NOASSERTION
License Family: other
Last push: 2026-09-02T06:50:04+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 90/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 100, release rhythm 71, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3211, "days_push": 0, "days_rel": 34, "gap_med": 91, "n_releases_24m": 8}
- flags: no_license
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1240, forks 383 (observed 2026-09-03T02:15:12.943562+00:00)

## What it is
Intel's VA-API user mode driver providing hardware-accelerated video decoding, encoding, and post-processing for Intel GEN graphics. It is the user-mode component of the Intel media stack, accessed via LibVA or oneVPL/MediaSDK.

## Use cases
- enable hardware video decode on Intel GPUs in Linux
- accelerate video encoding with Intel Quick Sync via VAAPI
- set up iHD driver for ffmpeg or mpv hardware acceleration
- use Intel GPU for video post-processing like scaling or deinterlacing
- build a Linux media server with Intel GPU transcoding
- verify VAAPI support with vainfo on Intel graphics

## When to choose
- you have Intel GEN graphics from Broadwell through Battlemage and need VAAPI hardware media acceleration on Linux
- you want low-power hardware encode/decode for transcoding workloads like Plex or Jellyfin
- you need the official open-source user mode driver for oneVPL or LibVA on Intel GPUs

## When to avoid
- you are on NVIDIA or AMD GPUs, which use NVDEC/NVENC or VAAPI drivers other than iHD
- you need media acceleration on Windows or macOS, as this driver targets Linux
- you need a high-level transcoding application rather than a driver component

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: active
- function: video-processing, graphics, sdk
- domain: graphics, hardware, media
- platform: cpp
- tags: vaapi, gpu-driver, hardware-acceleration, video-decode, video-encode, intel-graphics, user-mode-driver, video, linux

## Member repositories
- intel/media-driver (main) score 90

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-09-03T02:15:12.943562+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T05:10:03.829251+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/intel/media-driver (fetched 2026-09-03T02:15:12.943562+00:00, sha 05b24d0abd16)
  - homepage: https://github.com/intel/media-driver/wiki (fetched 2026-08-29T12:20:50.187802+00:00, sha ada7e7592aa7)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.