IBM® Informix® Video Foundation DataBlade® Module

The IBM® Informix® Video Foundation DataBlade® Module enables you to store, manage, and manipulate video data and metadata in the same system in which you store more traditional data. Such a system is called a media management system.

Video data represents an image that changes continuously in time. Unlike traditional data that is retrieved and displayed as a discrete value, video data is incrementally accessed and is displayed as a real-time stream of frames. Video data can be located on one or more storage servers, such as web video streamers, VTRs (video tape recorders), or video servers. If an HCL Informix® Video Foundation interface has been created for the storage server, that storage server can come under database control.

Video metadata is data about the video data. This data is the information that is stored in database tables, along with information about how to retrieve requested video segments from the various storage servers. The Informix® Video Foundation DataBlade® Module defines two categories of metadata:
Physical attributes
Descriptions of the media on which the video data is stored, such as length, format, and capture rate
Abstract descriptions
Multimedia descriptions of the video data content, such as text annotations, or audio or video clips that represent a larger video program.

The Informix® Video Foundation DataBlade® Module is referred to as a foundation DataBlade® module because it provides a base on which new or specialized video technologies can be quickly added or changed. Because the foundation is open, secure, and scalable, it provides a clear path toward reusing and repurposing valuable video assets among video formats and distribution channels.

A media management system is a collection of processes, computers, and other machines that enable you to store and manipulate video (and, often, other media) data along with more traditional data, such as text. The Informix® Video Foundation DataBlade® Module provides interfaces among the following basic elements of such a media management system:
  • A video client application, such as an editing or logging application, running on a stand-alone computer.
  • Your Informix® database server and the Video Foundation DataBlade® module, running on a second computer; the database contains the video metadata. (Other HCL Informix® and third-party DataBlade® modules-such as HCL Informix® Image, Text, and Web DataBlade® modules, and third-party storage server and video scene-change detection DataBlade® modules-can also be running on this computer.)
  • Video data located on one or more storage servers, such as web video streamers, VTRs, or video servers. Generally, each storage server is hosted on a separate computer.