Decoding h264 frames from RTP stream

Question

I am using live555 and ffmpeg libraries to get and decode RTP H264 stream from server; Video stream was encoded by ffmpeg, using Baseline profile and

x264_param         


        

Answer 1

I suspect the error is in the convert_yuv420p_to_rgb32() code. Try this:

static SwsContext *m_swsCtx = NULL;
QImage frame =  QImage ( m_picture->width, m_picture->height,
                         QImage::Format_RGB32 );
m_swsCtx = sws_getCachedContext ( m_swsCtx, m_picture->width,
                                  m_picture->height, PIX_FMT_YUV420P,
                                  m_picture->width, m_picture->height,
                                  AV_PIX_FMT_RGB32, SWS_BICUBIC,
                                  NULL, NULL, NULL );
uint8_t *dstSlice[] = { frame.bits() };
int dstStride = frame.width() * 4;
sws_scale ( m_swsCtx, &m_picture.data, &m_picture.linesize,
            0, m_picture->height, dstSlice, &dstStride );

You will need to include/link swscale if you have not does so already.

Note: you don't need SPS/PPS every frame (on keyframes is good enough). But it doesn't hurt either.

Answer 2

Ok. This my simple example, which decode H264 stream, which received from liveMedia library. It can decode frames, which are truncated not only at boundary of frames.

   class H264Decoder : public AbstractDecoder
    {
        Q_OBJECT
    public:
        H264Decoder( QObject* parent = nullptr );
        virtual ~H264Decoder();

    public slots:

        virtual bool decodeFrame(SharedEncodedFrame orig_frame) override;

    signals:
        //sended when we have new decoded frame
        void newDecodedFrame( QImage img );

    protected:
        void storePicture(std::vector<unsigned char>& res);

        AVCodec* m_decoder;
        AVCodecContext* m_decoderContext;
        int m_got_picture;
        AVFrame* m_picture;
        AVPacket m_packet;
    };

And this is realization:

#include "H264Decoder.hpp"
#include "ImgConverting.hpp"
#include <QPixmap>
extern "C"
{
#include <libswscale/swscale.h>
}

using namespace std;

H264Decoder::H264Decoder( QObject *parent)
    : AbstractDecoder(parent), m_decoder(nullptr), m_decoderContext(nullptr),
      m_got_picture(0), m_picture(nullptr)
{
    avcodec_register_all();
    av_init_packet(&m_packet);
    m_decoder = avcodec_find_decoder(CODEC_ID_H264);
    if (!m_decoder)
    {
        QString str = QString("Can't find H264 decoder!");
        emit criticalError(str);
    }
    m_decoderContext = avcodec_alloc_context3(m_decoder);

    if (m_decoder->capabilities & CODEC_CAP_TRUNCATED)
        m_decoderContext->flags |= CODEC_FLAG_TRUNCATED;


    //we can receive truncated frames
    m_decoderContext->flags2 |= CODEC_FLAG2_CHUNKS;
    m_decoderContext->thread_count = 4;//TODO: random value. May be changing can make decoding faster

    AVDictionary* dictionary = nullptr;
    if (avcodec_open2(m_decoderContext, m_decoder, &dictionary) < 0)
    {
        QString str = QString("Failed to open decoder!");
        emit criticalError(str);
    }
    qDebug() << "H264 Decoder successfully opened";
    m_picture = avcodec_alloc_frame();
}

H264Decoder::~H264Decoder()
{
    qDebug() << "ACHTUNG!!! H264Decoder deleted!!!\r\n\r\n";
    if (m_decoderContext)
    {
        avcodec_close(m_decoderContext);
        delete m_decoderContext;
    }
}


bool H264Decoder::decodeFrame(SharedEncodedFrame orig_frame)
{
    Frame_t enc_frame;
    orig_frame >> enc_frame;
    m_packet.size = enc_frame.size();
    m_packet.data = enc_frame.data();

    qDebug() << "H264Decoder: received encoded frame with framesize " << enc_frame.size();

    while(m_packet.size > 0)
    {
        int got_picture;
        int len = avcodec_decode_video2(m_decoderContext, m_picture, &got_picture, &m_packet);
        if (len < 0)
        {
            QString err("Decoding error");
            qDebug() << err;
            return false;
        }
        if (got_picture)
        {
            qDebug() << "H264Decoder: frame decoded!";
            std::vector<unsigned char> result;
            this->storePicture(result);

            if ( m_picture->format == PIX_FMT_YUV420P )
            {
                static SwsContext *m_swsCtx = NULL;
                QImage frame_img = QImage(m_picture->width, m_picture->height, QImage::Format_RGB888);
                m_swsCtx = sws_getCachedContext ( m_swsCtx, m_picture->width,
                    m_picture->height, PIX_FMT_YUV420P,
                    m_picture->width, m_picture->height,
                    PIX_FMT_RGB24, SWS_GAUSS,
                    NULL, NULL, NULL );
                uint8_t *dstSlice[] = { frame_img.bits() };
                int dstStride = frame_img.width() * 3;
                if (sws_scale ( m_swsCtx, m_picture->data, m_picture->linesize,
                    0, m_picture->height, dstSlice, &dstStride ) != m_picture->height )
                {
                    qDebug() << "PIZDETS!!!";
                    exit(-5);
                }
                qDebug() << "New decoded image!";
                emit newDecodedFrame(frame_img);
            }
            else if (m_picture->format == PIX_FMT_RGB32)
            {
                QImage img = QImage(result.data(), m_picture->width, m_picture->height, QImage::Format_RGB32);
                qDebug() << "New decoded image!";
                emit newDecodedFrame(img);
            }
            else if (m_picture->format == PIX_FMT_RGB24)
            {
                QImage img = QImage(result.data(), m_picture->width, m_picture->height, QImage::Format_RGB888);
                qDebug() << "New decoded image!";
                emit newDecodedFrame(img);
            }
            else
            {
                QString err = QString( "Unsupported pixel format! Can't create QImage!");
                qDebug() << err;
                emit criticalError( err );
                return false;
            }
        }
        m_packet.size -= len;
        m_packet.data += len;
    }

    return true;
}

void H264Decoder::storePicture(std::vector<unsigned char>& res)
{
    for (size_t i = 0; i < AV_NUM_DATA_POINTERS; i++)
    {
        std::copy(m_picture->data[i], m_picture->data[i] + 
            m_picture->linesize[i]*m_picture->height, std::back_inserter(res));
    }
}

I send newDecodedFrame to GUI thread, where this QImage will be drawn at some widget.

P.S: This comment is very long for posting as comment's comment