A video processing device (150) includes a bitstream accelerator module (106) and a video processing engine (108). The bitstream accelerator module (106) has an input for receiving a stream of encoded video data, and an output adapted to be coupled to a memory (112) for storing partially decoded video data. The bitstream accelerator module (106) partially decodes the stream of encoded video data according to a selected one of a plurality of video formats to provide the partially decoded video data. The video processing engine (108) has input adapted to be coupled to the memory (112) for reading the partially decoded video data, and an output for providing decoded video data.