Remote Scientific Visualization Using the Internet Protocol 

by John M. Vines 

ARL-TR-3609 September 2005 

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ARL-TR-3609 September 2005 

Remote Scientific Visualization Using the Internet Protocol 

John M. Vines 

Computational and Information Sciences Directorate, ARL 

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Remote Scientific Visualization Using the Internet Protocol 

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14. ABSTRACT 

Historically, when a user is required to work on a remote UNIX workstation, the user will log into the remote system and via 

the XServer and X11 protocol, set the display back to the local host. Problems arise with the requirement of high-bandwidth 

network requirements and the lack of OpenGL performance. Newly developed technologies such as the Teraburst V2D 

hardware transmitters and receivers leverage state-of-the-art compression algorithms, providing users with the performance of 

local graphics from a remote system. 

15. SUBJECT TERMS

VideoOverIP, MPEG compression, remote display, Teraburst V2D 

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John M. Vines 

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iii 

Contents 

List of Figures iv

List of Tables iv

Acknowledgments vi

1. Introduction 1

2. State-of-the-Art Technology 1

3. Cutting Edge Technology 5

4. Future Direction 9

Distribution List 11 
iv 

List of Figures 

Figure 1. High-definition graphics output to standard definition VideoOverIP client...................2 

Figure 2. Interactive video production session. ..............................................................................2

Figure 3. High-definition graphics output to high-definition HDOverIP client. ............................3 

Figure 4. High-definition video signals on HD and NTSC monitors. ............................................4 

Figure 5. Teraburst Networks, Inc.’s V2D networked video transmitter and client-side 

receiver.......................................................................................................................................6 

Figure 6. Communication between Teraburst V2D equipment......................................................6 

Figure 7. Example of the V2D system configuration with hardware and software clients. ...........7 

Figure 8. Example of a V2D system configuration using hardware clients. ..................................8 

Figure 9. Static and moving images................................................................................................9 

Figure 10. Distributed visualization networking. .........................................................................10 

List of Tables 

Table 1. Compression method results.............................................................................................9 
v 

INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK.
vi 

Acknowledgments 

The author would like to thank the U.S. Army Research Laboratory Major Shared Resource 

Center government and contract staff and Teraburst Networks, Incorporated (now IP Video 

Systems Inc.) for providing technical details and information documented in this report. 
1 

1. Introduction 

Until recently, the only way for researchers and engineers to see the display from a remote 

computational resource running an X Server was to set the display back to the local X Window 

client. Performance was an important aspect in the initial design of the X Window System1

protocol and continues to be important in applications and extension development. However, 

sending a large computer graphics video display across a network connection greatly reduces 

performance and requires much more network bandwidth. 

The advent of new compression algorithms and techniques as well as the development of Internet 

protocol-based communication technologies is greatly increasing the capacity to communicate 

over geographically dispersed areas in real time and ultimately changing the way we do business. 

2. State-of-the-Art Technology 

The U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) uses VideoOverIP technology to provide real-time 

internet protocol (IP)-based communications between two reality centers—one based at 

Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD, and the other at ARL headquarters in Adelphi, MD. Personnel 

are able to communicate between sites by simply walking into the room, looking at a camera, 

and talking. 

The systems are more prevalently used for collaborative efforts between personnel located at 

ARL and remote scientists and researchers. The input to the VideoOverIP system is generated 

by one of ARL’s scientific visualization computational assets. The real-time graphics signal is 

generated at high-definition video resolution and then down-converted to NTSC via real-time 

down-conversion hardware (figure 1). 

A remote user enters an IP address to a PC client application to view the Motion Picture Experts 

Group (MPEG) video and audio stream. The stream may be sent to the user via multicast, for 

multiple collaborative sessions at once, or unicast to enable a one-to-one session.

During an interactive collaborative session (figure 2), ARL personnel are able to make changes 

to scientific visualizations on the fly, emphasizing areas of interest, tweak visualization 

algorithms, or make changes to color tables. This can all be done while remote researchers and 

engineers are watching.

 1

X Window System Network Performance. http://keithp.com/~keithp/talks/usenix2003/html/net.html (accessed May 2004). 
2 

Figure 1. High-definition graphics output to standard definition VideoOverIP client. 

Figure 2. Interactive video production session. 

The ARL Major Shared Resource Center (MSRC) has also incorporated VideoOverIP 

technology in the video production suite. Production personnel have the ability to establish 

interactive editing sessions with remote scientists and researchers to create high-definition or 

standard-definition videos for technical reports, briefings, and conferences. 

Bandwidth requirements for VideoOverIP sessions are a function of the client network 

connection and client infrastructure. A VideoOverIP set-top box decoder provides the capability 

to decode multiple megabit MPEG 1/2/4 streams with low latency in real time. In nearly all 

sessions, the set-top decoders are set to decode the highest quality possible, MPEG2/4 full 

D1 resolution, 720 × 480, with accompanying stereo audio. 
3 

Many PC software clients require a Pentium III-class CPU running at 600 MHz or better for 

MPEG2 decoding. The default MPEG2 session would incorporate a MPEG stream with a 

resolution of 640 × 480 at 4 Mbits/s. The PC clients that cannot support the MPEG2 

requirements will have the ability to decode an MPEG1 stream. ARL has successfully decoded 

an MPEG1 stream with a Pentium-class CPU running at 100 MHz. 

MPEG1 provides resolution of ~352 × 240, 30 frames/s at 1.5 Mbits/s, and a picture of VHS 

quality with accompanying stereo audio. 

The MPEG2 format can provide better resolution and higher quality at higher bit rates. In most 

instances, ARL MSRC collaborative sessions encode a MPEG2 at a resolution of 640 × 480, 

30 frames/s, requiring 4 Mbits client-side bandwidth and processing power. The quality of the 

video is near DVD quality, with stereo audio encoded at 44.1 or 48 KHz. 

VideoOverIP, simply referred to as HDOverIP, also operates at high-definition resolutions. The 

equipment configuration for the HDOverIP system requires the use of high-definition video 

production, encoding, and decoding equipment. However, the process parallels that of the 

standard definition VideoOverIP process. 

To produce a high-definition signal, as in the case at ARL, we use one of our scientific 

visualization assets with an attached SGI video breakout box. We then send this high-definition 

signal to an encoder, which, in turn, sends the signal to a HDOverIP server and the stream to the 

defined IP address (figure 3). The client-side requirements to decode the high-definition signal 

are 19–24 Mbits of bandwidth. The host processor varies, depending upon hardware-assisted 

decoding or purely software decoding. A Pentium III-class at 1.0 GHz or better is a good place 

to start. 

Figure 3. High-definition graphics output to high-definition HDOverIP client. 
4 

The HDOverIP technology lends itself to a computer-graphics environment. The standard 

supports progressively scanned video signals and the 720p, 1280 pixels wide × 720 pixels high, 

is very close to SXGA (1280 pixels wide × 1024 pixels high) screen resolution, therefore 

providing a much higher resolution image. 

Formats for high-definition video include 720p (1280 pixels wide × 720 pixels high) and 1080i/p 

(1920 pixels wide × 1080 pixels high). A 720p signal generates 720 progressively scanned lines; 

1080i generates 1080 interlaced lines; and 1080p provides 1080 progressively scanned lines. 

NTSC quality video produces 525 interlaced lines at a resolution of 640 pixels wide × 480 pixels 

high. 

Using high-definition video signals and HDOverIP communication equipment lessens the 

artifacts and noise introduced to the video signal through the scan-converting process (figure 4). 

The inherent problems of scan converting a video signal are much less problematic because less 

pixels are squeezed into a small space of 640 × 480 pixels. 

Figure 4. High-definition video signals on HD and NTSC monitors. 

Today’s datasets are growing to vast proportions. Gigabytes of data are quite common and 

growing more toward terabytes, and in the not-so-distant future, petabytes. The ability to 

visualize this amount of data is not a trivial task, and, in most cases, requires high-performance 

computing (HPC) resources with a huge amount of memory and disk space. Obviously, 

machines of this nature are not a common commodity and are housed at strategic sites around the 

world. 
5 

In most instances, the scientists and researchers running the codes that generate these vast 

amounts of data are not local to the computational assets and rely on networked graphic 

connections to view the data. The performance of the networked graphics is a function of the 

network. Bigger, faster, and better networks provide better performance, while smaller and 

slower network connections provide less performance. Unfortunately, in some cases, a network 

may not have the bandwidth to support the networked computer graphics and require a 

researcher to travel to the remote site to visualize the data. 

The VideoOverIP and HDOverIP technologies enable collaboration across IP-based networks at 

relatively low bandwidths. In most instances, these technologies can be configured to support 

remote researchers, even at the lowest of bandwidths. An Ethernet connection, switched at 

10baseT speeds, provides enough bandwidth for MPEG2 video at standard definition resolution. 

A fast-Ethernet connection provides enough bandwidth for MPEG2 video at high-definition 

resolutions. But neither technology addresses computer graphics video in its native resolution. 

The next step in IP communication technology must be able to handle computer graphics video 

in its native resolution, whether it is VGA (640 × 480), SVGA (800 × 600), XGA (1024 × 768), 

or SXGA (1280 × 1024), and have the ability to evolve to UXGA (1600 × 1200), UXGA-W 

(1920 × 1200), and ultimately, QXGA (2048 × 1536). 

The major applications of such a technology are sharing HPC resources, broadcast/multicast 

graphics, and video; connecting immersive three-dimensional (3-D) visualization centers and 

graphics displays and sources; and collaborating desktops between networked users.2

3. Cutting Edge Technology 

Teraburst Networks, Inc. (now IP Video Systems Inc.) has been at the forefront of optically 

transmitted computer graphics video, with accompanying keyboard and mouse, for a number of 

years. The company has now developed a video-to-data (V2D) product which transmits over 

fast (100 Mb/s) or gigabit (1000 Mb/s) Ethernet/IP networks. At present, supported resolutions 

are UXGA (1600 × 1200) at 60 Hz and SXGA (1280 × 1024) at 96 Hz. Stereoscopic video 

support is provided at the SXGA resolution. 

The Teraburst V2D equipment incorporates the advantages of optical networks and solutions 

with the flexibility of Ethernet and data networks. The devices support LAN and WAN 

distances, provide fully interactive synchronized video and control signals, support IP multicast 

and can provide further network security and data encryption by using IP VPN. 

 2

Teraburst Networks, Inc. Visualization With High-Resolution and Low-Latency Over Packet Networks; White Paper; 

Sunnyvale, CA, August 2003. 
6 

A significant capability within itself is the use of an Ethernet/IP network. Packet-based networks 

are more available than optical-based networks; therefore, the V2D devices are better suited for 

broader deployment as well as making it easier to integrate desktop software clients (figures 5 

and 6). 

Figure 5. Teraburst Networks, Inc.’s V2D networked video transmitter and client-side receiver. 

Source: Teraburst Networks, Inc. 

Figure 6. Communication between Teraburst V2D equipment. 

From an economical standpoint, the data products are more cost effective, simply because they 

do not rely on an optical network. Furthermore, IT personnel are more familiar with packet than 

optical technologies and have more tools available to manage and diagnose any problems. 

Packet-based solutions cost less and are easier to deploy but have to deal with nondeterministic 

bandwidth availability and require more traffic engineering of links over which the traffic will be 

passing. When packets are dropped, the infrastructure must be able to compensate with 

mechanism based on frame and subframe synchronization to keep the video running smoothly 

with a minimum of artifacts. Teraburst algorithms are designed to cope with very high packet 

loss without losing connectivity, something which is not possible with MPEG technology. 

Different compression parameters can be configured for moving images and still images, while 

detection of these images is fully automatic. This feature can be used to optimize required 
7 

bandwidth and needed frames per second during moving images while preserving very high 

quality for still images. 

Compression adapted for visualization was a requirement for data networks. The main goal of 

compression is to reduce the required bandwidth without sacrificing overall picture quality. At 

present, stereo visualization applications are running at 20–30 frames per second at 96 Hz and 

moving toward 50–60 frames per second at 120 Hz. The screen pixel content will increase from 

1 megapixel to more than 3 megapixels.

2

 At 24 bits per pixel, this means transmission rates of 

uncompressed images will increase from 2 Gb/s to nearly 10 Gb/s.

1

 MPEG2 provides highly 

compressed video but does not fulfill quality requirements for high-end visualization. 

Teraburst has developed a compression algorithm that incorporates frame and slice differencing 

with variable noise reduction as the main mechanism to eliminate redundant information 

between frames (figures 7 and 8). This technology, referred to as Teraburst Intelligent Frame 

Differencing,* takes into account noise introduced by components, analog-to-digital conversion, 

system electronics, source stability, and switching and cabling. 

Figure 7. Example of the V2D system configuration with hardware and software clients.

 *

Teraburst Intelligent Frame Differencing is a trademark of Teraburst Networks, Inc. 
8 

Figure 8. Example of a V2D system configuration using hardware clients. 

These components can all introduce noise, leading to 0.5%–4% noise levels.1 Each environment 

and installation will require some calibration to deal with inherent noise issues. Noise levels are 

also dependent upon types of frames; highly complex frames with areas of high contrast and high 

detail are more susceptible to noise than gradually changing images.1 

By using Teraburst Intelligent Frame Differencing when static images are displayed, almost no 

information is sent across the network, and only new information is sent when moving images 

are displayed (figure 9). 

Further reduction of bandwidth is achievable through spatial compression techniques.1 The 

Teraburst Visualization Compression Engine*

 provides users with the flexibility to configure 

connections for desired and/or adequate levels of performance, allowing a user to select the 

trade-off between adequate picture quality and bandwidth utilization. 

Compression ratios can be dialed in at 1:8–1:10 without visual loss. Higher compression rates 

up to 1:15 provide good results but introduce some artifacts. The Teraburst Visualization 

Compression Engine uses a combination of “4-4-4” and “4-2-2” subsampling. In 4-4-4 

compression, there are equal amounts of luminance and chrominance information, while in 4-2-2 

compression, half the chrominance information is used.1

 *

The Teraburst Visualization Compression Engine is a trademark of Teraburst Networks, Inc. 
9 

Source: Image provided by Teraburst Networks, Inc. 

Figure 9. Static and moving images. 

Teraburst has combined these compression methods for Ethernet connectivity of high-end 

visualization. The results are shown in table 1. 

Table 1. Compression method results. 

Resolution 

Compression 

Slice Drop 

1:12 

90% 

1:8 

75% 

1:2 

60% 

Uncompressed 

No Drop 

Horiz Vert Refresh Rate (Mb/s) (Mb/s) (Mb/s) (Mb/s) 

1280 1024 60 16 (fast-Ether) 59 (fast-Ether) 378 (gig-e) 1887 

1280 1024 96 26 (fast-Ether) 95 (fast-Ether) 605 (gig-e) 3020 

1600 1200 60 24 (fast-Ether) 87 (fast-Ether) 554 (gig-e) 2765 

1600 1200 85 34 (fast-Ether) 123 (gig-e) 784 (gig-e) 3917 

2048 1536 85 55 (fast-Ether) 202 (gig-e) 1285 6417 

Note: Information provided by Teraburst Networks, Inc. 

4. Future Direction 

At present, Teraburst Networks, Inc. presents the most promising architecture for future 

expansion. The infrastructure of the V2D system supports the integration of several PCI video 

boards into one networked appliance for support of multiple graphic pipes on HPC assets. 

Teraburst also provides a PC thin client, which enables remote users to view V2D transmitter 

video streams. In the near future, keyboard and mouse interaction will be incorporated. 

Visualization computing is also evolving due to the growing popularity of computing clusters. 

The Teraburst model provides the ability to integrate the V2D into the grid networking and is 
10 

proposing the use of “grid visualization” (figure 10). Besides providing remote access from 

everywhere, collaborating between any sites, and broadcasting to any place on the network, we 

can imagine a network of V2D receivers assembling different pieces of an image generated from 

different computer facilities on the grid.1

Source: Image provided by Teraburst Networks, Inc. 

Figure 10. Distributed visualization networking. 
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