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Multi-format Video Transcoder Markets and Applications
Video is the fastest growing format of information in the broadcast, enterprise, security, and consumer markets. This demand is being driven by virtually ubiquitous video capture, ever cheaper storage, and ever-multiplying video outlets, whether it is cable news or YouTube. Video processing workflow can be segmented into four stages: capture, preparation, delivery (or storage), and consumption. Examples of equipment in each stage include:
- Capture: video cameras comes in a variety of codec formats
- Preparation: transcoders, video editors and post-production software
- Delivery: broadcast play out servers, CDN (Content Delivery Networks)
- Consumption: televisions, personal computers, tablets, smartphones, and game consoles
The proliferation of vendor equipment associated with these four stages creates growing demand for multi-format video transcoders to convert the following major video attributes associated with each stage:
- Video codec format: format conversion (e.g. MPEG-2 to H.264)
- Screen resolution: resolution conversion (or scaling – e.g. SD to HD or HD to SD)
- Frame-rate: frame-rate conversion (e.g. from 50 to 60 frames per second)
- Bit-rate: bit-rate conversion (e.g. from 100Mbps to 200Kbps for playing on lower performance smartphones and/or over lower bandwidth mobile networks)
Video transcoding includes all the above conversions. It is an important, must-have step in the video content preparation process. The video transcoder industry was born soon after digital video started being deployed in the mid ’90s.
Since the millennium, media streaming has taken off, delivering more content to video users, allowing them to view video content at any time (time-shifting), from any location on-the-go (place-shifting) and on any device (multi-screen). In the last several years, technology and bandwidth improvement further enabled video delivery via wireless network for consumption on mobile devices. All these factors fuel the phenomenal growth of the video transcoder market, but also add inexorably to complexity and challenges. Transcoders are widely utilized by broadcasters, education institutions, entertainment companies, churches, sports, and other businesses. Even though they don’t always realize it, these customers depend on efficient, accurate transcoding to do what they do. They may not always know when they have it, but they certainly know when they are missing it.
Multi-format Video Transcoder Applications
Pixel Xtream multi-format transcoders can be utilized to improve the efficiency and video quality output for a variety of broadcast and video production applications. The following are some examples:
- Repurposing archived professional content for new media platforms
Agile broadcasters, content rights owners, post production shops, and others with substantial archives of content take advantage of Pixel Xtream’s blazing speed and superior quality to monetize their assets for new media platforms and channels, including IPTV, ad and subscription based online video web sites, mobile video, and TV Anywhere distribution.
- High speed, high volume batch file transcoding
Social media sites and other video sharing hosts enjoy using Pixel Xtream’s automation features, high throughput and bit-rate reduction capabilities to handle high volumes of uploaded video that must be quickly and efficiently transcoded and published to their servers. Not only do we make these jobs quick, but our more efficient compression means precious bandwidth can be saved by the enterprise.
- Corporate/enterprise video
Corporations and enterprises count on Pixel Xtream’s low-touch operation and professional quality to economically deliver their web content, corporate communications, and training materials with the highest video playback quality.
- Archival storage for web use
News gathering organizations, event video producers, and corporations benefit from Pixel Xtream’s intelligent video enhancement features and ability to output video in professional formats to enhance and preserve their video for future web distribution.
- SD to HD and HD to 4K conversion
Pixel Xtream can greatly benefit users who want to convert existing content from SD (including old VHS tapes) to HD while “cleaning up” video quality of the content. Further, Pixel Xtream can be used to convert 1080I/P content to 4K resolution while maximizing the visual quality.
- File based workflows
Editors, post production users, broadcast stations and corporate video users utilize Pixel Xtream’s automated high speed operation and superior quality output to process their file-based content into the final distribution formats they need.
- Security footage
Governments, security and surveillance organizations take advantage of Pixel Xtream’s intelligent enhancement to improve clarity, reduce distortions and minimize bit-rates as they store terabytes of captured video.