Latest Pixera Four media servers are Champions League level

Pixera the top line from Stumpfl

When you think of media servers, you immediately think of Pixera. AV Stumpfl, originally an Austrian family business, designs, manufactures and markets a range of high-quality mobile and installation projection screens and media server software for professional and business markets. AV Stumpfl is based in Wallern. “Faber has been working with hardware and software from this Austrian manufacturer for many years, which guarantees the delivery of high-quality applications,” says Boere. This was also an important argument for further expanding the existing line of media servers with the new media servers in Stumpfl’s Pixera line. “Unlike other playout systems, the Pixera Four is suitable for further integration with third-party hardware, which makes this server extremely versatile and is a welcome addition to our offering for our customers on that basis alone.” In concrete terms, this added value means that, for example, ROE LED screens in combination with high-end processing platforms such as Megapixel Helios (MVR) and Brompton Tessera, which Faber has in operational use, can be seamlessly linked to the Pixma Four.

Top features

Virtual production setups for broadcast and hybrid events, among others, are gaining in popularity every day. The rapid technological developments in the field of real-time graphics, the incredibly powerful processing power of today’s hardware and the enormous growth in the use of 3D software engines worldwide are giving the rise of virtual production applications an extra boost. “The Pixera Four Quad RS is perfectly suited to be an integral part of advanced workflows with real-time and, for example, Unreal engine content,” explains Boere. He adds to this the simply spectacular features: “The latest standard outputs on DP1.4 at 5120 by 2880 format in 60Hz. The server has a maximum canvas of no less than 32,000 x 32,000 pixels. A storage capacity of 30 terabytes is available per machine. And each media server has 8 network connections, including two at 25 gigabytes per second, 2 at 10 gigabytes per second, and 4 at 1 gigabyte per second. In addition, the servers are equipped with a Framelock & Genlock board, Dante Virtual Soundcard, GUI board and Live Input/Output board on up to 12G SDI.”

Rich and sophisticated image

“This is indeed truly Champions League level,” adds Boere, again referring to the 8K image quality at 10-bit HDR. And to make that extremely high level of quality even more imaginable: “Imagine the image of a campfire in a mountainous setting against a starry sky. Whilst HD measures the most light in the campfire, in HDR it will be refined and subtly distributed, creating a richer image in which even the smallest details are clearly distinguishable.”

Insiders will realize that the Pixema Four RS is giving a tremendous boost to production possibilities, both live and on stage or in the recording studio. And the server is also extremely versatile: from video and media content production, a multi-projector or display setup, playing native and uncompressed media and live media, and multi-channel audio playback and control, to show control with DMX and Art-Net, 3D content assignment and the processing and control of live, input, camera and presentation signals. It even has automatic projector calibration for mixing geometry and edges is built-in.

Award winner

“We are proud to have the Pixera Four RS available for our customers,” says Boere, in summary. “Faber is committed to the highest levels of reliability, quality and functionality. With this next generation of media servers, we are getting one step ahead of the future and offering plenty of opportunities to genuinely take virtual productions up a notch.” By the way: the most convincing proof that the Pixema Four really is simultaneously the best and most innovative media server right now was provided recently. With the Pixera Four, Stumpfl won the 2023 InAVation Award in the Content, Streaming & Broadcast category.