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WinFast HPVC1100 is world's first external SpursEngine encoder

by Darren Murph posted May 12th 2009 at 8:53AM


Toshiba's Cell-based SpursEngine HD video co-processor has made plenty of appearances within monstrous gaming machines, but this marks the very first time where it has stepped out of the laptop chassis and into a portable enclosure. Granted, the language barrier is killing us here, but it seems as if the Leadtek WinFast HPVC1100 wraps a SpursEngine encoder into an on-the-go solution that can be lugged around with a standard laptop in order to churn through video while on set, in the field or on the road. Other specs include 128MB of RAM, a PCI-Express slot and a weight of 1.54 pounds; there's no word just yet on pricing or availability. One more shot is after the break.

[Via Akihabara News]

Continue reading WinFast HPVC1100 is world's first external SpursEngine encoder

DivX 7 gets January 2009 release date

by Darren Murph posted Dec 23rd 2008 at 11:14AM


There's not much to on besides a teaser page right now (okay, so there's only a teaser page right now), but here's the important part: DivX 7 is coming, and it's due next month. The next-generation of the software promises "true HD video" with H.264 video and AAC audio, and apparently it'll present something akin to "a cinematic experience" on your computer. Pretty bold claims there -- thank goodness we've but a matter of weeks to determine if it lives up to 'em or not.

Netflix CPO gets technical about encoding for streaming

by Darren Murph posted Nov 20th 2008 at 6:02AM


Go on, confess. If you're reading this now, chances are you have at least a passing interest in learning how all of this glorious streaming content actually gets to your TV set / computer while still managing to look at least halfway decent. If you're willing to be honest with yourself, there's a lot in the read link that you'll love. Without going too in-depth here (wouldn't want to scare anyone off, you know?), Netflix's Chief Product Officer covers the basics of first- and second-generation encoding as well as how it handles the wonderful high-def encodes that are used to deliver Watch Instantly content to the Xbox 360. Oh, and now that the New Xbox Experience is live, you can chime in below and let us know if all that hard work that's being done behind the scenes is paying dividends on your HDTV.

[Via CNET]

JVC announces MPEG-2 / H.264 dual codec LSI chip

by Darren Murph posted Jun 9th 2008 at 8:36AM


As the camera / camcorder world continues to embrace video sharing sites, it's no surprise to see this little critter emerge from the labs of JVC-Victor. The pictured dual codec LSI chip handles both MPEG-2 and H.264 / MPEG-4 AVC formats, theoretically cutting out the painful encode process from YouTube uploads. Granted, most of the technobabble behind the thing is lost in machine translation, but we do get the idea that it'll start showing up in the outfit's Everio line shortly.

[Via AkihabaraNews]

Thomson launches HD AVC encoding tools for Blu-ray

by Richard Lawler posted Feb 28th 2008 at 1:14PM

Thomson's Tiger AVC encoder that it has been using in house for the last couple of years, is now available for sale to interested Blu-ray (and HD DVD) compression and authoring facilities. Including Thomson's film grain adjustment technology among other parts of a "secret sauce" Thomson says results in better looking MPEG-4 / h.264 encoded movies. Packaged as the Nexcode HD AVC Encoder, its a full hardware and software solution built to scale to business requirements. No word on who exactly will use this technology, but as long as our HDM is artifact-free, we're not too concerned how it got that way.

DivX sez 100 million certified video devices have been shipped

by Darren Murph posted Aug 16th 2007 at 6:09PM

Moving 100 million of anything is no easy feat, and DivX is using this very milestone to throw itself a party. Reportedly, over 100 million DivX Certified video devices have shipped out "since the launch of the DivX Certification program in 2003," and it notes alliances with LG, Philips, Samsung, Sony, and Thomson (what, no SanDisk?) as key steps along the way. More specifically, over 2,500 individual product models have been loosed that support DivX playback, and the company estimates that around "32-percent of all DVD players sold worldwide support DivX." Way to go, now how's about unleashing that Connected box of your to the masses?

[Via PhotographyBlog]

Latest DivX release adds 1080i and 1080p support

by Darren Murph posted Nov 8th 2006 at 8:27PM

We've given you the pros and cons of DivX-HD, but now we've got one more reason to love the highly-regarded format: 1080p (and 1080i, too). You heard right, the next time you feel the need to rip and encode, you can do so in beautiful 1,920 x 1,080 resolution. In the latest DivX newsletter, support was annouced for "full HD digital video encoding in both interlaced and progressive scan modes," and readers were forewarned that watching those ole 640 x 480 clips may prove painful after experiencing this newfangled nirvana. Version 6.4 also boasted a few other improvements, including "faster multipass encoding, better compression when using internal resize filters, and a new adaptive noise reduction feature" to improve overall quality. So, stop hangin' around and give the new tools a go, eh?

Blu-ray MPEG-4, BD-J tools on the way from Matsushita (Panasonic) [Update 1]

by Richard Lawler posted Jun 23rd 2006 at 7:36AM

The early impressions of Sony's initial Blu-ray releases are in and as you may have heard, they aren't so good. Many have pointed the blame at Sony's insistence on using MPEG-2 instead of the newer and more easily compressed MPEG-4. One of the reasons they cited for sticking with the older format was their insistence that the MPEG-4 authoring tools available were not of sufficient quality.

Whether that is true or not, Matsushita (Panasonic) has announced their own set of MPEG-4 Blu-ray encoder and authoring tools, which support Java (BD-J) for the interactive features Blu-ray is also capable of. According to what we can interpret of the press release, this will be available July 1st in United States yet Panasonic's (US) web site has no mention of it yet. Also no mention of cost or license fees, although this probably won't be on the shelf at CompUSA anytime soon.

Regardless, considering the apparent state of Blu-ray releases, we can't say for sure how much of the problem is the codec but one has to wonder how many discs will be released using the older technology if they continue to get poor reviews. Rumors have indicated the authoring tools made available by Sony support only MPEG-2 and for that reason all the studios have been using them. It will be interesting to see if there is any release date reshuffling of content in the same way some players have slipped, or if the other studios are able to get better results using Sony's own tools.

[Via AV Watch]

[Update] HDTV UK has more information on the MPEG-4 equipment available soon at the Panasonic Hollywood Library in California.

ATI's "Avivo" specification pulls PC's, HDTV's closer

by Richard Lawler posted Sep 21st 2005 at 7:05PM


RubyATI has already shown their flexibility by partnering with JVC to put their chips in TV's, are now spreading the benefits of that technology across their product line with their newly-announced "Avivo" technology.  Simply put, Avivo is a set of image enhancement, display, and connection specifications that you'll be able to find in many of ATI's future products.  MPEG-2, H.264, HDCP or otherwise, if it is high def and you want to play it or output it to a TV, you will be able to with full hardware support on Avivo compatible products. Video cards equipped with the technology will support progressive scan output and hardware-assisted video encoding so you can convert for other devices without wasting precious CPU cycles. 

I'm glad to see this, as my home PC currently has an ATI Radeon 9200SE that is great, however setting everything up to work properly and output to my monitor and/or TV when and how I want has been more difficult than necessary.  Now that they are designing such connectivity in from the ground up, it will be good for everyone.  Expect Avivo labeled products to be available in the next month or so.

Will it do your laundry, dishes and homework?  No, but it will let you play that high-definition movie you just downloaded on your big screen TV with no loss of quality and leave you with CPU power to work with at the same time.





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