Harmonic offers multi-channel MPEG-4 AVC HD encoding platform
Aug 21, 2006 8:00 AM
Harmonic has expanded its family of digital video compression products with the new DiviCom Electra 7000 HD MPEG-4 AVC (H.264) encoder. Billed as a multi-channel, multi-service HD H.264 encoder, the Electra 7000 supports up to four full-resolution HD channels and can simultaneously create low-resolution services for picture-in-picture (PiP) or multi-channel mosaic applications.
Five satellite and telco operators in North America and Europe have selected the Electra 7000 to power their forthcoming HD services. That's because it addresses the challenge shared by all operators regarding how to minimize bit rates while providing superior video quality as they expand their service portfolios to include additional HD programming, video-on-demand, personal video recorders (PVR), network PVR and other applications.
An ideal solution for satellite, telco/IPTV and cable operators, customers of the 1RU Electra 7000 have reported bit rates 20 to 30 percent lower than any currently deployed HD H.264 encoder, according to Harmonic.
The Electra 7000's compression engine is based on a new architecture that uses single-slice video processing and other sophisticated tools, including advanced video pre-processing and full multi-pass “LookAhead” encoding. The encoder supports constant bit rate (CBR) or variable bit rate (VBR) encoding for all resolutions in 1080i and 720p formats, as well as native 5.1/7.1 audio encoding. In addition, it includes native IP outputs and can be seamlessly incorporated into Harmonic's DiviTrackIP distributed statistical multiplexing solution, further improving bandwidth efficiency.
The DiviCom Electra 7000 multi-service encoding platform will be featured at IBC2006, Sept. 8-12, in Amsterdam, in booth #1.361. First customer shipments are scheduled to begin in September.
For more information, visit http://www.harmonicinc.com/.
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