The PCMark 10 Video scenario measures battery life by playing an HD video continuously in full screen mode until the battery is empty.

This type of battery life testing is commonly used by hardware review sites, but results vary across publications due to difference in the video and settings used. The PCMark 10 Video Battery Life test aims to provide an easy-to-use, standardised tool for measuring battery life for video playback.

Implementation

The test play a Full HD video using the Movies and TV application on Windows 10. On Windows 8.1 and Windows 7 the video is played using Windows Media Player.

Specifications for the H.264 video encoding:

  • 1920 × 1080 High profile
  • Frame rate: 30 FPS 
  • Resolution: 1920 × 1080
  • Square pixels, NTSC
  • Profile: HIGH, level 4.0
  • Bitrate encoding: VBR 2 pass, target Mbps 10
  • Key frame distance: 90
  • Audio: AAC, 48kHz, Stereo, Quality High, 320 kbps, precedence bitrate
  • Multiplexer: MP4, stream Compatibility Standard

Benchmark result

PCMark 10 scenario reports battery life as the time taken from the start of the test until the PC goes into hibernation or shuts down. The time is reported in hours and minutes.