Matrox VS4Recorder used in Automotive & Aerospace test facilities

This user article looks at how custom AV integrator Smart Homes and Smart Offices (SHSO) has designed the Matrox VS4Recorder into their video capture solutions for their automotive and aerospace clients. They selected the Matrox VS4Recorder becasue of it's ability to simultaneously capture HD footage from 4 diffferetn SDI sources while maintaining perfect sync.

Sound & Video Contractor

The Challenge

The testing facility needed a multi-channel recording solution that could continuously record from multiple cameras in perfect sync, be easily controlled by a single operator and have the video immediately available for playback after the test. They also wanted to be able to archive high-quality video of all tests at small file sizes to save on storage space.

The Solution

Originally SHSO looked into using a standard security DVR but none had the features needed for the required level of video capture and data analysis. The ability of Matrox VS4Recoder Pro to provide multi-camera synchronous recording was exactly what IT support specialist Ben Crowley had been searching for. Having worked with Matrox gear previously, he was familiar with the company’s reputation for quality products. According to him, “Between the card and the software, the VS4Recorder Pro is a very efficient solution to the problem. It lets us record everything in sync and there are plenty of camera options that work with the system.”

VS4Recorder PRO lets users capture video to industry-recognized codecs that can be use with leading editing applications without transcoding. The efficient, high-quality Matrox MPEG-2 I-frame codec at up to 300Mb/s is provided in an AVI wrapper. H.264 is provided in either MOV or MP4 wrappers. DV/DVCAM, DVCPRO, DVCPRO50 and DVCPRO HD QuickTime files are provided in MOV wrappers. Global audio settings include audio codecs for .wav and .aac files with bit rate, bit depth and stereo/mono options. SHSO uses the H.264 compression format and the MP4 file wrapper in this application to maximize video quality while minimizing file sizes to keep data storage requirements in check. With multiple cameras and numerous tests, the number of video files going to storage adds up quickly. “H.264 compression gives the testing facility the high quality video required to reliably analyze the tests, but because the file sizes are relatively small, storage is efficient at the same time,” explains Gilluly. read more...