Digital Rapids -- the trusted provider of innovative media transformation and workflow solutions for bringing video to wider audiences -- is now shipping version 3.8 of the Digital Rapids Stream software for the company's StreamZ, StreamZHD and Flux ingest, encoding and streaming solutions. Advances in the new version include H.264, MPEG-2 and DVCPro encoding enhancements including 4K Ultra HD H.264 encoding support; expanded support for automated multiscreen advertising insertion workflows; and new predefined project files for transforming content for Netflix delivery.

H.264 (AVC) encoding enhancements in Stream 3.8 include increased quality, significant performance gains -- as much as 25% faster depending on host system and content characteristics -- and support for 4K Ultra HD encoding. Featuring quadruple the number of pixels per frame (3840x2160) as 1080p HD, 4K Ultra HD enables superior viewing experiences with corresponding displays. Version 3.8 also features increased quality and performance for MPEG-2 encoding, plus improved DVCPro output quality.

Stream 3.8 extends the Stream software's support for automated, live advertising and monetization workflows with new support for the latest updated SCTE-104 specification and the HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) protocol. Cueing messages in live input sources are detected to automate the insertion of markers into HLS outputs for triggering subsequent ad insertion or replacement.

The new project files for Netflix asset preparation enable the streaming service's content suppliers to easily and consistently create high-quality deliverables meeting Netflix specifications. (Please see the separate April 5 press release for further information.)

Additional new features in version 3.8 include enhanced MXF compatibility including support for uncompressed YUV video; improved MOV file format handling; expanded support for up to 64 audio tracks in Transport Streams; live 5.1-to-stereo and stereo-to-mono audio down-mixing; enhancements to the optional HLS (e.g. iPhone® and iPad™) encoding and segmenting module; and a variety of minor additions and refinements.

"We're excited that the advances in Stream 3.8 are now available to our customers," said Darren Gallipeau, Product Manager at Digital Rapids. "The encoding performance and quality gains in the new version will bring immediate benefits for most media transformation applications, and with a broad range of specific yet powerful new features and enhancements, users from post production facilities and studios to multiscreen content distributors will each find operational improvements for their particular needs."

Digital Rapids Stream encoding solutions deliver high-quality, multi-format video capture, encoding, transcoding and streaming in versatile configurations that integrate easily into any professional environment. Offering the industry's deepest feature set, they provide superior quality, flexibility, format support and efficient automation for transforming media for applications from post production and archive to live and on-demand multi-screen distribution.