What is the maximum number of encoder instances that can be created concurrently on Orin?

Robotics & Edge Computing Jetson Systems Jetson AGX Orin
1

Hi nvidia，
What is the maximum number of encoder instances that can be created concurrently on Jetson AGX Orin?

3

Hi,
Please check
Jetson AGX Orin FAQ

And it is fine to have 8+ encoding tasks, since this is handled through the patches.

4

When the encoder is created, can we change the bitrate in the running mode?

5

Hi,

Yes, runtime bitrate change is supported.

6

Hi,
How to change runtime bitrate in AGX Jetson Orin? Is there any sample codes?

7

Hi,

Please refer to the sample:

/usr/src/jetson_multimedia_api/samples/01_video_encode

8

On AGX Orin the binding limit isn’t the instance count — it’s NVENC throughput. Two separate things:

Session count is a software limit, and it’s the one answered above: 8+ concurrent encode sessions are fine with the JetPack 6 patches.

Hardware ceiling is the encoder’s rated pixel rate. AGX Orin has 2 NVENC engines, rated (profile UHP):

Module Codec 4K60 4K30 1080p60 1080p30 Rated
AGX Orin 64GB H.265 2 4 8 16 1,000 MPix/s
AGX Orin 64GB H.264 1 3 7 14 930 MPix/s
AGX Orin 32GB H.265 1 3 6 12 795 MPix/s
AGX Orin 32GB H.264 1 2 5 11 740 MPix/s

Source: NVIDIA Jetson AGX Orin Series Modules Data Sheet, DS-10662-001 v1.8, §4.5 Multi-Standard Video Encoder — Table 4-5 (64GB), Table 4-6 (32GB).

The arithmetic, so you can run it for a profile the datasheet doesn’t print: one 1080p30 stream is 1920 × 1080 × 30 = 62.2 MPix/s. On the 64GB module, 1,000 / 62.2 = 16.1 — which is exactly where the datasheet’s “1080p30 (16)” comes from. So for 2560×1440 @ 30: 2560 × 1440 × 30 = 110.6 MPix/s, and 1,000 / 110.6 ≈ 9 H.265 streams on the 64GB. That last one is pixel-rate interpolation, not a datasheet-printed figure — use it as a planning number, not a guarantee.

Two things that bite in practice:

  • NVDEC and NVENC share memory bandwidth. If you’re decoding and encoding simultaneously, the real combined total sits below the sum of the two tables.
  • Max NVENC/NVDEC clock is the same across nvpmodel presets on Orin, so these counts hold at 15 W just as at MAXN — power mode moves CPU/GPU, not the codec ceiling.

So: create as many sessions as your pipeline needs (8+ works fine), but size the deployment against MPix/s rather than session count. That’s the number that actually runs out.

Per-module, per-codec tables with the datasheet section and revision behind every row, if you want the reproducible version: Jetson AGX Orin 64GB H.265 decode capacity: 22 × 1080p30, 7 × 4K30 – Edge AI Stack