Advantech to Unveil Highest Density Cloud Media Processing Accelerator at NAB 2017

Taipei, Taiwan, 19 April 2017 – Advantech (TWSE: 2395.TW) today announced the new VEGA-3318 accelerator which supports professional-grade real-time AVC and HEVC transcoding of eight 4Kp60 video streams in a PCI Express card with a power consumption below 100W. Media service providers can easily integrate the new VEGA-3318 into a variety of server configurations leveraging Advantech’s Linux and Windows SDK for reduced time-to-market cloud-based video delivery solutions. Up to four VEGA-3318 accelerators can be integrated in a 1U GPU server enabling 32 UHD transcodes per RU which brings unprecedented density to large-scale data center deployments.

The growing demand for OTT delivered live content is disrupting broadcasting and mobile business models. This fundamental change in consumers’ behavior opens up new opportunities for media companies and service providers but it also outstrips the processing capabilities of their infrastructure which they look to optimize by leveraging agile cloud-based architectures. Traditional data center hardware is not well suited to video processing especially when multiple high-definition live channels require real-time manipulation. The VEGA-3318 fills this gap by providing the acceleration required to efficiently scale video processing across a wide range of live UHD cloud applications from OTT transcoding and broadcast encoding to gaming and mobile video.

Advantech’s VEGA-3318 is the world’s first commercial-off-the-shelf media processing accelerator able to perform professional-grade real-time transcoding of eight UHD resolution video streams in an ultra-low-power and easy-to-integrate PCI Express format. It integrates eight Socionext MB86M30 SoCs supporting UHD, HD and SD formats and HEVC, AVC and MPEG-2 codecs including 10-bit profiles and 4:2:2 chroma subsampling.

The VEGA-3318 supports both encoding and transcoding workflows while the bit rate can be configured from 3Mbps to more than 600Mbps per 4Kp60 HEVC encoded stream to serve a wide range of video delivery scenarios. Both raw and encoded video is streamed from and to the server host through a PCI Express Gen 3 x16 interface, and the double height board profile is compatible with professional GPU-ready slots. The VEGA-3318 also features an on-board video sharing capability which, coupled with scaling features, allow multiple OTT target profiles to be generated from a single encoded UHD video input stream. Developers can leverage Advantech’s SDK which supports Linux and Windows operating systems, virtualization and FFmpeg. Advantech’s comprehensive software package reduces in-house development efforts and accelerates the roll-out of next-generation cloud-based video delivery solutions for VEGA-3318 customers.

The high density and low power consumption of the VEGA-3318 are ideal for data center deployment. The board can be used to accelerate existing installations, or for the highest possible density, up to four VEGA-3318 cards can be integrated in a 1U GPU server providing an impressive performance of 32 live UHD HEVC transcodes per rack unit with a system-level power consumption of 800W. This allows for scalable cloud-based architectures with a capacity of up to 1,280 live UHD HEVC transcodes in a 42U rack. An equivalent software-only implementation with no acceleration would only support 40 streams in the same space.

“The VEGA-3318 enables new cloud video delivery business models for both media companies and service providers,” said David Lin, Associate Vice President for Video Solutions at Advantech. “The unrivalled processing performance and density of the VEGA-3318 combined with its commercial-off-the-shelf and easy-to-integrate design driven by the convergence of cloud, networking and media technologies overcomes the video infrastructure challenges to deliver live UHD services”.

Advantech will be showcasing the new VEGA-3318 at the NAB Show in Las Vegas, booth SU11710, April 24-27, 2017. For more information and to book an appointment, please contact video.solutions@advantech.com or visit www.video-acceleration.com.

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About Advantech - Founded in 1983, Advantech is a leader in providing trusted, innovative products, services, and solutions. Advantech VEGA Video Platforms and PCIe Adapters are designed to boost video infrastructure performance from acquisition to distribution at the lowest power budget while fully complying with the media industry needs. By providing access to the latest 4K/8K UHD video processing and IP media technologies on commercial-off-the-shelf IT platforms we accelerate the deployment of next-generation, open and more efficient video solutions across a wide range of applications from broadcast encoding and high-density OTT transcoding to cloud, mobile and 360° video. Advantech’s standard portfolio can be tailored to meet a range of system requirements, significantly reducing time-to-market effort for our customers.

Website: www.video-acceleration.com