# hardware decoder **URL:** \ **Category:** Cameras\ **Tags:** cam-v1-v2\ **Created:** [April 14, 2018, 8:12pm UTC](https://forums.wyze.com/t/hardware-decoder/4411 "2018-04-14T20:12:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@pool](https://forums.wyze.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2018, 8:12pm UTC](https://forums.wyze.com/t/hardware-decoder/4411/1 "2018-04-14T20:12:23Z")
On the menu on the ap there is an option to turn on “hardware decoder”. What is that and if on what does it do?   I really like this little camera.     ---
**Author:** ![BuckEye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9f8e36/32.png) [@BuckEye](https://forums.wyze.com/u/BuckEye)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2018, 8:17pm UTC](https://forums.wyze.com/t/hardware-decoder/4411/2 "2018-04-14T20:17:45Z")
Tips on Tuesday #17 03/20/2018: Hardware Decoding [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fuDcTCuteM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fuDcTCuteM) ---
**Author:** ![WillSmith](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/wyze/user_avatar/forums.wyze.com/willsmith/32/6766_2.png) [@WillSmith](https://forums.wyze.com/u/WillSmith)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2019, 2:25am UTC](https://forums.wyze.com/t/hardware-decoder/4411/3 "2019-04-05T02:25:28Z")
The point of a forum is to discuss in words no? Otherwise we would be on YouTube. I also would like a description of this function ---
**Author:** ![cliftycreek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/0ea827/32.png) [@cliftycreek](https://forums.wyze.com/u/cliftycreek)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2019, 1:09am UTC](https://forums.wyze.com/t/hardware-decoder/4411/4 "2019-04-15T01:09:43Z")
I agree. If you are gonna post a video explanation you should at least synopsize it. So since this thread showed up in a Google search for this question… here it is. It’s an option for Android users to use hardware to decode the video instead of software. If you have a good gpu in the Android device might perform a little better. ---
**Author:** ![devinnparker28](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d9b06d/32.png) [@devinnparker28](https://forums.wyze.com/u/devinnparker28)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2019, 2:13am UTC](https://forums.wyze.com/t/hardware-decoder/4411/5 "2019-06-25T02:13:52Z")
Hardware decoding means the GPU in your camera decodes the video so the CPU in you phone doesnt have to. So pretty much if your phone is struggling and lagging try the hardware decoding and see if that works better for you ---
**Author:** ![womd0704](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/wyze/user_avatar/forums.wyze.com/womd0704/32/5895_2.png) [@womd0704](https://forums.wyze.com/u/womd0704)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2019, 5:08am UTC](https://forums.wyze.com/t/hardware-decoder/4411/6 "2019-06-25T05:08:37Z")
I remember watching this and giving a TL:DW in the comments before. "hardware decoding-off (software decoding) this is the default uses phone cpu. If your phone has poor cooling it may get too hot. If your phone isn’t powerful enough it may cause laggy playback. If you have either of those turn hardware decoding on hardware decoding-on uses phone gpu and cpu. Can cause compression artifacts (bad quality) and uses more battery TL:DR if your phone overheats or playback is laggy turn hardware decoding on" ---
**Author:** ![cf7](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/wyze/user_avatar/forums.wyze.com/cf7/32/20506_2.png) [@cf7](https://forums.wyze.com/u/cf7)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2020, 4:21pm UTC](https://forums.wyze.com/t/hardware-decoder/4411/7 "2020-04-28T16:21:26Z")
Add my exoerience. Enabled decider will fixed picture resolution 600x337, not 1080p Network connection issue. reconnect failure. bit rate is much higher like over 100 if enabled compared to off is only 30 to 40kb/s fyi.