nVidia Unveils Integrated GPU Platform for Broadcast Production

NVIDIA Corporation introduced the NVIDIA Quadro Digital Video Pipeline, the industry's first integrated GPU-based platform for broadcasters to acquire, process and deliver virtual effects to video.

The solution offers the fastest graphics computation engine for broadcast production, in a flexible, reliable and cost-effective PC-based platform. By providing a direct path for image processing into and out of the GPU, it allows professionals to incorporate higher quality, graphic-rich broadcasts in real time. It also offers the fastest path for capturing and transcoding HD broadcast-quality video for use in real-time Internet streaming services.

The Quadro Digital Video Pipeline integrates the following:
Quadro SDI Capture card - enables uncompressed video to be streamed directly to Quadro SDI-enabled GPU memory, with the ability to capture up to four HD-SDI Single link sources simultaneously. Supports all SMPTE standard formats (3G, 2K, HD and SD) and includes a monitor out of the primary input.

Quadro SDI Output card - provides an integrated graphics-to-video solution, enabling 2D and 3D effects to be composited in real-time with 2K, HD and SD video. It can be genlocked to external house sync, or synced to the SDI Capture card.

Quadro FX professional GPU solutions - choose from the latest generation Quadro FX 3800, Quadro FX 4800 and Quadro FX 5800. Based on NVIDIA's revolutionary CUDA parallel computing architecture, Quadro offers advanced features and capabilities, up to 240 parallel processing cores and support for next-generation OpenGL and Microsoft DirectX 10 applications.

Quadro Digital Video Pipeline SDK - includes an extensive software development kit containing samples, APIs and plug-ins that allow applications to easily optimize the graphics and data processing pipelines of the Quadro GPU. This ensures easy programmability and control through the entire Digital Video Pipeline -- from capture through final delivery.

“The Quadro Digital Video Pipeline lets us bypass the CPU and main memory, and take full advantage of the visual and computational power of the GPU,” said Marv White, chief technology officer, Sportvision. “By continuing to work closely with NVIDIA, we’re ensuring our customers continue to get the most innovative technology in live broadcast today.”

Pricing and Availability
NVIDIA Quadro Digital Video Pipeline will ship August 2009. The estimated street prices range from $5,000 to $8,000 USD, depending on configuration.

Source: NVIDIA