Wowza Transcoder

Overview

Wowza® Transcoder AddOn provides the ability to ingest a live stream, decode the video and audio, and then re-encode the stream to suit the desired playback devices. Wowza Transcoder is a real-time audio and video transcoding and transrating solution. It can decode audio and video in multiple formats and re-encode them to properly key-frame aligned H.264 streams for adaptive bitrate delivery.

Transcoded streams can be delivered as adaptive bitrate using Flash RTMP/HTTP Dynamic Streaming, Apple HLS, and Silverlight Smooth Streaming, or as single bitrate streams over any Wowza Media Server 3.5 supported protocols.

New features to the award-winning Wowza Transcoder AddOn in
Wowza Media Server 3.5 include:

Overlays—A new module for Wowza Transcoder AddOn allows you to overlay static and dynamic images on top of video by using a Java-based API. It can be configured manually or pre-programmed based on external events, making it a powerful new tool for adding premium TV-like experiences.

Examples of how this feature can be used include:

• Advertising
• Titling
• Watermarking
• Company logos or symbols
• Sports/Stock tickers.

Examples:

The above is a banner overlay which can also be used as a ticker for sports, weather or news information.

Above is a squish banner overlay where the video height is reduced to fit the banner.

Above is a faded banner which can be used to place logos over video. 

Learn how to add graphic overlays

H.263 video compression—Wowza Transcoder AddOn now supports H.263 encoding for live video streams, enabling users to stream to older mobile devices.

Audio-only Option

The audio-only option gives you the ability to pay a significantly lower “audio-only” price when using the Wowza Transcoder AddOn. Using commodity hardware, the audio-only option transforms incoming live audio streams from encoders, IP cameras, IPTV headends, and other live sources into multiple bitrate H.264 stream sets for adaptive bitrate delivery. Additionally, the audio-only option can be used for non-adaptive streaming with any transport protocol supported by Wowza Media Server 3.5.

Specifications

Server

• Wowza Media Server 3.5 or greater
  (Wowza 3.0 or earlier please contact Sales)
   

Decoding

• Video: MPEG-2, MPEG-4 Part 2, H.264/AVC
• Audio: MP3, AAC (LC & HE), MPEG-1 Part 1/2, Speex, G.711

Encoding

• Video: H.264/AVC/H.263
• Audio: AAC (LC & HE)/AC3 (pass-through)

Learn more about Wowza Transcoder AddOn

In October, 2012, the Wowza Transcoder AddOn received the Streaming Media Europe Reader's Choice Award for Best Transcoding Solution.