Comparison: SDVoE vs Crestron NVX

The SDVoE Alliance has strongly emphasized high-performance AV that promotes sustainability. For many, the impact of sustainable technology on audiovisual technology might not seem like it makes much of a difference. However, as hardware devices become more and more complex, they will consume more power, and this power consumption translates directly into your customer’s bottom line. If the impact of sustainability doesn’t make waves now, it will soon.

To understand the unique difference in power consumption between devices, it’s vital to take a step back to dissect further the devices powering the solutions. Let’s take a closer look.

An FPGA, or field-programmable gate array, can be programmed to perform any computational task with high performance. But the extra transistors that make the FPGA so flexible add cost and consume extra power. FPGAs are popular with manufacturers who build closed, proprietary systems, because those same manufacturers cannot afford to design an ASIC.

An ASIC, or application-specific integrated circuit, is optimized to perform one set of functions. It does nothing except what it was initially built to do, and that’s all it will ever do. An ASIC is optimized to offer the highest performance, lowest power consumption, and lowest per-device cost possible. An ASIC may consume up to 80% less power than an FPGA while performing the same job.

The SDVoE Alliance is the only AV-over-IP ecosystem that is powered by ASIC devices instead of FPGAs. IDK Corporation, an SDVoE Alliance member, bolstered mission-critical content for the European Parliament with over 1,000 endpoints. The installation resulted in over 150,000 kWh of annual energy savings compared to an FPGA-based 1G solution. For reference, Belgium’s electricity cost is now over 25 cents per kWh. As a result, SDVoE’s technology is saving the end user over $38,000 per year in electricity.

With 8K resolutions on the horizon, compression will have to evolve to fit the new demands, which for FPGA-based products will result in larger boxes, more fans, and limited performance. The SDVoE Alliance has created a solution for uncompressed video transmission to create a sustainable, eco-friendly approach to AV. SDVoE technology eliminates traditional restraints of FPGA devices, meanwhile reducing footprint by providing a solution with a zero-latency compression engine that results in reduced power consumption and smaller form-factor products.

Facts, figures, and sources

Data sources – Jan 25, 2023

• Global electricity prices
• Crestron DM NVX 351 spec sheet
  Spec sheet footnote : “To prevent possible instability issues, it is recommended that the PW 2412WU power pack (sold separately) be used.”
• Crestron BOM figures from Crestron town hall event

Calculating power savings cost

• 35 W (Watts) – 7 W = 28 W wasted by FPGA
• 28 W for 24 hours = 672 W-h (Watt hours) daily
• 672 W h daily * 365 = 245,240 W-h annually
• 245,000 W-h = 245 kW-h
• Multiply 245 kW-h by local electricity rate
• Germany commercial rate: $ 0.781/kW-h (as of March 2023)
• 245 kW-h * $0.781/kW h = $191

Customize for your scenario

(P₁ – P_S ) * 8.76 * C_e = S_a

P₁ = power consumed by 1g endpoint (W)
P_S = power consumed by SDVoE endpoint (W)
C_e = power cost at your location ($/kWh)
S_a = annual power savings per endpoint ($)