What happens when the relentless demand for video processing slams into the hard walls of data center power and space limitations? Dennis Mungai, heading R&D at Cires21, takes us on a fascinating journey through the evolution of encoding hardware that's reshaping how broadcast giants like the BBC deliver content.
"Density, density, density" emerges as the driving force behind Cires21's technological evolution. Starting with flexible but resource-intensive CPU-based encoding, Dennis reveals how their Madrid-based team methodically explored GPU acceleration before discovering the game-changing potential of Video Processing Units (VPUs). The conversation demystifies why purpose-built ASICs are upending conventional wisdom about the necessary tradeoffs between quality, power consumption, and channel capacity.
Most revealing is Cires21's extensive codec comparison study, where they tested approximately 1,500 samples across CPU, GPU, and VPU implementations. Their findings challenge long-held assumptions: NETINT's VPUs delivered visual quality comparable to software encoders but at a fraction of the power cost. Perhaps most surprising was the discovery that these specialized processors performed "extremely competitively" even at lower resolutions where traditional hardware solutions typically struggle.
For streaming providers facing the reality that "we have run out of power in the data center," this technological progression couldn't be more timely. The ability to fit hundreds of broadcast-quality channels into a single rack unit represents a fundamental shift in video infrastructure economics. As Dennis eloquently puts it, this evolution "is either going to find you, or you're going to find yourself buying into these solutions and you will be behind time."

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