- Conference Article
- 10.1109/icce67443.2026.11449861
Energy-Efficient AI Video Analytics with MPEG-5 LCEVC: GPU-Optimised Results
- Feb 03, 2026
- Guendalina Cobianchi + 3 more +3
The scaling of visual Artificial Intelligence (AI) for applications like smart cities and retail analytics is increasingly constrained by data pipeline inefficiencies rather than model computation. Conventional video codecs necessitate full-resolution decoding and extensive data movement, resulting in unnecessary power expenditure and GPU under-utilization. This paper evaluates MPEG-5 Low Complexity Enhancement Video Coding (LCEVC) [1] as a hierarchical solution that enables "base-first" operation, allowing AI inference to process only the low-resolution base stream. Using Intel’s Deep Learning Streamer framework on an integrated GPU architecture (Intel Core Ultra 7 258V), we quantify LCEVC’s impact in a high-density, eight Ultra High Definition (UHD) parallel AI inference stream environment compared to native AVC. Results confirm LCEVC-enhanced AVC achieves up to 3.4x pipeline speed-up, 71% lower average power consumption per channel, and a crucial 83% reduction in memory bandwidth utilization. These findings position LCEVC as a practical enabler for energy-efficient, high-density edge AI systems.
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