SeaChange Extends Transcoding Technologies to Support MXF Interoperabilty.Business Editors IBC IBC International Building Code IBC Iraq Body Count IBC Institutional Biosafety Committee IBC Inflammatory Breast Cancer IBC International Business Company IBC Independence Blue Cross IBC Insurance Bureau of Canada IBC International Broadcasting Convention 2003 Booth no. 8.280 MAYNARD, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 5, 2003 SeaChange's MXF (Material EXchange Format) A file format from the Pro-MPEG Forum for the interchange of video production information. MXF files include audio/video content and related meta-data (production notes, camera settings, time code positions, etc. Gateway to Provide Interoperability Between Broadcast MediaCluster and eVTRs, Media Servers, Disk Libraries and Data Tape Archives SeaChange International (Nasdaq: SEAC SEAC Student Environmental Action Coalition SEAC Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee SEAC Southeast Archeological Center (National Park Service) SEAC South East Asia Command (Allies WWII) ) today announced that it will extend its proven transcoding technologies to support interoperability between its patented and Emmy-award winning Broadcast MediaCluster (BMC (BMC Software, Inc., Houston, TX, www.bmc.com) A leading supplier of software that supports and improves the availability, performance, and recovery of applications in complex computing environments. ) on-air server and MXF-enabled clients, servers, libraries and archives. SeaChange's new MXF Gateway provides automated interoperability between SeaChange's current generation of broadcast MPEG-2 codecs and the emerging generation of MXF-enabled products. SeaChange's transcoding technologies are widely used in the Company's digital advertising and video-on-demand (VOD See video-on-demand. VoD - video on demand ) broadband markets to provide automated content translation services, including automated handling of metadata and support for High Definition video streams. "SeaChange's success with its transcoding technologies in the broadband market provides us with a proven and robust platform on which to build additional applications for multiple markets," said John L. Pittas, vice-president, Broadcast Products Engineering, SeaChange. "This same platform enables us to quickly bring to market the MXF Gateway for our broadcast product line so that broadcasters who require interoperability with MXF-enabled equipment can now feel confident about integrating their existing Broadcast MediaCluster into their facility." The SeaChange MXF Gateway will support FTP FTP in full file transfer protocol Internet protocol that allows a computer to send files to or receive files from another computer. Like many Internet resources, FTP works by means of a client-server architecture; the user runs client software to connect to networking protocols over standard IP-based networks. Designed as an integrated enhancement to the current generation of Broadcast MediaCluster systems, it requires no intervention by operational staff. It will support automated, batch-type file transfers driven by third-party control systems, or on-demand single file transfers between FTP servers and the BMC. SeaChange's current generation of Standard Definition broadcast MPEG-2 codecs, the Beowulf-II/50 encoder and Genesis-II/50 decoder, support all ISO (1) See ISO speed. (2) (International Organization for Standardization, Geneva, Switzerland, www.iso.ch) An organization that sets international standards, founded in 1946. The U.S. member body is ANSI. 13818-2 approved MPEG-2 profiles and GOP structures including I Frame-only IMX/D10 streams up to 50Mb/s. The MXF Gateway will initially provide interoperability with SeaChange IMX/D10 streams and MXF-enabled systems which also support IMX/D10 streams based on the proposed 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. 378M Standard. SMPTE 378M defines operational pattern 1a (Single Item, Single Package) of the MXF operational matrix. The Beowulf-II/50 and Genesis-II/50 codecs currently support single item, single package operation and therefore are fundamentally compliant with SMPTE 378M behavior. The MXF Gateway will de-multiplex and re-multiplex the IMX/D10 audio/video essence streams and accompanying metadata between the existing SeaChange Archive Format (SAF SAF Safety SAF Society of American Foresters SAF Society of American Florists SAF Secretary of the Air Force SAF Second Amendment Foundation SAF Singapore Armed Forces SAF Students for Academic Freedom SAF Store And Forward ) multiplex and the standards-based MXF multiplex. Said Pittas, "The unprecedented scalability and IP performance of our Broadcast MediaCluster, combined with the advantages of scalable, software-based MXF Gateway will allow broadcast operators to import and export multiple D10 streams from the BMC to third-party machines, such as Sony's IMX IMX In My eXperience IMX Interactive Music Exchange (TV show) IMX Integrated Multimedia Exchange IMX Industrywide Mortgage Exchange IMX Intermodal Marketing Extension IMX Inverse Multiplexor eVTR and data tape archives. In addition, since our Broadcast MediaLibary (BML BML Broadcast Markup Language BML Bodega Marine Laboratory (UC Davis) BML Bean Markup Language BML Business Management Layer BML Better Markup Language (server-side HTML preprocessor) BML Blue Man Library ) is file and compression format independent, facility operators will find that we can also provide them with a fully MXF-compliant, multi-user, disk-based on-line library for storage of all their near-term content. The BML can provide fast access to content for all their MXF-hungry clients." The MXF Gateway runs on a scalable, high-performance processing platform powered by exclusive software developed in partnership with transcoding technology leader Ligos Corporation. The MXF Gateway supports all ISO 13818-2 approved MPEG-2 profiles and GOP structures including I Frame-only IMX/D10. It employs unique tactics like Macroblock Reduction, 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. Matrix Control, Advanced Rate Control and dual pass encoding. These technologies analyze the digital content, determine the ideal transcoding algorithm, and predict hundreds of known situations that may have the potential to generate digital video artifacts artifacts see specimen artifacts. . The software automatically adjusts the transcoder's compression and filters to avoid artifacts and produce the highest image quality for a selected bit rate. Future releases of the MXF Gateway are planned to exploit this transcode (1) To convert from one format to another. It implies conversion between very distinct kinds of data, such as from speech into text or from analog video into digital frames. Sometimes the term is used as nothing more than a fancier synonym for "convert. functionality so that content libraries composed of MXF wrapped IMX/D10 streams can be converted to the appropriate GOP structure and bit rates for delivery systems that require highly compressed 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). streams such as VOD. Furthermore, this processing power can be adapted to transform more complex MXF operational patterns such as Ganged and Alternate Packages and Playlist and Edit Items so that they can be played by Single Package/Single Item decoders. And, as delivery systems emerge in support of advanced coding technologies such H.264, Windows Media or even variable bit-rate and variable GOP MPEG, the latent transcode capabilities of the MXF Gateway could support converting high bit-rate MXF streams to these new standards, further enhancing the value and longevity of MXF-compliant content libraries. As a participant in SMPTE, the Pro-MPEG Forum, SCTE SCTE Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers SCTE Society of Cable Television Engineers SCTE Serial Clock Transmit External and Cable Labs, SeaChange believes that it is central to our customer's long-term business interest to actively support standards which seek to increase interoperability between content producers and delivery systems. SeaChange's MXF Gateway, with support for IMX/D10 streams, will be available in the first quarter of 2004. Demonstration at IBC 2003 SeaChange will demonstrate its transcoding technology for broadband applications at IBC 2003 in Amsterdam, RAI Center stand 8.280. About SeaChange SeaChange provides digital video systems that are changing television. Its powerful server and software systems enable television operators to provide new on-demand services and to gain greater efficiencies in advertising and content delivery. With its Emmy-winning MediaCluster technology, thousands of SeaChange systems are helping broadband, broadcast and satellite television companies to streamline operations, expand services and increase revenues. SeaChange is headquartered in Maynard, Massachusetts and has product development, support and sales offices throughout the world. Visit www.schange.com. MediaCluster is a registered trademark and a patent of SeaChange International, Inc. |
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