1. A decoding system, comprising: a software programmable core graphics processing unit having a context-adaptive binary arithmetic coding (CABAC) unit capable of performing shader functionality, the shader functionality including implementing CABAC decoding of a video stream and providing a decoded data output, wherein the CABAC decoding is implemented using a combination of software and hardware, wherein the CABAC unit further comprises a binarization (BIND) module configured to receive first information comprising a syntax element and a context block category, and, responsive to execution of a first shader instruction by the BIND module, provide second information corresponding to one or more macroblock parameters based on the first information for use in context modeling.