Digital Rapids software release adds 4K HD H.264 encoding

Digital Rapids has begun shipping version 3.8 of the Digital Rapids Stream software for its StreamZ, StreamZHD and Flux ingest, encoding and streaming systems.

Advances in the new version include H.264, MPEG-2 and DVCPro encoding enhancements, including 4K Ultra HD H.264 encoding support; expanded support for automated multiscreen advertising insertion workflows; and new predefined project files for transforming content for Netflix delivery.

H.264 (AVC) encoding enhancements in Stream 3.8 include increased quality, performance gains of as much as a 25 percent increase in speed depending upon host system and content characteristics, and support for 4K Ultra HD encoding. Version 3.8 also features increased quality and performance for MPEG-2 encoding and improved DVCPro output quality.

Stream 3.8 extends the Stream software's support for automated, live advertising and monetization workflows with new support for the latest updated SCTE-104 specification and the HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) protocol. Cueing messages in live input sources are detected to automate the insertion of markers into HLS outputs for triggering subsequent ad insertion or replacement.