New in Oodle 2.6.3 : HyperFast Encode Speeds

Oodle 2.6.3 now has faster encode levels ("hyperfast"), for uses where encode speed is crucial.

Previously the fastest Oodle encode level was "SuperFast" (level 1). The new "HyperFast" levels are below that (level -1 to -4). The HyperFast levels sacrifice some compression ratio to maximize encode speed.

An example of the performance of the new levels (on lzt99, x64, Core i7-3770) :

Higher CompressionLevels are to the right in the bar charts above; they get higher compression ratios at the cost of lower encode speed. Charts show three HyperFast levels (-1 to -3) and 4 normal levels (1 to 4).

In the loglog plot, up = higher compression ratio, right = faster encode.

lzt99      : Kraken-z-3  : 1.711 to 1 :  416.89 MB/s
lzt99      : Kraken-z-2  : 1.877 to 1 :  333.28 MB/s
lzt99      : Kraken-z-1  : 2.103 to 1 :  280.09 MB/s
lzt99      : Kraken-z1   : 2.268 to 1 :  167.01 MB/s
lzt99      : Kraken-z2   : 2.320 to 1 :  120.39 MB/s
lzt99      : Kraken-z3   : 2.390 to 1 :   38.85 MB/s
lzt99      : Kraken-z4   : 2.434 to 1 :   24.98 MB/s

lzt99      : Mermaid-z-3 : 1.660 to 1 :  438.89 MB/s
lzt99      : Mermaid-z-2 : 1.793 to 1 :  353.82 MB/s
lzt99      : Mermaid-z-1 : 2.011 to 1 :  277.35 MB/s
lzt99      : Mermaid-z1  : 2.041 to 1 :  261.38 MB/s
lzt99      : Mermaid-z2  : 2.118 to 1 :  172.77 MB/s
lzt99      : Mermaid-z3  : 2.194 to 1 :   97.11 MB/s
lzt99      : Mermaid-z4  : 2.207 to 1 :   40.88 MB/s

lzt99      : Selkie-z-3  : 1.447 to 1 :  627.76 MB/s
lzt99      : Selkie-z-2  : 1.526 to 1 :  466.57 MB/s
lzt99      : Selkie-z-1  : 1.678 to 1 :  370.34 MB/s
lzt99      : Selkie-z1   : 1.698 to 1 :  340.68 MB/s
lzt99      : Selkie-z2   : 1.748 to 1 :  204.76 MB/s
lzt99      : Selkie-z3   : 1.833 to 1 :  107.29 MB/s
lzt99      : Selkie-z4   : 1.863 to 1 :   43.65 MB/s

A quick guide to the Oodle CompressionLevels :

-4 to -1 : HyperFast levels

    when you want maximum encode speed
    these sacrifice compression ratio for encode time

0 : no compression (memcpy pass through)

1 to 4 : SuperFast, VeryFast, Fast, Normal

    these are the "normal" compression levels
    encode times are ballpark comparable to zlib

5 to 8 : optimal levels

    increasing compression ratio & encode time
    levels above 6 can be slow to encode
    these are useful for distribution, when you want the best possible bitstream

Note that the CompressionLevel is a dial for encode speed vs. compression ratio. It does not have a consistent correlation to decode speed. That is, all of these compression levels get roughly the same excellent decode speed.

Comparing to Oodle 2.6.0 on Silesia :

Oodle 2.6.0 :
Kraken 1 "SuperFast"   :  3.12:1 ,  147.2 enc MB/s ,  920.9 dec MB/s
Kraken 2 "VeryFast"    :  3.26:1 ,  107.8 enc MB/s ,  945.0 dec MB/s
Kraken 3 "Fast"        :  3.50:1 ,   47.1 enc MB/s , 1043.3 dec MB/s

Oodle 2.6.3 :
Kraken -2 "HyperFast2" :  2.92:1 ,  300.4 enc MB/s , 1092.5 dec MB/s
Kraken -1 "HyperFast1" :  3.08:1 ,  231.3 enc MB/s ,  996.2 dec MB/s
Kraken 1 "SuperFast"   :  3.29:1 ,  164.6 enc MB/s ,  885.0 dec MB/s
Kraken 2 "VeryFast"    :  3.40:1 ,  109.5 enc MB/s ,  967.3 dec MB/s
Kraken 3 "Fast"        :  3.61:1 ,   45.8 enc MB/s ,  987.5 dec MB/s

Note that in Oodle 2.6.3 the normal levels (1-3) have also improved (much higher compression ratios).

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Oodle is an SDK for high performance lossless data compression. For more about Oodle, or licensing inquiries, visit the RAD Game Tools web site. This is my personal blog where I post supplemental material about Oodle.