NVIDIA Capture SDK

NVIDIA Capture SDK (formerly GRID SDK) enables developers to easily and efficiently capture, and optionally encode, the display content.


NVIDIA Capture SDK technology is used in VMware Horizon to stream virtual desktops

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The NVIDIA Capture SDK enables remote desktop displays on NVIDIA hardware (local, remote or cloud). It provides the ability to capture the desktop buffer as an image or steam of images that can be compressed as a video bitstream for transmission to remote clients or for storing locally.

Download NVIDIA Capture SDK 8.0.8

To download, you must be a member of NVIDIA Developer Program.

By clicking the "Agree & Download" button below, you are confirming that you have read and agree to be bound by the Capture Software Development Kit License Agreement for use of the SDK package. The download will begin immediately after clicking on the "Agree & Download" button below.

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Linux
Accept & Download Release Notes
 
  • NVFBC has been deprecated on Windows 10 and above for reasons explained in this document. Last supported Windows 10 version is 1803, build 17134
  • Windows 10 provides native capture APIs that can be considered as alternatives to NVFBC. Explore this option (Github Sample).


To run Capture SDK, please obtain a compatible NVIDIA Driver for your hardware.

 


NVIDIA Capture SDK Interfaces

 

What’s new in NVIDIA Capture SDK 8.0.8


    Linux
  • This new package contains some documentation and make file changes to build NvFBC samples on aarch64.
Operating System Linux
Dependencies Please refer to release notes for supported hardware list.

For x86_64 and x86, an NVIDIA GPU driver 455.23.04, or later.

For aarch64, an NVIDIA GPU driver 470.82.00, or later.
Development Environment Linux: gcc 4.8 or higher
Graphics APIs DirectX9,10,11 and OpenGL
 

Key Features of NVIDIA Capture SDK



NvFBC works by capturing the entire contents of the desktop to a GPU buffer without stalling, or interfering with, the other work on the GPU. On Windows, the capture can occur with the Windows Desktop Manager enabled or disabled. This buffer can then be encoded using H.264 or HEVC via on-chip hardware video encoder through the NvEncode API.

 

Enterprise Case Study with NVIDA Capture SDK

VMware Horizon Blast uses NVIDIA Capture SDK, and has demonstrated that using the Capture and Encode SDK improves latency, increases the number of users per server, reduces bandwidth, and lowers CPU utilization. The VMware case study blog can be found here.

 

 

Resources

Getting Started

NVIDIA Capture SDK can be used for desktop or application streaming from a private cloud. In order to setup a private cloud to develop and validate streaming functionality, there are two options

  1. Refer to the NVIDA Capture SDK FAQ for the supported Tesla, Quadro, or GRID product to use with the Capture SDK. Download the latest relevant NVIDIA Display Drivers for install on Windows or Linux systems.
  2. Use Amazon G2 instances for GPUs in the cloud. These are located in data centers in US East (Northern Virginia), US West (Northern California), US West (Oregon), and EU (Ireland) Regions. Refer to the documentation in the Capture SDK on setting up an account and AMI for use.

Code Samples

The NVIDIA Capture SDK includes a collection of code samples that demonstrate how to use the SDK APIs to capture either the desktop or a window and then send the contents to the NVIDIA Hardware Encoder. Reference the NVIDIA Capture SDK Samples Guide included in the download package for more information on getting started.

Developer Forums

Our forum community is where Developers can ask questions, share experiences and participate in discussions with NVIDIA and other experts in the field.
Check out available forums here and here.

Additional Resources