▁( VA - API ) ▁is ▁a ▁royal ty - free ▁API ▁that ▁allows ▁applications ▁such ▁as ▁V LC ▁media ▁player ▁or ▁G Stream er ▁to ▁use ▁hardware ▁video ▁acceleration ▁capabilities , ▁usually ▁provided ▁by ▁the ▁graphics ▁processing ▁unit ▁( G PU ). ▁It ▁is ▁implemented ▁by ▁the ▁free ▁and ▁open - source ▁library ▁lib va , ▁combined ▁with ▁a ▁hardware - specific ▁driver , ▁usually ▁provided ▁together ▁with ▁the ▁GPU ▁driver . ▁ ▁V A - API ▁video ▁decode / encode ▁interface ▁is ▁platform ▁and ▁window ▁system ▁independent ▁but ▁is ▁primarily ▁target ed ▁at ▁Direct ▁Render ing ▁In frastr ucture ▁( D RI ) ▁in ▁X ▁Window ▁System ▁on ▁Unix - like ▁operating ▁systems ▁( including ▁Linux , ▁Free B SD , ▁Sol aris ), ▁and ▁Android , ▁however ▁it ▁can ▁potentially ▁also ▁be ▁used ▁with ▁direct ▁frame buffer ▁and ▁graphics ▁sub - system s ▁for ▁video ▁output . ▁Acc eler ated ▁processing ▁includes ▁support ▁for ▁video ▁dec oding , ▁video ▁encoding , ▁sub picture ▁bl ending , ▁and ▁rendering . ▁ ▁The ▁V A - API ▁specification ▁was ▁originally ▁designed ▁by ▁Intel ▁for ▁its ▁G MA ▁( Graphics ▁Media ▁Acc eler ator ) ▁series ▁of ▁GPU ▁hardware ▁with ▁the ▁specific ▁purpose ▁of ▁eventually ▁replacing ▁the ▁X v MC ▁standard ▁as ▁the ▁default ▁Unix ▁multi - platform ▁equivalent ▁of ▁Microsoft ▁Windows ▁Direct X ▁Video ▁Acc eler ation ▁( D x VA ) ▁API , ▁but ▁today ▁the ▁API ▁is ▁no ▁longer ▁limited ▁to ▁Intel - specific ▁hardware ▁or ▁GPU s . ▁Other