NETINT Technologies announces that video streaming has crossed a significant threshold, with more than 225,000 of its Video Processing Units (VPUs) installed worldwide, having encoded more than 1.1 trillion minutes of video. What began as a contrarian bet against software encoding on commodity CPUs has become the operating standard at some of the most recognised video platforms in the world.
The numbers explain why. Purpose-built ASICs give NETINT VPUs energy-per-stream ratings and encoding densities that general-purpose processors cannot match. A single Quadra T1U or T1A encodes up to 32 simultaneous 1080p streams, while the Quadra Video Server packs as many as 320 channels into one rack unit while drawing just 500 watts. Quadra series VPUs support AV1, HEVC and H.264 at resolutions up to 8K and are optimised for both VOD and live encoding. Shipping in U.2, PCIe and M.2 form factors and using the NVMe standard, NETINT VPUs slot into data centres, edge POPs and remote production environments without the hassle of managing drivers and specific OS versions.
“When the company was formed in 2015, it was obvious to us that software running on commodity CPUs would cease to be a sustainable option. Now, with custom silicon dominating AI platforms and hyperscaler video architectures, this thesis has been solidified,” said Mark Donnigan, Head of Strategic Marketing, NETINT.
A Milestone, and a Movement
For years, the barrier to custom silicon was integration. Streaming operators could see the 90 per cent reduction in encoding operational costs, but assumed that capturing it required hyperscaler-sized engineering teams. NETINT launched the VPU Ecosystem in 2025 to remove that assumption. Now comprising more than a dozen companies spanning hardware, cloud, networks, software and integration services, the Ecosystem turns the move from public cloud, commercial and in-house software platforms into a supported, low-risk transition.
“Once the market came to realise that it was possible to reduce encoding operational costs by as much as 90 per cent without any impact on the quality delivered, we saw the conversation flip from ‘what is a VPU?’ to ‘how can I integrate it easily, reliably and without risk?’” said Randal Horne, CRO, NETINT. “The VPU Ecosystem objective is to show that you don’t have to have huge budgets or engineering teams to upgrade your video stack to the same technology that the largest platforms in the world use.”
The Full Stack, Live in Hall 1 at IBC2026
At IBC2026, eight VPU Ecosystem partners will join NETINT in booth 1.D49 to demonstrate every layer of a VPU-powered video stack.
Advantech, a global leader in industrial and edge computing, designs high-density server platforms optimised for the PCIe connectivity, thermal management and power requirements of large-scale VPU deployments. At IBC, Advantech will showcase its edge server devices and share its vision for pushing video encoding and AI processing to stadiums, live production environments and the network edge.
“Our collaboration with NETINT demonstrates how optimised system design, including PCIe connectivity, thermal management and power efficiency, can support large-scale VPU deployments in real-world environments. Together, we are helping customers build more sustainable and cost-effective video processing solutions while extending intelligent media services closer to where content is created and consumed,” said Ted Feng, Senior Director, Advantech.
Akamai operates one of the world’s largest distributed cloud and content delivery platforms, with VPU-accelerated compute positioned inside the infrastructure that delivers much of the internet video that is consumed today.
“Our customers are looking for ways to deliver better experiences to their customers,” said Shawn Michels, Vice President, Product Management, Akamai. “Adding NETINT’s silicon to our platform means customers who don’t want to build or operate their own hardware can access ASIC technology just as Google does for YouTube and Meta does for Facebook and Instagram.”
Arcadian is a VPU Integrator that architects and deploys VPU-based video platforms for broadcasters and streaming services, cutting encoding operational costs by more than half. At IBC, Arcadian is meeting with engineering and operations teams seeking hands-on help integrating VPUs and extending workflow functionality.
“What stops operators from adopting VPUs is not the business case, it is the risk of changing the platform underneath a workflow that is in production. This is our work. Our clients come to us for the engineering, but expect that the plan they approve is the plan that gets built, is delivered on schedule and remains within budget,” said Joe Waltzer, Founder and CEO, Arcadian.
i3D.net delivers a managed private cloud and global low-latency network that gives real-time video, interactive media and gaming companies predictable performance, lower costs and less operational strain, without sacrificing control. Attendees at IBC will learn how i3D.net managed operations keep platforms running at peak performance worldwide, backed by its owned hardware and network fabric.
“Our job is to run video as close to the user as possible, in every region, without the power bill running the business. Purpose-built silicon (VPU) does the work of a rack of general-purpose hardware at a fraction of the energy, and in Europe, energy is the constraint that decides what you can build,” said Stefan Ideler, Co-Founder, i3D.net.
NetActuate delivers VPU-as-a-Service (VPUaaS) across its global network, giving teams on-demand access to NETINT Quadra VPUs without provisioning hardware or owning the cards. At IBC, NetActuate will demonstrate the VPUaaS platform and a curated Media Marketplace with 110+ software appliances, several with one-click deployment, including NETINT Bitstreams.
“VPU-as-a-Service is changing the economics of global video delivery. Our collaboration with NETINT provides the industry with dedicated video acceleration for high-performance video processing without the hardware cycle. We’re also pleased to host NETINT Bitstreams Manager in the NetActuate Media Marketplace along with other leading software packages,” said Mark Mahle, CEO, NetActuate.
V-Nova will explain how MPEG-5 LCEVC can be deployed on NETINT VPUs, improving compression efficiency and transcoding density across data centre and edge deployments at IBC. By enhancing existing codecs, LCEVC delivers greater efficiency without requiring wholesale infrastructure changes. Its adoption in Brazil’s DTV+ (TV 3.0) standard further demonstrates its flexibility across established and next-generation codecs.
“Collaborating with NETINT is a response to clear market demand for combining the improved compression efficiency of MPEG-5 LCEVC with the greater processing density of VPUs. It just makes sense,” said Guido Meardi, CEO of V-Nova.
Wowza Streaming Engine provides powerful video streaming infrastructure covering ingest, transcoding, packaging and delivery. With hundreds of thousands of instances deployed globally and native support for NETINT VPUs, Wowza helps customers increase encoding density, optimise costs and allocate resources more efficiently across demanding video workflows.
“Wowza Streaming Engine’s native support for NETINT VPUs lets customers match each workload with the right processing resource, reserving GPU capacity for AI-powered workloads, including live and on-demand video analysis,” said Michael Vitale, VP AI Strategy and Product Intelligence, Wowza.
Zixi provides the broadcast-grade transport and orchestration layer that moves live video reliably across IP networks for many of the world’s leading broadcasters and platforms. Zixi will demonstrate at IBC how hardware-accelerated encoding with VPUs adds channel density and lowers cost in live streaming workflows.
“Our customers are moving more live transcoding into the cloud, and they need it to be cost-effective without giving up broadcast quality. Zixi Broadcaster supports NETINT VPUs natively on Akamai Cloud, so teams can run high-density transcoding and broadcast-grade delivery over IP in one workflow, without buying or racking hardware,” said Tim Baldwin, SVP of Product, Zixi.
See It at IBC 2026
The proof is no longer theoretical: 225,000 units, more than 1.1 trillion minutes encoded and an ecosystem built to make the transition to VPU achievable.
Companies interested in what VPUs can do for their encoding economics are encouraged to book a meeting with NETINT or a VPU Ecosystem partner at IBC, booth 1.D49.
Book a meeting here: https://netint.com/ibc/
Visit https://netint.com
