New content formats and display technologies are continually pushing the boundaries of performance within virtualized environments. Teradici, the creator of industry-leading PCoIP technology and Cloud Access Software, today announced significant enhancements to its multi-codec PCoIP protocol to improve the experience of users working with demanding content.

"PCoIP Ultra represents our most advanced protocol enhancements yet, designed to meet the needs of the most demanding graphics-intensive applications while delivering the same lossless image quality and security our customers expect," said David Smith, CEO of Teradici. "Even for the most challenging use cases as content shifts to larger and more immersive formats, PCoIP Ultra delivers uncompromising quality, security, and efficiency."

The PCoIP Ultra enhancements use an expanded array of encoders, enabling the choice of the most efficient hardware or software codecs according to content characteristics. This flexibility results in a faster, more interactive experience for users of remote workstations working with high-resolution content, including creative design applications, dynamic wireframes, video editorial suites, and animation tools. The first release supports:

• 4K/UHD high frame rate content
• Efficient scaling across multicore CPUs leveraging AVX2 instruction sets
• Expanded multi-codec architecture for third party codecs, including H.264/HEVC

For users - typically working with high-demand applications such as those used for visual effects, broadcast video, animation, computer-aided design (CAD), financial trading, or medical imaging - the dramatic improvements in responsiveness provided by the PCoIP Ultra enhancements will enable them to work remotely with these emerging content formats as seamlessly as if they were using a high-powered, expensive workstation at their desks. Their IT teams will find that this enables a cohesive solution across their organizations regardless of location or requirements, and the highest level of security for all users, reducing risk and support time.

For Teradici Cloud Access Software customer, DNEG, a leading global visual effects studio, the support for high frame rate content and GPU acceleration in PCoIP Ultra offers a potential benefit to both user experience and productivity.

"Virtual workstations enable DNEG to be more nimble, efficient and competitive, but only if our artists' experience is consistent in quality and speed," said Graham Jack, CTO for DNEG. "Teradici understands that and has worked with us continually to ensure that the performance of the virtual workstation solution delivers what we need. We're excited about the potential of the protocol enhancements to further improve the software's performance, helping us to deliver a leading-edge experience to our artists."

Teradici's recent collaboration with NVIDIA to enhance the PCoIP protocol to support GPU acceleration with Quadro Virtual Data Center Workstation software and the NVIDIA RTX Server is the first example of the expanded multi-codec support in PCoIP Ultra.

"The Teradici PCoIP Ultra protocol enhancements promise significant performance advantages for customers by sharing resources across CPUs and GPUs to maximize efficiency," said John Fanelli, Vice President, virtual GPU, for NVIDIA. "This enhances the usability and practicality of virtual workstations for graphics-intensive workloads, especially as frame rates and higher resolutions push performance expectations ever higher."

The PCoIP Ultra enhancements will be available as a technical preview to Cloud Access Software customers in mid-April. General availability is scheduled for May 2019. Please visit the Teradici Cloud Access Software page for more information.