[iptv-users] Open Source x264 Encoder

Frank Bulk frnkblk at iname.com
Sat Jan 23 00:26:48 EST 2010 

Simon:

Did you use it to encode local/cable channels for a production IP TV network
serving residential customers, or for a different scenario?

It's been understanding that in this market, you get what you pay for.

Frank

-----Original Message-----
From: iptv-users-bounces at puck.nether.net
[mailto:iptv-users-bounces at puck.nether.net] On Behalf Of Simon Lockhart
Sent: Friday, January 22, 2010 3:52 PM
To: Bruce Buchanan
Cc: iptv-users at puck.nether.net
Subject: Re: [iptv-users] Open Source x264 Encoder

I've used the VSI SD encoder, and while fairly basic in terms of
configuration,
the results are plenty good enough. The pricing is very attractive - $7,795
for an HD blade, or $2,650 for an SD blade.

Simon

On Fri Jan 22, 2010 at 01:38:10PM -0500, Bruce Buchanan wrote:
> If I remember correctly, the price of the encoder for an HD channel is
$8,000
> or $9,000.
> 
> 
> Bruce Buchanan
> Senior Network Technician
> Nexicom
> 5 King St. E., Millbrook, ON, LOA 1GO
> Phone: 705-932-4147
> Cell: 705-750-7705
> Web: http://www.nexicom.net
> Nexicom - Connected. Naturally.
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: iptv-users-bounces at puck.nether.net
[mailto:iptv-users-bounces at puck.nether.net] On Behalf Of Jared Gordon
> Sent: Friday, January 22, 2010 1:36 PM
> To: frnkblk at iname.com; João Serra; iptv-users at puck.nether.net
> Subject: Re: [iptv-users] Open Source x264 Encoder
> 
> Just SD.
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Frank Bulk - iName.com [mailto:frnkblk at iname.com] 
> Sent: Friday, January 22, 2010 11:55 AM
> To: Jared Gordon; João Serra; iptv-users at puck.nether.net
> Subject: RE: [iptv-users] Open Source x264 Encoder
> 
> Jared:
> 
> Are those MPEG-4 SD encoder costs, or HD, too?  Everything we've looked at
> is $25 to $35K per channel.
> 
> Frank
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: iptv-users-bounces at puck.nether.net
> [mailto:iptv-users-bounces at puck.nether.net] On Behalf Of Jared Gordon
> Sent: Friday, January 22, 2010 8:46 AM
> To: João Serra; iptv-users at puck.nether.net
> Subject: Re: [iptv-users] Open Source x264 Encoder
> 
> As a small IPTV service provider, we simply don't have the time or
expertise
> to play around with an open source solution.  We want something turn-key,
> and "hardware" or proprietary encoders fit the bill.  Actually the
encoders
> we use (Astria/Motorola/Vidtel blades) run a flavor of linux to operate
the
> hardware.  We get pretty darn good results doing SD content at 2.9Mb/sec
> (constant bit rate) using Mpeg4 encoders.  I think your IPTV provider
might
> be cutting bandwidth corners trying to squeeze it down to 2Mb- it's just
not
> enough bandwidth from my experiences in a headend-to-set top box scenario.
> I'm sure there is always another encoder out there that will do better
job,
> but when you factor in cost (including development and testing), time to
> deploy, and stability, I think it would be a challenge to beat a dedicated
> hardware encoder.  Our Mpeg4 encoder costs are about $5600/channel for new
> encoding gear (not including distribution, or the chassis)- $3400/channel
if
> you can find used encoders.  
> I'm open to suggestions however, as we're always looking for a way to
reduce
> costs and increase quality.  Now if you could put together something
similar
> to what you described, and sell it for less than $3400/channel- I'd be all
> about that.  :)
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Jared Gordon
> 
> Winnebago Coop Telecom Assn
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: iptv-users-bounces at puck.nether.net
> [mailto:iptv-users-bounces at puck.nether.net] On Behalf Of João Serra
> Sent: Thursday, January 21, 2010 8:35 PM
> To: iptv-users at puck.nether.net
> Subject: [iptv-users] Open Source x264 Encoder
> 
> I noticed that almost all of you are working at some IPTV provider,
> I'm just an IPTV application Developer and i don't deal with encoders
> at all, so i have a question for all of you:
> 
> Have you tried the open-source X264 H.264 encoder? According to the
> things i read on the net, x264 can out perform every hardware encoder
> on the market, even in real-time, both in quality and speed... In the
> last version it can even encoder in real time without latency, making
> it suitable for video-conferencing applications...
> I suggest you to read this post in one of the x264 developers blog -
> http://x264dev.multimedia.cx/?p=249&cpage=1#comment-2427 According to
> him, there are no h264 encoders in the market(both software and
> hardware) that can achieve that level of low-latency... (I know IPTV
> doesn't care much about latency, I'm just trying to illustrate the
> power of x264)
> 
> My IPTV provider, for instance, uses 2 MB/s(in average, they use VBR)
> h264 streams for SD content(they're using Harmonic's Divicom Electra
> 8000) and it really looks awful when compared to a couple of x264
> files i have encoded with x264 at 500kb/s(average - VBR encoded) Yes,
> i know i can't compare off-line encoding with real-time encoding, so i
> did another test: I encoded a video in real-time on a Core 2 Duo with
> the same average bitrate of 2mb/s and again, my provider hardware
> encoder looses again in quality... I tried Sports, Movies, News, etc
> and looking to my Samsung LCD, o difference is very visible, x264
> wins!
> 
> So, my question to you is: why do you use those very very expensive
> hardware encoders that produce mediocre results, if Software encoders
> can easily outperform them? And they are much more cheaper(they are a
> just standard servers, you can even add SDI/ASI PCI cards if you
> want)...
> 
> I know x264 can be a pain in the ass to configure, given the bazillion
> features and options it supports, however, i think it's a fair
> trade-off, if you consider it's price...
> I only think i cannot test is it's stability, have any of you tested
> it? For instance, letting a Red Hat Enterprise Linux box real time
> encoding a stream for a couple of months without interruption?
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