Aqua Internet Encoder

The Grass Valley Group Aqua Internet encoder is part of the digital media leader's Web Media Publishing offering, which includes its Emmy award-winning Profile XP Media Platform, ContentShare platform for digital asset management, and WebAble technology for streamlining the re-purposing of content for the Web.

Architected to provide the highest streaming throughput per rack-unit of space compared to any product in its class, the Aqua encoder features the Grass Valley Group's One Pass Encoding technology, whereby it can pre-process, capture, clean, and encode an input source, and render it into multiple streaming formats, at multiple bit rates-all in real time. The Aqua encoder, a combination of hardware and software that will be sold as a turnkey system, addresses stream bandwidths ranging from 28.8 kbps (standard audio) to greater than 2 Mbps. It supports all major streaming formats, including Microsoft's latest digital media technology, Windows Media Audio and Video 8, as well as RealNetworks' RealVideo, and Apple's Quick Time.

Anticipating the acute need for the efficiencies of plug-and-play solutions, the Aqua encoder features interfaces to rights management systems, the ability to increase throughput by using standard load-balancing software to distribute workloads, and the use of the Microsoft.NET framework to allow users to work directly with the encoder regardless of its location or the location of their materials. As well, the Aqua encoder will feature interfaces to various e-commerce and digital media publication and syndication applications.

The Aqua encoder leverages the Grass Valley Group's extensive development work in video compression and production technologies-including work performed under a U.S. Department of Commerce National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) grant-to provide professional content creators the highest levels of signal quality and product reliability, whether they are creating new streaming media or re-purposing content for the Web.