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Post-training Quantization

docs/articles_en/openvino-workflow/model-optimization-guide/quantizing-models-post-training.rst

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Post-training Quantization

.. toctree:: :maxdepth: 1 :hidden:

quantizing-models-post-training/basic-quantization-flow quantizing-models-post-training/quantizing-with-accuracy-control

Post-training quantization is a method of reducing the size of a model, to make it lighter, faster, and less resource hungry. Importantly, this process does not require retraining, fine-tuning, or using training datasets and pipelines in the source framework. With NNCF, you can perform 8-bit quantization <#why-8-bit-post-training-quantization>__, using mainly the two flows:

| :doc:Basic quantization (simple) <quantizing-models-post-training/basic-quantization-flow>: | Requires only a representative calibration dataset.

| :doc:Accuracy-aware Quantization (advanced) <quantizing-models-post-training/quantizing-with-accuracy-control>: | Ensures the accuracy of the resulting model does not drop below a certain value. To do so, it requires both a calibration and a validation datasets, as well as a validation function to calculate the accuracy metric.

.. note

NNCF offers a Python API, for compressing PyTorch, ONNX, and OpenVINO IR model formats. OpenVINO IR offers the most comprehensive support.

Why 8-bit post-training quantization ####################################

The 8-bit quantization is just one of the available compression methods but one often selected for:

  • significant performance results,
  • little impact on accuracy,
  • ease of use,
  • wide hardware compatibility.

It lowers model weight and activation precisions to 8 bits (INT8), which for an FP64 model is just a quarter of the original footprint, leading to a significant improvement in inference speed.

.. image:: ../../assets/images/quantization_picture.svg

Additional Resources ####################

  • :doc:Optimizing Models at Training Time <compressing-models-during-training>
  • :doc:Model Optimization - NNCF <../model-optimization>
  • NNCF GitHub <https://github.com/openvinotoolkit/nncf>__