YouTube Servers Switched to Google-Developed Argos Processors

According to online sources, developers from Google have created a specialized chip for the service YouTube called Argos, designed to provide the best video quality and reduce the amount of traffic consumed. It writes about it the publication CNET, which has received exclusive comments from Google on this issue.

The source says that now there are thousands of new processors running in Google’s data centers. Its help provides a more efficient encoding of new videos, which users upload to the platform YouTube.

The use of new chips can significantly speed up the processing of clips in 4K format. Suppose previously they were available for viewing after a few days, now in most cases. In that case, such videos can be watched after a few hours.

Google first talked about its Argos chips at this week’s ASPLOS conference.

Google Vice President of Engineering Scott Silver, revealed that about 100 of the company’s engineers have been developing the first generation of Argos chips since 2015.

Google has begun introducing second-generation Argos chips, which provide even faster encoding of uploaded clips and reduce traffic mobile users spend watching content.

“Customers have to pay for bandwidth one way or another. Our goal is for people to get the highest quality video on any device,” said Scott Silver.

YouTube servers use boards with two Argos video processing chips.

Video processing is one of YouTube’s biggest challenges. Every minute, users around the world upload 500 hours of video to the platform. Google’s infrastructure must transcode each video and convert them to different formats for different screen sizes.

All of these processes rely on the work of the new Argos chips. Argos processors reportedly process video 20 to 33 times more efficiently than conventional server processors.

Each Argos chip has 10 modules for video processing, and Google places two Argos chips on each board. According to Google, 10 to 15 different resolution and format versions are created for each uploaded video, and the company’s new chips provide this process.

During video compression, the service uses the VP9 codec, which requires approximately 30 percent less bandwidth than the currently available H.264 (AVC) codec for the same image quality.

Along with Mozilla, Cisco, Microsoft, Amazon, and Netflix, Google created the Alliance for Open Video and developed the AV1 codec to be the successor to VP9. The AV1 codec improves video quality by 30%, reducing the bandwidth required for video playback.

So YouTube can stream 4K videos on a suitable channel for 1080p quality with the earlier codecs. The AV1 codec is supported in some browsers, but it will be years before widespread support for it is available.

This primarily concerns mobile devices because even the current mobile chip Qualcomm Snapdragon 888, does not support AV1.