engineering

Video server

Video server is a engineering topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Video server rather than just read about it. In short: A video server is a computer-based device that is dedicated to delivering video. Video servers are used in a number of applications, and often have additional functions and capabilities that address the needs of particular applications.

Key takeaways

Video server belongs to engineering; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Video server to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Video server from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

A video server is a computer-based device that is dedicated to delivering video. Video servers are used in a number of applications, and often have additional functions and capabilities that address the needs of particular applications. For example, video servers used in security, surveillance and inspection applications typically are designed to capture video from one or more cameras and deliver the video via a computer network. In video production and broadcast applications, a video server may have the ability to record and play recorded video, and to deliver many video streams simultaneously.

Video broadcast and production

In TV broadcast industries, a server is a device used to store broadcast quality images and allows several users to edit stories using the images they contain simultaneously. The video server can be used in a number of contexts, some of which include:

News: providing short news video clips as part of a news broadcast as seen on networks such as CNN, Fox News and the BBC. Production: enhance live events with instant replays and slow motion and highlights (sport production) (see OB Vans) Instruction: delivering course material in video format. Public Access: delivering city specific information to residents over a cable system. Surveillance: deliver real-time video images of protected site. Entertainment: deliver anything used for entertainment. It can be gaming, news, movie trailers, or movies. A professional-grade video server performs recording, storage, and playout of multiple video streams without any degradation of the video signal. Broadcast quality video servers often store hundreds of hours of compressed audio and video (in different codecs), play out multiple and synchronised simultaneous streams of video by, and offer quality interfaces such as SDI for digital video and XLR for balanced analog audio, AES/EBU digital audio and also Time Code. A genlock input is usually provided to provide a means of synchronizing with the house reference clock, thereby avoiding the need for timebase correction or frame synchronizers. Video servers usually offer some type of control interface allowing them to be driven by broadcast automation systems that incorporate sophisticated broadcast programming applications. Popular protocols include VDCP and the 9-Pin Protocol. They can optionally allow direct to disk recording using the same codec that is used in various post-production video editing software packages to prevent any wasted time in transcoding.

Features Typically, a video server can do the following:

Ingest of different sources : video cameras (multiple angles), satellite data feeds, disk drives and other video servers. This can be done in different codecs. Temporary or definitive storage of these video feeds. Maintain a clear structure of all stored media with appropriate metadata to allow fast search : name, remarks, rating, date, time code, etc. video editing of the different clips Transfer those clips to other video servers or playout directly (via IP interface or SDI) Generally, they have several bi directional channels (record and ingest) for video and audio. A perfect synchronisation is necessary between those channels to manage the feeds.

Video surveillance and inspection In some surveillance and inspection applications, IP video servers are employed which convert analog video signals into IP video streams. These IP video servers can stream digitized video over IP networks in the same way that an IP camera can. Because an IP Video server uses IP protocols, it can stream video over any IP-compatible network, including via a modem for access over a phone or ISDN connection. With the use of a video server attached to an analog camera, the video from an existing surveillance system can be converted and networked into a new IP surveillance system. In the video security industry a video server is a device to which one or more video sources can be attached. Video servers are used to give existing analog systems network connectivity. Video servers are essentially transmission/ telemetry / monitoring devices. Viewing is done using a web browser or in some cases supplied software. These products also allow the upload of images to the internet or direct viewing from the internet. In order to upload to the internet an account with an ISP (internet service provider) may be required. Phone apps that send direct security video feed to smartphones from security video servers are another recent security video server application innovation. This allows smartphone users to view security video server feed from anywhere they can use their smartphone.

See also Broadcast automation and playout Centralcasting Media server (Consumer)

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Video server

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Video server claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Video server before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Video server ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Video server

In research: Video server appears in engineering research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Video server in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Video server is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Broadcast engineering, Television terminology, Video, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Video server outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Video server in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Video server means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Video server out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Video server in simple terms?

Why does Video server matter?

Because it connects several engineering ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Video server?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Video server.