BSkyB in the UK has purchased seven Snell & Wilcox MEMPHIS encoders to master content for its new HD services.
BSkyB will use the encoders to create high-quality HD Long GOP MPEG-2 streams, which will then be stored on Omneon Spectrum servers. The servers will playout HD content in SD, HD (720p or 1080i), or both. The integration of the Memphis encoders and Spectrum servers gives BskyB flexible interoperability for both playout and archiving applications.
BSkyB’s premium services are being launched with a set of dedicated HDTV channels featuring sports, movies, entertainment and factual programming — plus access to select events produced in HDTV.
MEMPHIS is an SD and HD MPEG-2 encoder that combines two technologies from Snell & Wilcox: PREFIX compression preprocessing and Ph.C motion estimation technology.
The Snell & Wilcox MEMPHIS encoder accepts SD and HD 1080/720 format inputs, as well as uncompressed PCM, MP1L2, Dolby E and AC-3 audio.
Visit www.sky.com and www.snellwilcox.com for more information.
