Imedia StatMux Technology Selected for TCI's Headend In The Sky.LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 30, 1996--TCI Technology Ventures, Inc.'s (TCI (Trustworthy Computing Initiative) An umbrella term from Microsoft for its efforts to improve security in Windows. TCI was announced in 2002 after viruses such as Code Red and Nimda had succeeded in attacking numerous Windows computers. ) Headend In The Sky The Headend in the Sky was founded in 1994 and its namesake product is commonly recognized as the pioneer of digital television in the United States. It is a product created by and offered from the National Digital Television Center; as a now wholly-owned subsidiary of Comcast (HITS) today announced its intent to adopt Imedia Corporation's statistical multiplexing See statistical multiplexor. technology, Imedia StatMux, as a key component of its system. Imedia StatMux is an innovative, real-time statistical multiplexing compression technology that enables full-quality transmission of 24 different programs over a single analog transponder A receiver/transmitter on a communications satellite. It receives a microwave signal from earth (uplink), amplifies it and retransmits it back to earth at a different frequency (downlink). A satellite has several transponders. (the same bandwidth as that of one analog television Analog television (or analogue television) encodes television and transports the picture and sound information as an analog signal, that is, by varying the amplitude and/or frequencies of the broadcast signal. channel). Imedia is demonstrating its technology at TCI's Headend In The Sky booth (No. 4955) in the West Hall of the Los Angeles Convention Center The Los Angeles Convention Center (abbreviated LACC) is a convention center in downtown Los Angeles. The LACC hosts annual events such as the Greater Los Angeles Auto Show, and was best known to video games fans as host to E3 until its cessation in 2006. . HITS is a service offered by TCI, providing digitally compressed programs and addressable Reachable. When something is addressable, it can be identified and manipulated independently of its surroundings. For example, screen pixels and RAM memory are addressable. Each of the screen's picture elements can be individually turned on and off, and each of the memory's bytes can be management services to U.S. cable operators. Over 120 cable operators have signed letters of intent for the HITS service, which is expected to launch later this year. Last week, at the National Association of Broadcasters show in Las Vegas, Imedia set a record by transmitting 24 different digital television programs over a single analog television channel via a complete, end-to-end digital broadcast system. Now, HITS plans to deploy Imedia StatMux on a significant portion of its digital line-up. David Beddow, senior vice president of TCI Technology Ventures, Inc., noted, "With channel capacity a scarcity and market demands increasing, the HITS/Imedia combination provides a strong solution for cable operators." Imedia's technology provides a number of benefits to cable operators. An operator using Imedia StatMux technology can "cherry-pick" from the vast number of programs offered by HITS and easily tailor programming for his or her own cable system. Because the video remains in digital form throughout the process, costly, equipment-intensive decoding/re-encoding is avoided. Using Imedia StatMux, cable operators can offer localized Near Video-On-Demand (NVOD NVOD Near Video On Demand ) service by downloading a digital copy of a movie from satellite, storing it on disk, and presenting it at multiple start times of the operator's choosing. "The partnership between Imedia and TCI is a perfect fit," said Efi Arazi, CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of Imedia. "TCI's quick evaluation and speedy adoption of Imedia StatMux validates its potential. When you have the most innovative technology adopted by the biggest cable organization, it signals the dawning of a new era." Imedia StatMux is compatible with UNIX-based open platforms, such as systems offered by Silicon Graphics. The Imedia StatMux server also doubles as a digital encoder for local digital ad insertion and local program insertion. The founders of Imedia are among the world's foremost experts in digital video technology and systems design. As executive vice president of General Instrument Corporation, Jerrold A. Heller, along with Edward Krause, Paul Shen Shen, in the Bible, place, perhaps close to Bethel, near which Samuel set up the stone Ebenezer. and Adam S. Tom, pioneered the world's first all-digital television system and were driving forces behind General Instrument's DigiCipher II and HDTV (High Definition TV) A set of digital television (DTV) standards that offer the highest resolution and sharpest picture. Although some HDTV sets are available in standard (rather square) screen sizes, the overwhelming majority of sets are wide screen, which eliminates projects before going on to found Imedia. Efi Arazi, CEO, is the founder of two successful public companies, Scitex Corporation, the world's largest color graphics company, and Electronics for Imaging, which was named by Fortune Magazine as "America's fastest-growing public high-tech company" in 1994. About Imedia Corporation Imedia Corporation was founded in 1994 to pioneer new digital television applications through its statistical multiplexing technology. Imedia's products are easily integrated with industry-standard broadcast hardware, including encoders, decoders (set-tops and IRDs) and multiplexers from major vendors. Imedia, based in San Francisco, Calif., markets its products worldwide, and has filed for nine U.S. and international patents encompassing its digital video technology. CONTACT: Imedia Corporation Adam S. Tom, 415/975-8000 atom@imedia.com or TCI Technology Ventures, Inc. B.J. Raynes, 303/486-3807 raynes.bj@tcinc.com or The Benjamin Group, Inc. Anne Hohenberger, 408/559-6090 ahohen@sv.tbgi.com |
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