Archive notice: This article was originally published on April 20, 2009. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
The four-channel HD/SD production server offers high image quality, support for 3x super-slow-motion, and instant-replay functionality at a competitive price.
Mira is already used by Turner Studios, Fox Speed Channel, and Golf Channel.
The video server was designed specifically for live operation wherever image quality, availability, and simple operation are critical. Mira’s principal applications include animated bumpers with video, key, and audio; replay and slow-motion playback for sports broadcasts; and feeding video and graphics content to on-set monitors.
At Las Vegas, attention is focused particularly on Mira’s 3x super-slow-motion recording and playback. This function requires three times the storage of normal video. Mira’s capacity of 15 to 60 hours of HD video is suited to triple-speed slow-motion recording because an entire event can be captured without loop recording that overwrites valuable content after a period of time. The combination of long recording duration and Mira’s vertical interpolation provides high-quality slow-motion playback.
For audio-intensive applications, Mira provides up to eight AES and 16 embedded audio channels per video channel.
Abekas says Mira costs roughly one fifth less than common HD super-slow-motion servers. The system combines image quality with a hardware platform protected by RAID 6, easily exchanged hot-swappable video drives, redundant power supplies, and replaceable fans. Mira occupies a 3U chassis, half the space of many other super-slow-motion servers.
Mira in Detail
Alongside current video and audio processing, RAID 6 drives, and its pricing, Mira can be supplied with 15, 30, or 60 hours of HD recording capacity for video, audio, and timecode in a compact 3U enclosure. For SD-only recording, capacities are 32, 41, and 82 hours. Recording uses JPEG 2000 wavelet compression at data rates up to 200 Mbit/s with 10-bit quantization for HD, or up to 175 Mbit/s for SD. Ten presets set HD data rates from 200 to 75 Mbit/s and SD data rates from 175 to 25 Mbit/s.
The RAID 6 video and audio drives are accessible from the front and can be replaced easily. RAID 6 permits the simultaneous failure of up to two drives without interrupting operation. Drives can be hot-swapped without tools, and standby drives can be configured to take over automatically if a drive fails.
Mira also provides fast QuickTime file import, including RGB, alpha channel, and audio, into video, key, and audio clips; four serial RS-422 interfaces supporting Sony, Louth VDCP, and Odetics protocols, allowing control by slow-motion controllers from Sony, Thomson, Lance Design™, and DNF Controls™; eight uncompressed digital audio channels with 24-bit quantization and 48 kHz sampling, optionally 16 channels; LTC and VANC timecode recording and playback; an interface with integrated video, audio, and timecode displays; a built-in multiviewer for monitoring; and control for all four video channels.
By default, Mira can record and play back up to two video, key, audio, and timecode sets. Storing a VKAT set under a single clip name simplifies many production and post-production workflows. Optional 2x and 3x super-slow-motion recording and playback are available. Users can reconfigure the Mira hardware at any time for simultaneous recording and playback with shared storage on each of the four video channels.
Further Links:
- Abekas
Penta Studiotechnik
