NAB Follow-up for Streaming and Compression Tools

Here's a Follow-up for Streaming and Compression Tools at NAB 2009. Most of the buzz this NAB was surrounding Microsoft's Smooth Streaming and its implementation in various tools. This looks to be very exciting and allows automatic adjustment to lower or higher datarate for live and on-demand streams. The quality of the streams is impacted by the bandwidth available.

Inlet Technologies has some tools that have implemented the Smooth Streaming for on-demand and live streaming. They also have a tool that provides great post encoding video analysis and called Semaphore. The tool has been out for a while but now it's included in their Armada encoding product that provides large scale encoding. By large scale encoding I'm talking about hundreds and thousands of files being encoding. The tool can do checks at the end to make sure there were no technical issues like dropped frames, audio loss, etc. There are far to many features to list in this blog post. Make sure you visit the Inlet website.

Wowza Media Systems will have a new release of their server that supports Smooth Streaming and Silverlight. I can't wait. The next release will also allow live streaming to the iPhone. Amazing! Check out there website. We'll that's enough for this post. Time to catch a plane.

Streambox Releases HD and SD Encoder

Streambox Inc. announced the launch of the Streambox SBT3-9200 HD/SD Video Transport Encoder, the company's next-generation solution for HD/SD newsgathering, broadcasting, and video post production, the SBT3-9200 can be operated in HD or SD mode, enabling the user to capture, transmit, and play out live and file-based video. The Encoder provides stunning 1080i/720p/1080psf HD video at data rates from 256 Kbps to 30 Mbps and SD video from 64 Kbps to 15 Mbps.

The SBT3-9200 Encoder has been developed to meet the performance and quality requirements of customers in a variety of industry sectors. Movie and post production companies, for example, are using the SBT3-9200 to transmit high quality live HD and SD video over low data rate IP networks as a way to accelerate and enhance editing processes such as color correction. With the Streambox solution, video editors are able to send the edited video file over IP in real-time and gain immediate feedback and approval from clients who may be located in different time zones and perhaps even on different continents. It makes this part of the post production process more efficient and cost effective.

The quality of the SBT3-9200 Encoder's compression was highlighted at the SBE/Ennes workshop held during NAB 2008, where the not-for-profit Research Channel presented findings from its Codec Comparison Project. The Research Channel had independently tested and compared a number of HD codecs, including Streambox ACT-L3, to uncompressed HD video.

"Video compressed at 30 Mbps using the Streambox SBT3-9200 was virtually indistinguishable from uncompressed video as represented in side-by-side waveform samples," said James Alls, acting director of engineering and operations for the Research Channel. "It speaks to the very high performance level of this particular Streambox solution."

"We are committed to delivering the finest technology available for streaming high-quality live and file-based video over a variety of IP networks. The SBT3-9200's leadership position in the Research Channel's Codec Comparison Project is further validation of the value we bring to our customers," said Bob Hildeman, Streambox's chairman and CEO. "By offering exceptional quality and unmatched reliability in one integrated solution, the SBT3-9200 Encoder plays an integral role in delivering mission critical live and file-based HD/SD video over low cost, low data rate networks."

Each SBT3-9200 HD system is outfitted with dual Gigabit Ethernet ports, providing multiplex/de-multiplex configurations for video-stream redundancy. The second Ethernet port may be designated as a management port for instant access from anywhere. The SBT3-9200 is capable of outputting both HD and down-converted SD broadcast video simultaneously from a single HD source and it offers support for both digital and analog HD input/output formats. Built on Streambox's industry-leading ACT-L3 codec, the SBT3-9200 is equipped with advanced networking features such as robust forward error correction for enhanced performance, efficiency, and reliability. It also includes an expanded set of resolutions and frame rates which makes the system ideal for use in movie and post-production environments.

The SBT3-9200 Encoder operates seamlessly with the entire suite of Streambox client/server products, including video management and play-out systems such as the Streambox Store and Forward Server and the Streambox Media Station.
More information about the Streambox SBT3-9200 HD/SD Encoder and other Streambox products and solutions is available online at www.streambox.com.