Decode High Resolution Video on Low Power Hardware with Intel® Quick Sync and Nx Witness v4.2

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Intel® Quick Sync + Nx Witness v4.2 = Awesome.

A new feature in Nx Witness v4.2, Intel® Quick Sync  decoding in Nx Witness Desktop is a game changer. In a nutshell it gives standard operators with commodity compute hardware (e.g. laptop, tablets) the ability to offload decoding from the CPU to the built-in graphics core on Pentium, Celeron, and Core CPUs

 
 

What is Intel® Quick Sync Video and how Is it beneficial to users of Nx Witness VMS?

Intel® Quick Sync Video allows high definition video to be decoded and encoded rapidly without ramping up CPU usage. This allows the CPU to multi-task and improves responsiveness of the computer as a whole and, more specifically, the video being viewed.

While your Nx Witness VMS operates, the video being captured is encoded by the camera, sent over the network to Nx Witness Servers, and then is decoded when viewed in a system client (Desktop, Mobile, or Browser). The decoding of multiple high-resolution streams can put a strain on the CPU – especially on lightweight computers (laptops, tablets, all-in-ones) that lack a dedicated GPU. When a computer’s processor is being overworked, it loses the ability to properly multi-task, video playback and image viewing becomes sluggish, and you may see a lower frame rate than is ideal.

 

This is where the Intel® Quick Sync Video feature in v4.2 comes in.

Intel® Quick Sync Video uses the dedicated media processing capabilities of Intel® Graphics Technology to decode and encode graphics fast, enabling the computer’s processor to complete other tasks while decoding video in the Nx Witness Desktop client. This keeps your Nx Witness system snappy and responsive.

Check out the video below for an idea of how much impact this feature can have on CPU usage.

 

 

While Intel® Quick Sync Video is especially ideal those operating Nx Witness on low power hardware (e.g. Intel Atom or Celeron) and/or decoding very high resolution cameras and streams, high-res video encoding and decoding can skyrocket CPU usage up to 100% even for the majority of people running an average PC, making Intel® Quick Sync Video a vital feature for any operator using Nx Witness VMS.

* Don’t forget! – Operators can monitor their system’s CPU usage at any time in the Desktop, Cloud, or Web Admin Interface using the Nx Witness Health Monitoring Tool