On Jan. 29, Amazon Web Services (AMZN +1.63%) launched a scalable service for transcoding video files between different digital formats. Now customers can convert their large high-resolution "master" video files into smaller versions optimized for playback on websites, mobile devices, connected TVs and other video platforms.
Amazon Elastic Transcoder solves three difficulties developers and businesses encounter with video transcoding. First, customers no longer need to buy, configure, or manage expensive transcoding software. Second, the service provides pre-defined audio and video configurations for a customer's device so developers no longer need to test devices themselves. Third, Amazon Elastic Transcoder automatically scales up and down to help customers eliminate wasted transcoding capacity and minimize time needed for jobs to complete.
The service also allows for developers and businesses to process multiple videos at once and prioritize files based on urgency -- particularly useful for a news agency.
"Our customers told us that it was difficult and expensive to transcode video due to the explosion in the number of devices they need to support," said Charlie Bell, vice president of Utility Computing Services. "They had to be both experts in the intricacies of video support on different devices and manage the software required to run the transcoding jobs. None of this work had anything to do with their goal: getting a high-quality video that would look great on the devices they wanted. We built Amazon Elastic Transcoder to give our customers an easy, cost-effective way to solve these problems."
Like other Amazon Web Services, there are no contracts, upfront fees, or monthly commitments. Developers and businesses pay based on the minutes they need to transcode and the resolution of the selected content. Currently, the service is available in six regions: U.S. East (N. Virginia), U.S. West (Oregon), U.S. West (N. California), EU (Ireland), Asia Pacific (Singapore), and Asia Pacific (Japan).
