Digital Video Server

Description:

This is a facility currently under design that will provide capture, storage, retrieval of analog video in a digital form. It is a video analog to the voice server, and in fact its process architecture and extendibility are to be the same. The input and outputs will be NTSC baseband video and possibly audio. As the design is not as yet finalized, we may capture audio and video together, otherwise the voice server can be used to handle audio with a suitable data structure to maintain synchronization between the audio and video segments. The initial application will be video mail (replacing the analog devices).

Form:

PC/SCO UNIX computer with specialized video processing cards (and/or possible some combination of DOS chassis that communicate with the UNIX system), storage peripherals, coded in C and using Internet communications to communicate with other machines.

Strengths:

Very flexible as a platform for different applications, and should be reasonably inexpensive. There are not many digital video servers available commercially.

Caveats:

Still under design, so it is still in the idea stage. The end result Will be experimental.

Other:

-none-