TAG Doubles Bandwidth for Uncompressed Signals

Media companies can now monitor twice the number of uncompressed signals within the same compute infrastructure thanks to TAG Video Systems’ support of PCIe Gen 4 servers. TAG is the leader in real-time media performance, delivering software-based deep monitoring of linear IP video workflows from live production through OTT delivery. The company’s Realtime Media Performance Platform operates in the cloud, on COTS servers or hybrid configurations and supports thousands of sources including all the latest formats and transports.

PCIe4 (PCI Express 4.0) hardware is the latest available version of Intel’s motherboard expansion card interface. With availability of PCIe4 server systems, the interconnect bandwidth is doubled compared to the PCIe3 version and provides up to 256 Gbps of bidirectional data per card slot. Support for PCIe4 and Gen3 Xeon CPUs enables TAG’s Realtime Media Performance Platform to handle twice the number of uncompressed video streams, cutting the number of servers required in half, an enormous benefit in today’s world of hardware shortages, rising prices and supply chain delays.

“This is a classic case of TAG supporting multiple customer goals with a Zer0 Friction approach,” says Paul Briscoe, chief architect for TAG. “On the technical side, it reduces complexities by enabling engineers to manage double the number of streams on a given footprint. On the business end, it’s allowing media companies to maximize hardware investments, make better use of general resources, and stretch the budget for growth initiatives and other improvements.”

TAG has also announced that users can expect a further and significant increase in capacity when PCIe5 and the next generation of CPUs hits the market. According to Briscoe, support is already in development, underscoring the company’s commitment to keep pace with a rapidly evolving technology landscape and keep its customers ahead of the technology curve, while ensuring they have the most current IT solutions to meet their business needs.

As always, in keeping with TAG’s Zer0-Friction™ paradigm, all current TAG customers upgrading to the latest version of TAG software can enable the latest features including PCIe4-based servers at no additional cost or changes to their licenses.