Inlet Technologies Announces Fathom 2.5 and Semaphore 1.5; New Releases of Inlet's Advanced Encoding Solutions Give Video Professionals More Options, Including SD-Only Encoding for under $10,000.RALEIGH, N.C. -- Inlet Technologies, a leading provider of advanced encoding solutions for digital media, today announced that beta testing (programming) beta testing - Testing a pre-release (potentially unreliable) version of a piece of software by making it available to selected users. This term derives from early 1960s terminology for product cycle checkpoints, first used at IBM but later standard throughout the for Fathom(TM) 2.5 and Semaphore semaphore (sĕm`əfôr'), device for the visible transmission of messages. The marine semaphore, used by day between ships or between a ship and the shore, consists essentially of a post at the top of which are two pivoted arms. (TM) 1.5 will begin with select customers. With new encoding options and enhanced flexibility, Fathom 2.5 now extends the benefits of real-time Windows Media Microsoft's audio and video framework for Windows, which embraces playback, encoding and streaming. Windows Media Player is the digital jukebox and media player that comes with every version of Windows. and VC-1 encoding to a wider range of users and applications. MPEG (Moving Pictures Experts Group) An ISO/ITU standard for compressing digital video. Pronounced "em-peg," it is the universal standard for digital terrestrial, cable and satellite TV, DVDs and digital video recorders (DVRs). 2 file ingest in·gest tr.v. in·gest·ed, in·gest·ing, in·gests 1. To take into the body by the mouth for digestion or absorption. See Synonyms at eat. 2. and native encoding of interlaced Refers to a display system or image that uses interlacing and does not render contiguous lines one after the other. See interlace and interlaced GIF. content are among Fathom 2.5's capability enhancements, as well as the new cost-effective SD-only variant. Inlet's innovative video analysis software, Semaphore, is now a more powerful Quality Control tool than ever, with customizable parameters and automated alerts. The new features in Semaphore 1.5 help automate the video QC process, significantly reducing man-hours and increasing throughput by a 5 to 10x factor over "manual" QC processes. "Working with recommendations from leading post production houses, content providers and compressionists, Inlet has added capabilities to our offerings that address key needs of the industry, "said Neal Page, Inlet 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. . "Considering the explosion of commercial opportunities in digital media, Inlet is dedicated to providing not just world-class encoding technology, but innovative workflow tools that allow media professionals to get content to market more quickly." Fathom Fathom was the industry's first real-time encoding solution for SMPTE (Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers, White Plains, NY, www.smpte.org) A professional society for motion picture and TV engineers with more than 9,000 members worldwide. It prepares standards and documentation for TV production. VC-1 and Windows Media high-definition video This article is about high-definition video technology. For television systems, see High-definition television. For the tape format, see HDV. For compression and prerecorded media, see High-definition pre-recorded media and compression. . Designed for off-line content creation, Fathom combines a powerful hardware encoding engine with analysis software to deliver smaller file sizes, better quality and faster turnaround. With Fathom's real-time encoding, Inlet customers realize a significant improvement in production throughput - 4-6x faster output for SD content and up to 40x faster for HD. Best known for its advancements in HD encoding capabilities, Inlet now brings the value of Fathom to SD production. For those customers currently working with SD content - and not yet ready for HD production - Inlet has made Fathom 2.5 available in a highly-affordable Fathom Pro SD variant, priced at under $10,000. This version is upgradeable to HD, so users will be well positioned to expand their capabilities in the future. The Fathom 2.5 release also adds a number of new encoding capabilities, including MPEG-2 ingest - a critical option for the video professional today, due to the pervasiveness of MPEG-2 content. With Fathom 2.5, the user can import MPEG-2 files directly and rapidly encode them to the VC-1 format. Other notable features included in the Fathom 2.5 release: --Native encoding of interlaced video See interlace. - Fathom 2.5 is the first VC-1 solution with interlaced support for the post production market. --Watermarking with bitmap overlay - Watermarking enables the user to customize video with branding or other graphics and define the lay-out of those graphics. --AVI Synth support - AVI (Audio Video Interleaved) A Windows multimedia video format from Microsoft. It interleaves standard waveform audio and digital video frames (bitmaps) to provide reduced animation at 15 fps at 160x120x8 resolution. Audio is 11,025Hz, 8-bit samples. Synth works as a video frame server, allowing the user to insert filters for greater preprocessing A preliminary processing of data in order to prepare it for the primary processing or for further analysis. The term can be applied to any first or preparatory processing stage when there are several steps required to prepare data for the user. capabilities. Fathom customers can now harness the power of this popular open source video tool to perform more preprocessing functions, such as inverse telecine See cadence correction. or noise reduction. --Trick stream generation - Fathom 2.5's trick stream encoding manager enables the user to define the speed of trick stream encodes. This is a unique feature for Windows Media and VC-1 content, available only from Inlet. --GXF import - Fathom can now encode from the General Exchange Format - a SMPTE standard developed specifically for on-air operations and archiving. Semaphore Semaphore video analysis software increases the efficiency and effectiveness of the Quality Control (QC) process. Inlet's customers use Semaphore to evaluate output from any Windows Media or VC-1 encoding project, and perform QC independently of the encoding process. When combined with the time-saving innovations in Fathom, Semaphore's QC tools further improve the content creators' ability to deliver high-quality video within tight deadlines. Semaphore 1.5's new Alerts Wizard and customizable parameters enable an unprecedented level of automation and control. Prior to QC, the video professional can set job-specific encoding parameters for metrics such as maximum bit rate or quantization (1) The division of a range of values into a single number, code or classification. For example, class A is 0 to 999, class B is 1000 to 9999 and class C is 10000 and above. (2) In analog to digital conversion, the assignment of a number to the amplitude of a wave. level. Semaphore will send an alert if any frame or scene of the project extends beyond those thresholds, so the user can make quick, frame-accurate corrections, reducing QC time from hours to minutes. Fathom 2.5 and Semaphore 1.5 are scheduled for general availability in February 2006. About Inlet Technologies Inlet Technologies is one of the world's foremost experts on advanced video encoding technology. The company's innovative solutions enable content providers to drive the proliferation of digital media to a rapidly expanding audience, through a multitude of next-generation distribution vehicles, including video-on-demand, packaged media, broadcast and IP connections. Inlet's Fathom(TM) was the industry's first real-time encoding platform for SMPTE VC-1 and Windows Media high definition video, setting a standard of innovation that continues today. With Fathom's real-time encoding, video engineers can reduce file sizes, speed processing time and improve output quality. Advanced tools such as Semaphore(TM) video analysis software and Seen by Scene(TM) segment re-encoding improve workflow automation, thus reducing staff requirements and increasing throughput. Fathom was selected by Millimeter Magazine as one of the most innovative technology products at NAB 2005, and was honored with a Millimeter "Pick Hit" award. Inlet Technologies is based in Raleigh, NC. For more information, visit www.inlethd.com |
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