Archive notice: This article was originally published on April 4, 2008. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
MainConcept, a wholly owned subsidiary of DivX Inc. and one of the leading providers of video and audio codecs and software development kits (SDKs) for the broadcast, film and consumer markets, and Ambric, a leading semiconductor company and provider of the world’s first massively parallel embedded processors in the TeraOPS class, are cooperating on accelerated HD video compression. As a result of the collaboration, the Ambric Am2045 GT video reference platform uses MainConcept’s integrated hardware acceleration SDK (Software Development Kit). The Ambric hardware is based on the highly parallel Ambric Am2045 processor array with a total of 336 built-in RISC processors and is available now for the Windows XP and Apple Mac OS X Leopard operating systems. Ambric and MainConcept will present the new video hardware for the first time at the NAB industry trade show in Las Vegas from April 14 to 17, at booths SU13213 and SU14905 respectively. Pyro AV and Sorenson Media will also use NAB to present their own Ambric/MainConcept-based products. In addition, Adobe Systems will demonstrate the Ambric acceleration card working with Adobe Premiere Pro CS3 and Adobe After Effects CS3 software live at NAB at booth SL3220.
Ambric’s hardware acceleration reference platform, together with MainConcept’s encoder engines, is already integrated into a range of video-editing products from Ambric OEM customers such as Pyro AV and Sorenson Media. Integration of the Ambric hardware acceleration system into Adobe Premiere Pro CS3 and Adobe After Effects software took place in close collaboration with Adobe. The export of encoded content was significantly accelerated without affecting the familiar Adobe user interface or established workflows. The card also enables much faster compression into the new H.264-based Adobe Flash video standard. More than one million users of professional video-editing, effects and authoring software benefit from this solution.
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“Our video reference platform based on the highly parallel Ambric Am2045 processor array guarantees seamless integration with products from leading providers of video-editing solutions such as Sorenson, Pyro AV and Adobe Systems,” says Jay Eisenlohr, Ambric co-founder and Executive Vice President of Marketing and Business Development.
“For codec software, no partner other than MainConcept was ever an option for us. MainConcept’s codec solutions include a unique hardware acceleration socket that guarantees us full compatibility with MainConcept’s OEM software products. This is particularly important to us given the large and steadily growing customer base. MainConcept’s H.264 encoder is also the first choice among the world’s leading video companies. This is confirmed by the results of the H.264 encoder performance tests conducted annually by Moscow State University. It is primarily users who benefit from our partnership with MainConcept. The market is ready for turnkey solutions distinguished by good value for money and the highest user-friendlines.”
Problem Identified and Eliminated
Increasing complexity in HD video compression is placing massive demands on system performance in the video industry. This stems primarily from two factors. First, the trend towards HD resolution requires higher performance because HD is based on up to six times as many pixels as a conventional standard video format. Second, the popular and highly developed H.264 compression standard is responsible for this development, as it requires four times the computing power of MPEG-2 at the same resolution. The triumph of Blu-ray Disc also plays a significant role. This standard requires the highest-quality compression profiles and settings. Even the most innovative multi-GHz quad-core processors cannot eliminate the performance bottleneck faced today by ‘high-end prosumers’ and professionals.
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There are currently around four million users of video-editing solutions worldwide, of whom around one million are professional users and ‘high-end prosumers’. The Ambric Am2045 GT video reference platform meets the requirements of precisely this user group and delivers professional, high-resolution results at eight times the speed within the familiar Adobe video-editing environment or a corresponding transcoder application.
“We are very proud that Ambric relies on our Acceleration SDK for its Am2045 GT video reference platform,” says Muzaffer Beygirci, Vice President of Worldwide Sales at MainConcept. “The cooperation with Ambric and the resulting product are an excellent example of our ‘Every Codec, Every Platform” strategy, that is, providing every codec for every platform. The Am2045 GT hardware does more than accelerate HD encoding eightfold. It guarantees the hundreds of thousands of MainConcept video codec users the best conceivable performance figures at an incredibly attractive price.”
