A pure Rust parser for AV1 OBU bitstreams and IVF containers.
av1-obu-parser is a bitstream analysis tool for AV1. It parses AV1 Open
Bitstream Units (OBUs), keeps the cross-frame context required by frame
headers, and can also unpack IVF containers before feeding their payloads to
the OBU parser.
This is not a video decoder. It does not reconstruct pixels. The goal of this project is to inspect AV1 syntax structures and print useful stream metadata for debugging, learning, and tooling.
- Parse AV1 OBU headers and payloads in pure Rust
- Keep parser context across Sequence Header, Frame Header, and Frame OBUs
- Read IVF file headers and iterate frame payloads with
IvfReader
Run the bundled example against sample.ivf:
cargo run --example simpleLimit the output to the first 10 OBUs:
cargo run --example simple -- --obus 10Show TemporalDelimiter OBUs as well so the numbering matches other analyzers:
cargo run --example simple -- --obus 10 --show-delimiterUse a different input file:
cargo run --example simple -- --input path/to/sample.ivf --obus 20 --show-delimiteruse av1_obu_parser::{buffer::Buffer, obu::ObuParser};
let data: Vec<u8> = vec![];
let mut parser = ObuParser::default();
let mut buffer = Buffer::from_slice(&data);
while buffer.bytes_remaining() > 0 {
match parser.parse(&mut buffer) {
Ok(obu) => println!("{obu:?}"),
Err(err) => {
eprintln!("parse error: {err}");
break;
}
}
}use av1_obu_parser::{buffer::Buffer, IvfReader, obu::ObuParser};
let file_data = std::fs::read("DEMO.ivf")?;
let ivf = IvfReader::new(&file_data)?;
println!(
"codec={}, resolution={}x{}",
ivf.header().codec_string(),
ivf.header().width,
ivf.header().height
);
let mut parser = ObuParser::default();
for frame in ivf.frames() {
let frame = frame?;
let mut buffer = Buffer::from_slice(frame.data);
while buffer.bytes_remaining() > 0 {
match parser.parse(&mut buffer) {
Ok(obu) => println!("frame {}: {obu:?}", frame.index),
Err(err) => {
eprintln!("frame {}: {err}", frame.index);
break;
}
}
}
}
Ok::<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>>(())A typical sequence header output
SequenceHeader(
SequenceHeader {
seq_profile: Main,
still_picture: false,
reduced_still_picture_header: false,
timing_info: None,
decoder_model_info: None,
initial_display_delay_present_flag: false,
operating_points: [
OperatingPoint {
idc: 0,
level_idx: 31,
tier: false,
operating_parameters_info: None,
initial_display_delay: 10,
},
],
frame_width_bits: 9,
frame_height_bits: 8,
max_frame_width: 320,
max_frame_height: 180,
frame_id_numbers_present: None,
use_128x128_superblock: false,
enable_filter_intra: false,
enable_intra_edge_filter: false,
enable_interintra_compound: false,
enable_masked_compound: false,
enable_warped_motion: false,
enable_dual_filter: false,
enable_order_hint: true,
enable_jnt_comp: false,
enable_ref_frame_mvs: false,
seq_choose_screen_content_tools: false,
seq_force_screen_content_tools: 0,
seq_force_integer_mv: 2,
enable_superres: false,
enable_cdef: true,
enable_restoration: true,
color_config: ColorConfig {
high_bitdepth: false,
twelve_bit: false,
mono_chrome: false,
color_description_present: false,
color_primaries: Unspecified,
transfer_characteristics: Unspecified,
matrix_coefficients: Unspecified,
color_range: false,
subsampling_x: true,
subsampling_y: true,
chroma_sample_position: Some(
Unknown,
),
separate_uv_delta_q: false,
},
film_grain_params_present: false,
},
)MIT Copyright (c) 2026 Mycrl.