ATEME Launches A Major Leap Forward in Encoding Technology--EAVC4: Beyond the Industry's Requirements for High Fidelity MPEG-4 Encoding

PARIS, June 4, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- ATEME, the leading provider of efficient video compression technology, today announced the newest addition to its proven family of industry-leading H.264 compliant video encoding technologies EAVC4: Beyond the industry's requirements for high fidelity MPEG-4 coding. With video content being streamed and downloaded by an ever-burgeoning consumer base, the ability to tailor video content for specific screen sizes and available bandwidths is critical to ensure an optimized end-user viewing experience. EAVC4 offers broadcasters, broadband providers, and content creators improved performance and flexibility through unparalleled encoding software architecture—built from the ground-up, leveraging previous generations of advancements—in order to:

• Deliver the highest quality video
• Provide the best video quality and encoding performance at any specified speed
• Optimize video processing to support multi-screen output

"As the pace of change of formats, requirements and new business models reaches continues to quicken, product form factors are drifting away from dedicated hardware appliances toward agile software solutions. This trend is particularly pronounced in segments such as production and multi-screen transcoders, and is creeping into traditional hardware domains such as linear pay TV encoding," said Avni Rambhia, senior industry analyst, Frost & Sullivan.

EAVC4: Highest Video Quality

Resulting from a top-to-bottom redesign, the EAVC4 encoder significantly elevates the level of available video quality with the following key improvements:

• Affords up to 20 percent bandwidth gains for progressive and interlaced content based on objective measures, and even higher gains based on visual perception
• Reduced Bandwidth for Use Cases with High and Emerging Market Demand—supports iPad high-resolution format (1080p), high quality on smartphones (even at 64 kpbs), all with highly efficient software-based CBR and VBR bit-rate regulation
• Expanded Range of Available Use Cases—includes 4K and 8K, 4:2:2 and 4:4:4 chroma, up to 14-bit coding precision, and AVC-I intra only coding

Dramatic Speed Improvements For All Video Quality Settings

Marking a major leap forward in performance with drastic speed improvements for all video quality (VQ) settings, EAVC4 provides users with the capability to either encode faster at the current VQ level or to significantly increase VQ while maintaining the current encoding speed. The all-new EAVC4 video encoding architecture draws its efficiency from:

• Multi-processor and multi-core 64-bit architecture
• Multi-threading from slice level up through macro block level
• Algorithmic optimization at multiple levels: Video sequence, GOP, frame and macroblock
• Massive usage of hand-optimized assembly code to leverage Intel processors capabilities including Sandy Bridge specific instruction set
• Software architecture optimization (patented approach, free of any IP challenges)

Resulting in significant performance improvements in both file transcoding and live transcoding environments, the above technology enhancements afford the following:

• Up to three times more speed for file transcoding workflows, such as VOD processing, to enable the completion of jobs within one third of the previous time
• Three times as many linear channels per processor blade to benefit live transcoding workflows, such as IPTV

"Multi-Screen by Design" Yields System-Level Performance and Fidelity Gains

EAVC4 leverages a patented technique called "Multi-Screen by Design"—a new approach to processing video for multi-screen output. Relying on intelligent parallelization to perform common processes only one time for all bit-rates and screen formats, EAVC4 delivers speed improvements and optimizes video fidelity for multiple outputs from a single content stream. This enables broadcast and broadband professionals to offer an optimal blend of processing speed, video quality, multi-screen capabilities and resource efficiency.

"As a long-time leader in the video encoding space, ATEME is well underway with plans for HEVC product releases. However, it is clear that the need for higher performance, encoding flexibility and improved multi-screen capabilities is not something that users can simply defer until the full testing and adoption of future HEVC solutions," said Pierre Larbier, chief technology officer, ATEME. "Today's video encoding systems must not only support large-scale, continuous video encoding operations, but they must also offer a high degree of flexibility for outputting different levels of video quality, frame-rates, bit-rates and screen resolution. The release of EAVC4 addresses the ever-escalating consumer demand for rich video content now, and empowers broad access across an increasing number of viewer devices."

Availability

ATEME's EAVC4 will be available in the coming weeks in the TITAN family of transcoders including TITAN FILE, TITAN Live and TITAN KFE.  For more information, visit http://www.ateme.com/Transcoders

About ATEME

ATEME is a world leading provider of MPEG-4 / H.264 and MPEG-2 bandwidth efficient compression technology. ATEME encoding solutions are deployed widely for broadcast contribution links, digital TV distribution networks, multi-screen live streaming, OTT and VOD applications. For more information, please visit the company's website.

SOURCE ATEME