Media Processing: Unseen but Powerful

As I watched yesterday’s SuperBowl, I was painfully aware of each moment of the Patriots’ loss to New York. One thing of which I was blissfully unaware at the time was how much media processing was going on to bring me the crystal clear image on the massive HDTV in front of me. Media processing is what enables on-field action captured by NBC network’s cameras to be then consumed on a high-def television, or ultrabook, or smart phone, or tablet, etc. 

With the surge in connected devices, and in particular connect devices that can view video, the need for media processing is expected to increase dramatically over the coming years.  Not only that, but users are increasingly generating video traffic using handheld devices like smart phones. As the consumption and creation of video ramps up the flow of digital video traffic, the processors performing media processing have expanded from the traditional DSPs to include CPUs, GPUs, SoCs, etc. 

VDC will explore media processing in its upcoming embedded processor market research.  In May 2012, VDC will publish its Track 2, Volume 2: DSPs, GPUs, & Media Processors will take a deep dive into this technology-rich and fast-growing market. We will be reaching out to the leading vendors in each of these markets to learn their perspectives. If you wish to participate in our embedded processor research, please contact me:

Jonathan Hastings, Analyst, Embedded Group, Email: jhastings@vdcresearch.com