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+# Video Transcoding Benchmark
+
+A simple CLI tool to benchmark video transcoding performance on your system. Measures how many simultaneous 1080p video streams can be transcoded in real-time or better.
+
+## Features
+
+- **Hardware Acceleration Support**: Automatically detects and uses available hardware acceleration:
+  - NVIDIA NVENC (CUDA)
+  - Intel Quick Sync Video (QSV)
+  - AMD AMF/VCE
+  - Apple VideoToolbox (macOS/iOS ARM)
+  - VA-API (Linux Intel/AMD)
+  - Falls back to software encoding (libx264) if no hardware acceleration available
+
+- **Cross-Platform**: Works on Linux, macOS, and Windows
+- **Cross-Architecture**: Supports both Intel/AMD x86_64 and ARM architectures
+- **Simple Output**: Produces a single number representing transcoding capacity
+
+## Requirements
+
+- Python 3.6+
+- FFmpeg (with hardware acceleration support compiled in if desired)
+
+## Installation
+
+### 1. Install FFmpeg
+
+#### Ubuntu/Debian
+```bash
+sudo apt update
+sudo apt install ffmpeg
+```
+
+For hardware acceleration support:
+```bash
+# Intel QSV
+sudo apt install intel-media-va-driver-non-free
+
+# NVIDIA NVENC (requires NVIDIA drivers)
+# Already supported if NVIDIA drivers are installed
+
+# AMD VA-API
+sudo apt install mesa-va-drivers
+```
+
+#### macOS
+```bash
+brew install ffmpeg
+```
+
+#### Windows
+Download from [ffmpeg.org](https://ffmpeg.org/download.html) or use:
+```bash
+choco install ffmpeg
+```
+
+### 2. Make the script executable (Linux/macOS)
+```bash
+chmod +x transcode_bench.py
+```
+
+## Usage
+
+### Basic Usage
+```bash
+python3 transcode_bench.py
+```
+
+This will:
+1. Detect available hardware acceleration
+2. Generate a 30-second 1080p test video
+3. Run benchmarks to find the maximum number of simultaneous streams
+4. Output the result
+
+### Command-Line Options
+
+```bash
+python3 transcode_bench.py [OPTIONS]
+
+Options:
+  --duration SECONDS    Test video duration (default: 30)
+  --input FILE          Use existing video file instead of generating one
+  --min-fps FPS         Minimum FPS to consider real-time (default: 30.0)
+  --help                Show help message
+```
+
+### Examples
+
+**Use a shorter test video (faster benchmark):**
+```bash
+python3 transcode_bench.py --duration 10
+```
+
+**Use your own video file:**
+```bash
+python3 transcode_bench.py --input /path/to/your/video.mp4
+```
+
+**Set a different real-time threshold (e.g., 60fps):**
+```bash
+python3 transcode_bench.py --min-fps 60
+```
+
+## Output
+
+The benchmark will display progress as it searches for the maximum number of streams, then output a final score:
+
+```
+==============================================================
+Video Transcoding Benchmark
+==============================================================
+Detected acceleration: NVIDIA NVENC
+Encoder: h264_nvenc
+Generating 30s 1080p test video...
+
+Benchmarking with NVIDIA NVENC...
+Finding maximum simultaneous 1080p streams at real-time or better...
+
+Testing 32 simultaneous streams...  (avg 87.3 fps)
+Testing 48 simultaneous streams...  (avg 58.2 fps)
+Testing 56 simultaneous streams...  (avg 24.1 fps - below real-time)
+Testing 52 simultaneous streams...  (avg 45.7 fps)
+Testing 54 simultaneous streams...  (avg 32.8 fps)
+Testing 55 simultaneous streams...  (avg 28.9 fps - below real-time)
+
+==============================================================
+BENCHMARK RESULTS
+==============================================================
+Hardware Acceleration: NVIDIA NVENC
+Maximum Simultaneous 1080p Streams: 54
+(at 30.0 FPS or better)
+==============================================================
+
+Benchmark Score: 54
+```
+
+## How It Works
+
+1. **Detection**: Scans for available hardware encoders in your FFmpeg build
+2. **Test Video**: Generates a synthetic 1080p video with test patterns
+3. **Binary Search**: Uses binary search to efficiently find the maximum number of streams that can be transcoded simultaneously while maintaining real-time performance (e30 FPS)
+4. **Parallel Execution**: Runs multiple FFmpeg processes in parallel to simulate concurrent transcoding workloads
+
+## Interpreting Results
+
+The "Benchmark Score" represents how many 1080p video streams your system can transcode simultaneously while maintaining real-time or better performance. This is useful for:
+
+- Comparing hardware performance
+- Capacity planning for video processing workloads
+- Evaluating hardware acceleration effectiveness
+
+**Typical scores:**
+- Software (CPU only): 1-4 streams
+- Entry-level GPU: 5-15 streams
+- Mid-range GPU: 15-40 streams
+- High-end GPU: 40-100+ streams
+
+## Troubleshooting
+
+**FFmpeg not found:**
+- Ensure FFmpeg is installed and in your system PATH
+- Try running `ffmpeg -version` to verify
+
+**Hardware acceleration not detected:**
+- Verify your FFmpeg build includes hardware encoder support: `ffmpeg -encoders | grep <encoder>`
+- Ensure proper drivers are installed (NVIDIA, Intel, AMD)
+- On Linux, check that you have access to `/dev/dri/renderD128` for VA-API
+
+**Benchmark fails or hangs:**
+- Try a shorter duration: `--duration 10`
+- Check system resources (CPU, memory, GPU)
+- Verify FFmpeg works manually: `ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c:v h264_nvenc output.mp4`
+
+## License
+
+MIT License