High-Quality MPEG-2 and H.264 Encoding for DVD, HD DVD, Blu-ray Disk and Web, Plus Adobe Integration
CERRITOS, Calif.--Pyro AV® by ADS Tech®, a leading-edge video conversion and capture solution provider for digital video professionals and enthusiasts, today announced Pyro Kompressor HD®, a PCI Express®-based accelerator solution that accelerates HD MPEG-2 and HD H.264/AVC encoding up to eight times faster than software-only video compression. For time- and cost-conscious video production houses, this translates into a much speedier authoring workflow. Integrated with Adobe® video software with support for Windows® XP and Apple® Mac OS® X Leopard platforms, the solution is a price-performance breakthrough benefiting both video professionals and prosumers.
The single-slot PYRO Kompressor HD board is powered by the Ambric Am2045TM, a massively-parallel processor with 336 RISC processors, delivering 1.2 teraOPS-class of video horsepower for consistently high throughput encoding, even for difficult, high-motion video content. A dynamic and affordable solution, Pyro Kompressor HD’s high-quality MPEG-2 and H.264/AVC codecs enable compression for DVD, HD DVD, Blu-ray Disk, web streaming media, archival storage, IPTV, and VOD. It is based on programmable chip technology, so that PYRO Kompressor HD hardware is “future-proofed” and can be updated as video compression standards evolve and other types of video processing become available.
“We are excited to announce PYRO Kompressor HD, an affordable, high-quality H.264 and MPEG compression solution for video editors who need super-charged encoding speed and processing power,” said Mike McCoy, president and CEO, Pyro AV. “This powerful productivity tool will save days of time in post-production, thereby providing a rapid return on investment.”
“ADS Tech’s Pyro AV division has a tradition of delivering the most up-to-date, highest-quality technologies at prices that make them easy to justify,” said Jay Eisenlohr, co-founder and executive vice president of marketing and business development, Ambric, Inc. “We are gratified that ADS Tech chose our Am2045 massively-parallel processor for their exciting new product. Pyro Kompressor HD for video processing reminds me of the breakthrough that occurred in the early days of the 3D-graphics industry; it is an exciting time for the rapidly growing video market.”
The included Pyro Kompressor HD transcoding software application simplifies production and provides control over input, conversion, encoding, and output. Transcoding can be done from a wide variety of input formats using software decoders. The software features watch folders for job automation, up and down scaling, frame rate conversion, custom settings and a range of pre-defined settings, chapter support, batch encoding that allows for multiple tasks, file drag and drop ease, control over target output file size, and mux’ing streams from different input files.
It can read either uncompressed video input or import compressed files, using a wide range of included decoders to enable transcoding for DV, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, H.264, AVCHD, AVC-Intra, VC-1, DVCPRO 25/50/100, DVCPRO-HD, JPEG2000, and YUV files, plus DirectShow and QuickTime import.
Designed as a flexible compression tool, the Pyro Kompressor HD hardware accelerator is also tightly integrated with Adobe’s video software family. Acceleration functionality is plug-and-play in Adobe Premiere® Pro CS3 and Adobe After Effects® CS3 Professional. The solution can be used for encoding whole video projects or fast iterative test-compressions while editing, compositing, or creating special-effects. Adobe integration offers a familiar workflow and quick turnaround.
Pricing and Availability
Pyro Kompressor HD for the PC will be available in February through a variety of Pyro AV dealers with an MSRP of $3,495.00.
Pyro Kompressor HD for the Mac platform will be available Spring 2008 with an MSRP of $3,495.00.
About PYRO AV
PYRO AV is the broadcast solutions division of ADS Technologies, Inc. The PYRO AV division is made up of a team of dedicated engineers with more than 15 years’ experience designing and developing high-quality video capture and conversion technologies. PYRO AV develops solutions for the broadcast, prosumers, and post-production markets, and is currently shipping a line of broadcast-quality video converters. PYRO AV products are distributed by OneSource Distributors and authorized dealers across North America. For more information, visit http://www.pyroav.com.
About ADS Technologies
ADS Technologies is a world leader in Universal Serial Bus and IEEE-1394/FireWire solutions. Since 1992, the company has introduced high-quality multimedia, networking, and presentation products at consumer-friendly prices. ADS Tech pioneered the consumer video editing industry with several USB MPEG-2 conversion devices designed to make archiving video to DVD easy and affordable. Going even one step further, ADS Tech not only enables customers to capture their video content, but also take their video, television, and music anywhere, whether on DVD, CD, or portable video players.
ADS Technologies’ products are distributed by Ingram Micro in the United States, Canada, and Europe. ADS Technologies’ products are available in nearly 3,000 consumer electronic and computer retail stores and through OEM private label customers around the world who market ADS Technologies’ products under their own brand name. For more information, visit http://www.ADStech.com or call 800.888.5244.