feat(host/windows): openh264 software H.264 encoder (GPU-less path)

Windows Encoder impl via the openh264 crate (statically-bundled, BSD-2): low-latency screen-content config (Baseline/no-B-frames, bitrate RC, BT.709 limited, near-infinite GOP + forced-IDR recovery via request_keyframe), packed CPU pixels (BGRx/BGRA/RGB/RGBA/RGBx/BGR) -> I420 -> AnnexB with in-band SPS/PPS each IDR. Synchronous: submit encodes immediately, poll hands back the one AU, flush is a no-op. Windows open_video factory selects it (PUNKTFUNK_ENCODER=software|nvenc|auto; NVENC arm lands later), H.264-only with a clear error otherwise, SW bitrate ceiling. Unit-tested live on the VM: synthetic BGRx -> AnnexB IDR + SPS NAL. Unblocks the GPU-less capture->encode->FEC->send pipeline. Compiles clean on Windows + Linux.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

Cargo.lock

@@ -448,6 +448,12 @@ version = "3.20.3"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "72f5acc6cb2ba439de613abc23857ec3d78374d8ed5ac84e9d11336e87da8649"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "bytemuck"
+version = "1.25.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "c8efb64bd706a16a1bdde310ae86b351e4d21550d98d056f22f8a7f7a2183fec"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "bytes"
 version = "1.11.1"
@@ -2049,6 +2055,15 @@ dependencies = [
  "windows-sys 0.61.2",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "nasm-rs"
+version = "0.3.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "706bf8a5e8c8ddb99128c3291d31bd21f4bcde17f0f4c20ec678d85c74faa149"
+dependencies = [
+ "log",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "ndk"
 version = "0.9.0"
@@ -2240,6 +2255,27 @@ version = "0.3.1"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "c08d65885ee38876c4f86fa503fb49d7b507c2b62552df7c70b2fce627e06381"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "openh264"
+version = "0.9.3"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "4a12b82c14f702c2cece4e0fc28896c6a6bed5317dc13448c86ac41df91a6f82"
+dependencies = [
+ "openh264-sys2",
+ "wide",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "openh264-sys2"
+version = "0.9.6"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "fa9e072e9b270f3b291c80488dc160abc31ecc214ab3bfde937213cfd8c83b32"
+dependencies = [
+ "cc",
+ "nasm-rs",
+ "walkdir",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "openssl-probe"
 version = "0.2.1"
@@ -2579,6 +2615,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "khronos-egl",
  "libc",
  "mdns-sd",
+ "openh264",
  "opus",
  "pipewire",
  "punktfunk-core",
@@ -3071,6 +3108,15 @@ version = "1.0.23"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "9774ba4a74de5f7b1c1451ed6cd5285a32eddb5cccb8cc655a4e50009e06477f"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "safe_arch"
+version = "0.7.4"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "96b02de82ddbe1b636e6170c21be622223aea188ef2e139be0a5b219ec215323"
+dependencies = [
+ "bytemuck",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "same-file"
 version = "1.0.6"
@@ -4124,6 +4170,16 @@ dependencies = [
  "rustls-pki-types",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "wide"
+version = "0.7.33"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "0ce5da8ecb62bcd8ec8b7ea19f69a51275e91299be594ea5cc6ef7819e16cd03"
+dependencies = [
+ "bytemuck",
+ "safe_arch",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "winapi-util"
 version = "0.1.11"

crates/punktfunk-host/Cargo.toml

@@ -117,3 +117,6 @@ windows = { version = "0.62", features = [
     "Win32_UI_WindowsAndMessaging",
     "Win32_System_StationsAndDesktops",
 ] }
+# Software H.264 encoder (GPU-less path + NVENC fallback). The default `source` feature statically
+# compiles OpenH264 (BSD-2) — no system lib, builds on MSVC; nasm on PATH adds the SIMD fast path.
+openh264 = "0.9"

crates/punktfunk-host/src/encode.rs

@@ -155,15 +155,40 @@ pub fn open_video(
         }
         Err(last.unwrap_or_else(|| anyhow::anyhow!("encoder open failed at every probed bitrate")))
     }
-    #[cfg(not(target_os = "linux"))]
+    #[cfg(target_os = "windows")]
+    {
+        let _ = cuda; // always false on Windows (no Cuda payload)
+        let pref = std::env::var("PUNKTFUNK_ENCODER")
+            .unwrap_or_default()
+            .to_ascii_lowercase();
+        if matches!(pref.as_str(), "nvenc" | "hw" | "nvidia") {
+            anyhow::bail!(
+                "NVENC hardware encode is not yet implemented on Windows — omit PUNKTFUNK_ENCODER \
+                 or set it to 'software' to use the openh264 encoder"
+            );
+        }
+        anyhow::ensure!(
+            codec == Codec::H264,
+            "the Windows software encoder supports H.264 only; client negotiated {codec:?} \
+             (request H264, or use a GPU host once NVENC lands)"
+        );
+        // Software H.264 realistically caps far below the negotiated hardware rates.
+        const SW_BITRATE_CEIL: u64 = 100_000_000;
+        let enc =
+            sw::OpenH264Encoder::open(format, width, height, fps, bitrate_bps.min(SW_BITRATE_CEIL))?;
+        Ok(Box::new(enc) as Box<dyn Encoder>)
+    }
+    #[cfg(not(any(target_os = "linux", target_os = "windows")))]
     {
         let _ = (codec, format, width, height, fps, bitrate_bps, cuda);
-        anyhow::bail!("NVENC encode requires Linux (FFmpeg + NVIDIA driver)")
+        anyhow::bail!("video encode requires Linux or Windows")
     }
 }
 
 #[cfg(target_os = "linux")]
 mod linux;
+#[cfg(target_os = "windows")]
+mod sw;
 
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod tests {

crates/punktfunk-host/src/encode/sw.rs

@@ -0,0 +1,233 @@
+//! Software H.264 encoder (openh264) — the GPU-less encode path for the Windows host (and a
+//! fallback when NVENC is unavailable). Low-latency screen-content config: single-reference,
+//! no B-frames (Baseline), bitrate rate-control, in-band SPS/PPS each IDR, BT.709 limited range.
+//! Synchronous: `submit` encodes immediately and stashes the AU for `poll` (no internal queue).
+
+use super::{EncodedFrame, Encoder};
+use crate::capture::{CapturedFrame, FramePayload, PixelFormat};
+use anyhow::{bail, ensure, Context, Result};
+use openh264::encoder::{
+    BitRate, Complexity, Encoder as Oh264, EncoderConfig, FrameRate, FrameType, IntraFramePeriod,
+    Profile, RateControlMode, SpsPpsStrategy, UsageType,
+};
+use openh264::formats::{BgraSliceU8, RgbSliceU8, YUVBuffer};
+use openh264::OpenH264API;
+
+pub struct OpenH264Encoder {
+    enc: Oh264,
+    yuv: YUVBuffer,
+    width: u32,
+    height: u32,
+    fps: u32,
+    src_format: PixelFormat,
+    /// BGRA scratch for the 3-bpp (Bgr) and R/B-swapped (Rgba/Rgbx) formats openh264 can't wrap
+    /// directly. Reused across frames.
+    scratch: Vec<u8>,
+    frame_idx: i64,
+    force_kf: bool,
+    /// At most one AU per submit (no lookahead), handed back by the next `poll`.
+    pending: Option<EncodedFrame>,
+}
+
+// openh264's Encoder holds a raw C handle (not auto-Send); it lives on the single encode thread.
+unsafe impl Send for OpenH264Encoder {}
+
+impl OpenH264Encoder {
+    pub fn open(
+        format: PixelFormat,
+        width: u32,
+        height: u32,
+        fps: u32,
+        bitrate_bps: u64,
+    ) -> Result<Self> {
+        // validate_dimensions() ran in open_video: even, non-zero, <= 4096.
+        let bps: u32 = bitrate_bps.try_into().unwrap_or(u32::MAX);
+        let cfg = EncoderConfig::new()
+            .usage_type(UsageType::ScreenContentRealTime)
+            .max_frame_rate(FrameRate::from_hz(fps.max(1) as f32))
+            .rate_control_mode(RateControlMode::Bitrate)
+            .bitrate(BitRate::from_bps(bps))
+            .skip_frames(false)
+            .intra_frame_period(IntraFramePeriod::from_num_frames(intra_period_frames(fps)))
+            .sps_pps_strategy(SpsPpsStrategy::ConstantId) // SPS/PPS in-band on every IDR
+            .num_threads(num_threads())
+            .scene_change_detect(false) // no surprise IDRs (bitrate spikes / freeze)
+            .adaptive_quantization(true)
+            .complexity(Complexity::Low) // latency over BD-rate
+            .profile(Profile::Baseline); // no B-frames; BT.709 limited is the crate default VUI
+        let api = OpenH264API::from_source(); // statically-bundled build (default `source` feature)
+        let enc = Oh264::with_api_config(api, cfg).context("openh264 Encoder::with_api_config")?;
+        let yuv = YUVBuffer::new(width as usize, height as usize);
+        tracing::info!(
+            "openh264 software encoder: {width}x{height}@{fps} {} Mbps (Baseline, screen-content)",
+            bps / 1_000_000
+        );
+        Ok(Self {
+            enc,
+            yuv,
+            width,
+            height,
+            fps,
+            src_format: format,
+            scratch: Vec::new(),
+            frame_idx: 0,
+            force_kf: false,
+            pending: None,
+        })
+    }
+
+    /// Normalize a packed source buffer into the reused BGRA `scratch` ([B,G,R,A]). `rgb_order`
+    /// = source is R,G,B (swap into B,G,R); otherwise source is already B,G,R.
+    fn normalize_to_bgra(&mut self, src: &[u8], src_bpp: usize, rgb_order: bool) {
+        let w = self.width as usize;
+        let h = self.height as usize;
+        self.scratch.resize(w * h * 4, 0);
+        for px in 0..(w * h) {
+            let s = &src[px * src_bpp..px * src_bpp + 3];
+            let d = &mut self.scratch[px * 4..px * 4 + 4];
+            if rgb_order {
+                d[0] = s[2];
+                d[1] = s[1];
+                d[2] = s[0];
+            } else {
+                d[0] = s[0];
+                d[1] = s[1];
+                d[2] = s[2];
+            }
+            d[3] = 0xff;
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+impl Encoder for OpenH264Encoder {
+    fn submit(&mut self, captured: &CapturedFrame) -> Result<()> {
+        ensure!(
+            captured.width == self.width && captured.height == self.height,
+            "captured {}x{} != encoder {}x{}",
+            captured.width,
+            captured.height,
+            self.width,
+            self.height
+        );
+        ensure!(
+            captured.format == self.src_format,
+            "captured format {:?} != encoder source {:?}",
+            captured.format,
+            self.src_format
+        );
+        // Refutable once the capture backend adds `FramePayload::D3d11`; today `Cpu` is the only
+        // non-Linux variant, so the pattern is (temporarily) irrefutable.
+        #[allow(irrefutable_let_patterns)]
+        let FramePayload::Cpu(bytes) = &captured.payload
+        else {
+            bail!("openh264 backend requires a CPU frame payload");
+        };
+        let w = self.width as usize;
+        let h = self.height as usize;
+        ensure!(
+            bytes.len() >= w * h * self.src_format.bytes_per_pixel(),
+            "captured buffer {} bytes too small for {w}x{h} {:?}",
+            bytes.len(),
+            self.src_format
+        );
+
+        match self.src_format {
+            PixelFormat::Rgb => self.yuv.read_rgb(RgbSliceU8::new(&bytes[..w * h * 3], (w, h))),
+            PixelFormat::Bgra | PixelFormat::Bgrx => {
+                self.yuv.read_rgb(BgraSliceU8::new(&bytes[..w * h * 4], (w, h)))
+            }
+            PixelFormat::Rgba | PixelFormat::Rgbx => {
+                self.normalize_to_bgra(bytes, 4, true);
+                self.yuv.read_rgb(BgraSliceU8::new(&self.scratch, (w, h)));
+            }
+            PixelFormat::Bgr => {
+                self.normalize_to_bgra(bytes, 3, false);
+                self.yuv.read_rgb(BgraSliceU8::new(&self.scratch, (w, h)));
+            }
+        }
+
+        if self.force_kf {
+            self.enc.force_intra_frame();
+            self.force_kf = false;
+        }
+        let bs = self.enc.encode(&self.yuv).context("openh264 encode")?;
+        let mut data = Vec::new();
+        bs.write_vec(&mut data); // AnnexB start codes; SPS/PPS prepended on IDR
+        if !data.is_empty() {
+            let keyframe = matches!(bs.frame_type(), FrameType::IDR | FrameType::I);
+            let pts_ns = self.frame_idx as u64 * 1_000_000_000 / self.fps.max(1) as u64;
+            self.pending = Some(EncodedFrame {
+                data,
+                pts_ns,
+                keyframe,
+            });
+        }
+        self.frame_idx += 1;
+        Ok(())
+    }
+
+    fn request_keyframe(&mut self) {
+        self.force_kf = true;
+    }
+
+    fn poll(&mut self) -> Result<Option<EncodedFrame>> {
+        Ok(self.pending.take())
+    }
+
+    fn flush(&mut self) -> Result<()> {
+        Ok(()) // synchronous: nothing buffered
+    }
+}
+
+/// Approximate infinite-GOP: insert IDRs rarely (recovery is via `request_keyframe`/RFI). Env
+/// `PUNKTFUNK_OH264_GOP` overrides (0 = encoder-auto).
+fn intra_period_frames(fps: u32) -> u32 {
+    if let Ok(v) = std::env::var("PUNKTFUNK_OH264_GOP") {
+        if let Ok(n) = v.trim().parse::<u32>() {
+            return n;
+        }
+    }
+    fps.max(1).saturating_mul(600) // ~10 min between automatic IDRs
+}
+
+/// Encode threads. Env `PUNKTFUNK_OH264_THREADS` overrides; default 2 (latency over throughput).
+fn num_threads() -> u16 {
+    std::env::var("PUNKTFUNK_OH264_THREADS")
+        .ok()
+        .and_then(|v| v.trim().parse::<u16>().ok())
+        .unwrap_or(2)
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+    use crate::capture::{CapturedFrame, FramePayload, PixelFormat};
+
+    #[test]
+    fn encodes_synthetic_frame_to_annexb_idr() {
+        let (w, h, fps) = (1280u32, 720u32, 60u32);
+        let mut enc =
+            OpenH264Encoder::open(PixelFormat::Bgrx, w, h, fps, 8_000_000).expect("open openh264");
+        // A flat gray BGRx frame.
+        let frame = CapturedFrame {
+            width: w,
+            height: h,
+            pts_ns: 0,
+            format: PixelFormat::Bgrx,
+            payload: FramePayload::Cpu(vec![0x80u8; (w * h * 4) as usize]),
+        };
+        enc.submit(&frame).expect("submit");
+        let au = enc.poll().expect("poll").expect("an AU");
+        assert!(au.keyframe, "first frame must be an IDR");
+        // AnnexB start code + an SPS NAL (type 7) somewhere in the first frame.
+        assert!(
+            au.data.starts_with(&[0, 0, 0, 1]) || au.data.starts_with(&[0, 0, 1]),
+            "expected AnnexB start code"
+        );
+        let has_sps = au
+            .data
+            .windows(5)
+            .any(|w| w[0] == 0 && w[1] == 0 && w[2] == 0 && w[3] == 1 && (w[4] & 0x1f) == 7);
+        assert!(has_sps, "IDR must carry an SPS NAL (type 7)");
+    }
+}