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Argus Single-Board Encoder Overview
Chapter 1
Getting Started
Argus Single-Board Encoder Overview
The flagship of the Argus fleet, the Argus Spectrum Multi-Stream encoder is
capable of producing up to four encoded streams simultaneously. Typically it is
used to generate a production-quality MPEG-2 stream that corresponds to one or
more lower-bitrate streams. The Argus Spectrum encoder offers you the ability to
generate and store up to three low-bitrate streams while producing the broadcast-
quality MPEG-2 stream. The outcome of this process is a set of streams that rep-
resent the same content in different formats. In addition to the primary MPEG-2
stream, you may optionally create streams in Ligos
®
, Real
®
, or Windows Media™
formats. Each of these secondary streams is produced by a software encoder that
compresses and stores the audio and video output of the Vela CineView
®
Pro
decoder. The Spectrum uses dual Intel
®
Pentium
®
III 866 MHz processors.
All Argus single-board encoders can add support for Spectrum multi-stream oper-
ation. Ask your Vela sales representative for details on the Spectrum option.
Vela’s Argus
®
4:2:2 MPEG-2 encoder is a high-end audio/video encoding system
hosted on a Microsoft
®
Windows
®
2000™ or Windows NT™ PC platform. Argus
4:2:2 uses software and hardware developed by Vela to convert traditional audio
and video signals into studio-quality MPEG-2 digital streams supporting both
Main Profile and 4:2:2 Profile encoding. The resulting MPEG-2 compressed
video can then be stored on a hard drive, and/or transferred via a network, and
will ultimately be decoded with an MPEG-2 compliant decoder, for broadcast or
personal viewing.
Controlled by the same software as the Argus 4:2:2 and Spectrum encoders, the
Argus 4:2:0 encoder supports Main Profile encoding up to 15 Mbps. As is the
Spectrum and the 4:2:2 models, the 4:20 is available in rack-mount (4-RU) or
board-only versions.
The Argus LC board-only analog encoder boasts the same high-quality MPEG-2
performance and reliability of the Argus 4:2:0 encoding system. It features
encoding rates of up to 15Mbps and supports two-channel analog audio.
NOTE:
“Argus” and “CineView” are registered trademarks of Vela LP. “Ligos” and
“GoMotion” are registered trademarks of Ligos Corporation in the US and/or other
countries. “RealSystem Producer” and “RealPlayer” are the registered trademarks of
RealNetworks, Inc. “Windows Media” is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation. All other
trademarks, brand names, or product names appearing in this publication are regis-
tered to their respective owners.