NETINT Quadra VPU benchmarks reveal 7x throughput gain over CPUs

The performance gap between general-purpose CPUs and dedicated VPUs is no longer just about speed; it is an infrastructure scaling necessity. For operators deploying high-density HEVC or AV1 workflows, the ability to minimize data movement across the PCIe bus directly impacts the number of real-time channels a single RU can support. As the industry shifts toward hybrid cloud and on-prem architectures, offloading the media plane to ASICs allows for predictable capacity planning based on stream profiles rather than volatile CPU utilization metrics. Watch for how cloud providers integrate the Quadra T1U to lower the total cost of ownership for real-time live sports and OTT pipelines.

The push toward dedicated video hardware is gaining traction in the cloud sector as providers look to differentiate their media services. In April 2026, Akamai announced the expansion of its VPU-powered offerings with an 8-card VPU plan using NETINT Quadra T1U units. This configuration is designed to mirror high-density on-premises environments, allowing customers to achieve up to 320 live 1080p30 streams on a single instance. Per Akamai, the shift toward ASICs addresses rising operational costs and the heavy compute requirements of advanced codecs like AV1, which has seen a 231% increase in planned adoption for 2026.

Simultaneously, the broader ecosystem is moving toward hybrid architectures. A May 2026 study by NETINT highlighted that 45% of large-scale operators have adopted hybrid software-hardware models to manage the transition from H.264 to more intensive codecs. This shift is also supported by the rise of Just-In-Time (JIT) transcoding; at NAB 2025, partners including Scalstrm and Akamai demonstrated how VPU-accelerated JIT workflows can eliminate the waste of pre-transcoding for large VOD libraries. These developments indicate that purpose-built silicon is becoming the standard anchor for sustainable, high-volume video pipelines.