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# kVTVideoDecoderSpecification_EnableHardwareAcceleratedVideoDecoder

A Boolean value indicating whether VideoToolbox uses a hardware-accelerated video decoder, if available.

```
let kVTVideoDecoderSpecification_EnableHardwareAcceleratedVideoDecoder: CFString
```

## Discussion

You set this key in the `decoderSpecification` passed in to [`VTDecompressionSessionCreate(allocator:formatDescription:decoderSpecification:imageBufferAttributes:outputCallback:decompressionSessionOut:)`](/documentation/VideoToolbox/VTDecompressionSessionCreate(allocator:formatDescription:decoderSpecification:imageBufferAttributes:outputCallback:decompressionSessionOut:)).  Set it to <doc://com.apple.documentation/documentation/CoreFoundation/kCFBooleanTrue> to allow hardware-accelerated decoding.  To specifically prevent hardware-accelerated decoding, set this property to <doc://com.apple.documentation/documentation/CoreFoundation/kCFBooleanFalse>. This property is useful for clients doing realtime decode operations because it allows VideoToolbox to choose the optimal decoding path.

---

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