How GPU Technology Helps (Prime) Time Fly

H

HardOCP News

[H] News
Joined
Dec 31, 1969
Messages
0
Add the ability to manipulate time to the list of advances made possible by GPUs. Cinnafilm, a small engineering-driven firm in Albuquerque, N.M., sells a package of hardware and software powered by NVIDIA’s Tesla GPUs that allows video to be shortened or lengthened by as much as 10 percent, in real time, without the need for any editing. “It completely re-samples video to a precise length without changing anything,” Lance Maurer, Cinnafilm’s CEO and founder, told a roomful of attendees during a session at the GPU Technology Conference.

This is no mere fast-forward button. Play video faster, even just a little, and actor’s voices rise in pitch. Motion gets blurred. And closed captioning flashes by too fast to read. Without a way to subtly tweak video files to compensate, viewers will complain. The solution, dubbed Tachyon Wormhole – in a nod to Maurer’s background as an astrophysicist – is helping TV broadcasters eke out additional revenue by shortening shows, making room for more advertisements. Similarly, if a broadcaster has to air a 23-minute video in a 22-minute slot, the discrepancy can be addressed lickety-split.
 
Give it a few years and you'll be watching 10 hours worth of ads in 10 seconds.
 
Radio has been doing this for years. There used to be (or maybe still is, I don't know) a system for talk radio called Cashbox. It would delay the start of a live broadcast, allowing the radio station to fit in an extra commercial or two, then compress the audio by removing dead air, like between words. It was hard to tell if it was in use; about the only way to know was if the program started late.

I recall that Rush Limbaugh made a big stink about it back in the late 90s.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top