Achieving optimal system performance
To achieve optimal system performance:
- Use a computer with fast or multiple processors. Because high-quality encoding requires more computing power, use a computer with a fast processor or multiple processors, especially for live events. Windows Media Encoder can use up to two processors for audio, and up to four for video to efficiently distribute the encoding load.
- Use supported audio and video cards. For a complete list of supported cards, see the Microsoft Web site.
- Use Microsoft Windows 2000. Windows 2000 takes full advantage of a multiprocessor computer by automatically spawning separate threads to enable processes to run different parts of their programs on different processors simultaneously. This parsing of the work enables you to perform high-end encoding tasks without maximizing your CPU usage.
- Check your network bandwidth. It’s rare that you will achieve 100 percent throughput when sending content over a network. For optimal results, ensure that your network can accommodate the aggregate bandwidth required by your selected profile (this information is displayed in Profile Manager) plus overhead for HTTP.
- Use a high-performance disk drive. For archiving or file conversion, use a high-performance disk drive, such as a small computer system interface (SCSI) drive with 10,000 rotations per minute. Using a high-performance disk drive can help to offload performance requirements from the main CPU, freeing up more processing power for encoding.
- Turn off video preview. The Input area on the main encoder screen shows you what your content looks like before it is encoded. Turning off this preview can improve encoding performance slightly. To turn off the preview from the main encoder screen, in Display, click Output.
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