Kulabyte, a leading provider of advanced audio and video processing technologies, and AMD, Inc. have unveiled the Kulabyte Professional Encoding Suite powered by Dual-Core AMD Opteron processors in an 8-socket server configuration is a fast video encoder solution utilising standard codec engines like On2 Flash, VC-1, MPEG-2 and MPEG-4.
Kulabyte's TimeSlice technology delivers faster than real-time encoding, noticeably improved picture quality and significant bandwidth savings, while utilising industry standard codec engines.
When deployed with dual-core AMD Opteron processors, tests show that 16-core encoding servers deliver a 60% increase in speed and efficiency over competitive multi-core processing platforms, which are currently limited to a maximum of 8-cores in a single server. Digital media creators can encode, and distribute digital content at speeds more than 12 times faster than industry-standard codec times.
"AMD has engineered multi-core processors with the performance advantages of their Direct Connect Architecture. They are ideally suited to the multi-platform production environment, and the Kulabyte solution represents a key catalyst for the rapid increase in digital video encoding productivity, speed and quality," said Rick Doherty, president of industry analyst firm Envisioneering.
Doherty added, "A truly open-standards approach to video encoding, with a PC-based architecture, enables a broad spectrum of content-holders and producers to cost-effectively encode and distribute video over multiple networks. This is the right approach to the expanding digital video universe."
Whether uploading to user-generated Web sites, transporting over broadcast, cable, or satellite networks, or encoding for file storage, professional DVD authoring houses, post-production facilities, television studios, film archives, user-generated Web sites, and mobile video producers can benefit from the Kulabyte solution powered by AMD Opteron processors.
The advantages of faster encoding are particularly desirable for time-sensitive content such as news, sports and live broadcasting as well as the explosion of consumer generated video content on the Web and mobile platforms.
These AMD advantages scale and become greater as more AMD processor cores are added to the encode pipeline resulting in greater customer benefit. With Quad-Core AMD Opteron processors, code-named Barcelona, on the horizon, Kulabyte plans to scale a single video encode solution from a current industry-leading 16 cores to 32 cores.
The Kulabyte solution powered by AMD Opteron processors consistently outperforms the competition in SD and HD video compression by as much as 10% in similarly configured comparisons, when tested against the same number of cores.
"The professional video industry is at a crossroads as high-definition video, mobile video, and Internet video formats create tremendous demands for rapid workflow," said Chris Gottschalk, president and chief technology officer at Kulabyte. "Kulabyte and AMD can jointly address these issues with standards-based, off-the-shelf solutions that are affordable and here today."
Said Charlie Boswell, director of Digital Media and Entertainment for AMD, "Kulabyte's innovative approach to video encoding takes advantage of the superior scalability of AMD Direct Connect Architecture and together these customer-centric technologies solve one of the biggest problems faced by content owners both large and small in the digital media age."
