PlayBox Technology has integrated its latest software with new hardware-accelerated technology to provide greater reliability and perform tasks in software that used to require costly dedicated hardware, writes David Fox.
It is exploiting the potential of the latest-generation Intel Core CPUs to make more extensive use of commercial off-the-shelf hardware, which will allow it to offer more while keeping prices low.
The combination of these new chipsets and video cards, integrated with PlayBox software, allows simultaneous processes such as the encoding, decoding and resizing of several concurrent instances, on the same server. This translates into more channels per server and paves the way for additional features in future products.
“Harnessing the power of the Intel Core processors is a major step for both our customers and ourselves,” said PlayBox’s Director of Sales, Don Ash. “It allows us to run many more live operations in software rather than hardware. It establishes a new flexible, very high-power, low-cost platform for our channel-in-a-box solutions that we can now build on to provide more for our customers. The first products are already available.”
An early example is the new AirBox MPO (Multiple Parallel Outputs) that uses hardware-accelerated power to simultaneously scale and/or encode several video streams. It enables different video formats (SD, HD, 25fps, 30fps) and different outputs (SDI, analogue, IP streaming, etc.) to run simultaneously from a single server.
AirBox MPO can run two or more multiple outputs, providing parallel outputs to deliver any required combination of formats, such as HD-SDI, SDI (in SD with realtime live rescaling) and IP streaming.
Further applications of hardware-accelerated technology include rending 3D objects in real time in TitleBox graphics, and the encoding of HD to H.264 without using external coders.
