docs(readme): restore the badge set, add a banner, and bring back the two lost sections

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -8635,6 +8635,15 @@ YUV400P sources always produce luma-only output regardless of the option.
   [`docs/ai/quantization.md`](../../docs/ai/quantization.md).
 
 
+- **The README carries its full badge set again, and a banner.** The rc1
+  documentation pass had cut it from 22 badges to four, leaving no signal for
+  the lint, security, FFmpeg, Go and Rust lanes, the toolchain versions, the GPU
+  and SIMD coverage, the OpenSSF Scorecard or the licence split. All of it is
+  back, every badge pointing at a workflow or endpoint that resolves, plus the
+  "Why VMAFx" comparison and "Backends at a glance" sections the same pass
+  removed.
+
+
 ### Added — `vmaf-tune recommend` and `ladder` consume conformal intervals
 
 The conformal-VQA prediction surface shipped in PR #488 (ADR-0279) now

README.md

@@ -1,19 +1,70 @@
-# VMAFx
+<!-- markdownlint-disable MD013 MD023 MD033 MD036 MD041 -->
+<!-- A centred header needs inline HTML, a banner image, indented headings and
+     badge lines past 80 columns, so those five rules are off for this file.
+     Same directive style as docs/adr/0000-template.md. The prose below still
+     wraps at 80. -->
+<div align="center">
 
-[![HISS-16 Compliant](https://img.shields.io/badge/Standards-HISS--16%20Compliant-brightgreen)](AGENTS.md)
-[![Tests](https://github.com/VMAFx/vmafx/actions/workflows/tests-and-quality-gates.yml/badge.svg)](https://github.com/VMAFx/vmafx/actions/workflows/tests-and-quality-gates.yml)
-[![Builds](https://github.com/VMAFx/vmafx/actions/workflows/libvmaf-build-matrix.yml/badge.svg)](https://github.com/VMAFx/vmafx/actions/workflows/libvmaf-build-matrix.yml)
-[![Release](https://img.shields.io/github/v/release/VMAFx/vmafx?include_prereleases&sort=semver)](https://github.com/VMAFx/vmafx/releases)
-[![License](https://img.shields.io/badge/License-EUPL--1.2%20%C2%B7%20BSD--2--Clause--Patent-blue.svg)](docs/adr/1250-eupl-fork-relicense.md)
+  <img src="docs/assets/vmafx-readme-banner.svg" alt="VMAFx — perceptual video quality assessment, GPU-accelerated and SIMD-tuned" width="100%" />
 
-VMAFx is a fork of [Netflix/vmaf](https://github.com/Netflix/vmaf) for
-perceptual video quality assessment. It extends libvmaf with GPU and SIMD
-backends, additional metrics, and tools for scoring and model workflows.
+  # 🎬 VMAFx
 
-**[Full documentation](https://vmafx.github.io/vmafx/)** ·
-[Documentation source](docs/index.md)
+  **Perceptual video quality assessment — GPU-accelerated, SIMD-tuned, numerically exact**
 
-## Get started
+  *A fork of [Netflix/vmaf](https://github.com/Netflix/vmaf) that keeps the reference scores byte-for-byte*
+
+  [![Tests](https://github.com/VMAFx/vmafx/actions/workflows/tests-and-quality-gates.yml/badge.svg)](https://github.com/VMAFx/vmafx/actions/workflows/tests-and-quality-gates.yml)
+  [![Builds](https://github.com/VMAFx/vmafx/actions/workflows/libvmaf-build-matrix.yml/badge.svg)](https://github.com/VMAFx/vmafx/actions/workflows/libvmaf-build-matrix.yml)
+  [![Lint](https://github.com/VMAFx/vmafx/actions/workflows/lint-and-format.yml/badge.svg)](https://github.com/VMAFx/vmafx/actions/workflows/lint-and-format.yml)
+  [![Security](https://github.com/VMAFx/vmafx/actions/workflows/security-scans.yml/badge.svg)](https://github.com/VMAFx/vmafx/actions/workflows/security-scans.yml)
+  [![FFmpeg](https://github.com/VMAFx/vmafx/actions/workflows/ffmpeg-integration.yml/badge.svg)](https://github.com/VMAFx/vmafx/actions/workflows/ffmpeg-integration.yml)
+  [![Go](https://github.com/VMAFx/vmafx/actions/workflows/go-ci.yml/badge.svg)](https://github.com/VMAFx/vmafx/actions/workflows/go-ci.yml)
+  [![Rust](https://github.com/VMAFx/vmafx/actions/workflows/rust-ci.yml/badge.svg)](https://github.com/VMAFx/vmafx/actions/workflows/rust-ci.yml)
+
+  [![OpenSSF Scorecard](https://api.scorecard.dev/projects/github.com/VMAFx/vmafx/badge?style=for-the-badge)](https://scorecard.dev/viewer/?uri=github.com/VMAFx/vmafx)
+  [![HISS-16](https://img.shields.io/badge/Standards-HISS--16-06B6D4?style=for-the-badge&logo=nasa)](AGENTS.md)
+  [![Power of 10](https://img.shields.io/badge/NASA_JPL-Power_of_10-0B3D91?style=for-the-badge&logo=nasa)](docs/principles.md)
+  [![Conventional Commits](https://img.shields.io/badge/Commits-Conventional-FE5196?style=for-the-badge&logo=conventionalcommits&logoColor=white)](CONTRIBUTING.md)
+
+  [![C23](https://img.shields.io/badge/C-23-00599C?style=for-the-badge&logo=c&logoColor=white)](docs/principles.md)
+  [![C++23](https://img.shields.io/badge/C%2B%2B-23-00599C?style=for-the-badge&logo=cplusplus&logoColor=white)](docs/principles.md)
+  [![Go](https://img.shields.io/badge/Go-1.27-00ADD8?style=for-the-badge&logo=go&logoColor=white)](go.mod)
+  [![Rust](https://img.shields.io/badge/Rust-2024-000000?style=for-the-badge&logo=rust&logoColor=white)](bindings/rust/vmafx-sys/Cargo.toml)
+  [![Python](https://img.shields.io/badge/Python-3.14%2B-3776AB?style=for-the-badge&logo=python&logoColor=white)](pyproject.toml)
+
+  [![CUDA](https://img.shields.io/badge/CUDA-13.3-76B900?style=for-the-badge&logo=nvidia&logoColor=white)](docs/backends/cuda/overview.md)
+  [![ROCm](https://img.shields.io/badge/ROCm-10.0-ED1C24?style=for-the-badge&logo=amd&logoColor=white)](docs/backends/hip/overview.md)
+  [![oneAPI](https://img.shields.io/badge/SYCL-oneAPI-0071C5?style=for-the-badge&logo=intel&logoColor=white)](docs/backends/sycl/overview.md)
+  [![Metal](https://img.shields.io/badge/Metal-Apple_Silicon-000000?style=for-the-badge&logo=apple&logoColor=white)](docs/backends/metal/index.md)
+  [![SIMD](https://img.shields.io/badge/SIMD-AVX2_·_AVX--512_·_NEON_·_SVE2-8B5CF6?style=for-the-badge)](docs/backends/index.md)
+
+  [![Tag](https://img.shields.io/github/v/tag/VMAFx/vmafx?style=for-the-badge&label=version&color=3b82f6)](https://github.com/VMAFx/vmafx/tags)
+  [![FFmpeg](https://img.shields.io/badge/FFmpeg-n9.0.1-007808?style=for-the-badge&logo=ffmpeg&logoColor=white)](docs/usage/ffmpeg.md)
+  [![License](https://img.shields.io/badge/License-EUPL--1.2_·_BSD--2--Clause--Patent-blue.svg?style=for-the-badge)](docs/adr/1250-eupl-fork-relicense.md)
+  [![Ko-fi](https://img.shields.io/badge/Support-Ko--fi-FF5E5B?style=for-the-badge&logo=kofi&logoColor=white)](https://ko-fi.com/lusoris)
+
+  **[📖 Full documentation](https://vmafx.github.io/vmafx/)** · [Documentation source](docs/index.md)
+
+</div>
+
+---
+
+## 🎯 Why VMAFx
+
+VMAFx keeps upstream's numbers and adds the parts a production pipeline needs. The
+three Netflix reference pairs are a required CI gate, so every change below is
+measured against scores that never move.
+
+| | Upstream `libvmaf` | VMAFx |
+| --- | --- | --- |
+| **GPU backends** | CUDA | CUDA · SYCL · HIP · Metal, selected at runtime |
+| **SIMD** | AVX2, AVX-512 | AVX2 · AVX-512 · NEON · SVE2, held to feature-specific parity tolerances |
+| **Output precision** | `%.6f` | `%.6f` by default, `--precision=max` for IEEE-754 round-trip |
+| **Model surface** | `.json` / `.pkl` | plus ONNX tiny models with a signed registry |
+| **Integrations** | FFmpeg filter | FFmpeg, an MCP server, a Kubernetes operator, Go and Rust bindings |
+| **Numerical contract** | — | cross-backend parity is a gate, not a promise |
+
+## 🚀 Get started
 
 Follow the [installation and source-build guide](docs/getting-started/index.md)
 for your platform. For a container workflow, see [Docker](docs/usage/docker.md).
@@ -24,11 +75,36 @@ After installation, compare a matching reference and distorted Y4M pair:
 vmaf --reference reference.y4m --distorted distorted.y4m --json --output scores.json
 ```
 
-See the [CLI reference](docs/usage/cli.md) for raw YUV geometry, model selection,
-backend selection and output options. For compressed inputs such as MP4, use
+Raw YUV needs its geometry spelled out, and a GPU backend is one flag:
+
+```sh
+vmaf --reference ref.yuv --distorted dis.yuv \
+     --width 1920 --height 1080 --pixel_format 420 --bitdepth 8 \
+     --backend cuda --feature cambi --json --output scores.json
+```
+
+See the [CLI reference](docs/usage/cli.md) for model selection, backend selection
+and output options. For compressed inputs such as MP4, use
 [FFmpeg integration](docs/usage/ffmpeg.md).
 
-## Guides and reference
+## 🧩 Backends at a glance
+
+Every GPU-backed feature extractor has at least one device twin, and each twin
+is held to the CPU reference by the cross-backend parity gate. The coverage
+matrix below distinguishes those extractors from CPU-only metrics.
+
+| Backend | Selected with | Notes |
+| --- | --- | --- |
+| CPU | `--backend cpu` | scalar reference; SIMD paths dispatch automatically |
+| CUDA | `--backend cuda` | NVIDIA, CUDA 13.3 |
+| SYCL | `--backend sycl` | Intel oneAPI; fp64-free device contract |
+| HIP | `--backend hip` | AMD ROCm 10.0 |
+| Metal | `--backend metal` | Apple Silicon, Apple Family 7 and later |
+
+See [GPU and SIMD backends](docs/backends/index.md) for feature coverage per
+backend and the tolerances the gate enforces.
+
+## 📚 Guides and reference
 
 | Task | Documentation |
 | --- | --- |
@@ -44,7 +120,7 @@ backend selection and output options. For compressed inputs such as MP4, use
 Build requirements, backend limitations and model defaults live in these
 guides so they can be maintained alongside their implementations.
 
-## Contribute
+## 🤝 Contribute
 
 Start with [CONTRIBUTING.md](CONTRIBUTING.md) for setup, required checks and
 pull-request expectations. The [engineering principles](docs/principles.md)
@@ -55,7 +131,7 @@ cover coding and numerical-correctness standards; the
 - [Security reporting policy](SECURITY.md)
 - [Support development](https://ko-fi.com/lusoris)
 
-## Project status
+## 📈 Project status
 
 - [Roadmap and release goals](docs/roadmap.md)
 - [Releases and downloads](https://github.com/VMAFx/vmafx/releases)

changelog.d/added/readme-badges-and-banner.md

@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+- **The README carries its full badge set again, and a banner.** The rc1
+  documentation pass had cut it from 22 badges to four, leaving no signal for
+  the lint, security, FFmpeg, Go and Rust lanes, the toolchain versions, the GPU
+  and SIMD coverage, the OpenSSF Scorecard or the licence split. All of it is
+  back, every badge pointing at a workflow or endpoint that resolves, plus the
+  "Why VMAFx" comparison and "Backends at a glance" sections the same pass
+  removed.