Harmonic's Workflow Demonstrated at BroadcastAsia
Within the Harmonic booth, systems from across the company's product line will be integrated to demonstrate a complete broadcast workflow. Beginning at ingest with the Electra(R) 9200 multiscreen encoder, ProStream(R) 1000 with ACE(R) real-time stream processor and transcoder, ProView(TM) 7100 integrated receiver-decoder, and ProMedia(TM) Live encoder, the workflow will be managed by Harmonic's NMX Digital Service Manager(TM) video network management solution. Under the control of Harmonic's Workflow System (WFS), ProMedia Xpress will perform high-performance file-based transcoding of content to be edited in place on the Omneon(R) MediaGrid(TM) V3.1, which will provide central storage for the entire workflow. Three MediaDeck(TM) media servers with ChannelPort(TM) systems will facilitate SD and HD playout with integrated channel branding and master control switching.
Products at BroadcastAsia
ProMedia(TM) Xpress
Harmonic's ProMedia(TM) Xpress high-performance file-based transcoder is the newest addition to the company's ProMedia family of software and appliance solutions engineered to optimize video production workflows for high-volume multiscreen video-on-demand (VOD) applications.
ProMedia Xpress uses Harmonic's market-leading H.264 codec technology to deliver excellent video quality without impeding transcoding speeds, thereby improving video workflows for content owners and service providers, enabling them to deliver a significant increase in content hours while adhering to processing timetables and video quality targets. Facilitating cost-effective, faster-than-real-time transcoding of broadcast-quality content for multiscreen VOD delivery to mobile devices, PCs, and connected TVs, ProMedia Xpress allows operators and media companies to launch new services efficiently without compromising on the quality of their offering.
ProMedia Xpress employs Harmonic's new MicroGrid(TM) parallel-computing technology to achieve a dramatic improvement in transcoding performance. MicroGrid's video-centric approach for exploiting multicore computing environments eliminates the bottlenecks associated with traditional transcoding approaches. By employing all available processor core capacity, ProMedia Xpress can scale effectively to provide remarkable transcoding performance without the need for custom computing hardware.
Spectrum(TM) ChannelPort(TM)
ChannelPort(TM) is an integrated channel playout device for Spectrum(TM) media server systems. Combining channel branding and master control switching with clip playout on the industry's most trusted media server platform, the modular ChannelPort enables broadcasters, content owners, and service providers to speed the cost-effective deployment of new television channels through a simple incremental upgrade to their existing Spectrum architecture.
ChannelPort is a next-generation branded playout solution that combines clip playout functionality with critical channel-branding capabilities to simplify integration and workflow, lower equipment purchase expenditures, and reduce maintenance and operations costs. Because ChannelPort modules fit seamlessly into existing Spectrum media server systems and can be added incrementally at a very competitive price, broadcasters can extend their channel lineups quickly and with confidence. Support for a broad range of automation systems offers users the freedom to work with an existing solution -- or choose a new one that's best for their workflows.
Photo Link: www.wallstcom.com/Harmonic/ChannelPort.zip
Omneon(R) MediaGrid(TM) V3.1
Omneon(R) MediaGrid(TM) System Software V3.1 is designed to support the performance needs of high-end postproduction workflows. Equipped with this software, MediaGrid storage systems can support ingestion, editing, color correction, grading, and manipulation of uncompressed media. This advance extends the success of previous MediaGrid versions in post-production workflows for use with high bit rate compressed formats such as ProRes 444 and Avid DNxHD.
Most post-production companies use complex and expensive Fibre Channel SAN storage because it has been the only alternative that meets their performance needs. MediaGrid provides the post-production industry with a new storage paradigm that will meet its demanding performance requirements, uniquely maintain consistent levels of performance over time, reduce costs, and simplify operations. MediaGrid comes with client-side multipathing software that can deliver more than a gigabyte per second of throughput to individual clients and tens of gigabytes per second of aggregate throughput -- the levels of bandwidth needed by applications that work with uncompressed content. This uncompressed content can be a single large file, or it can take the form of file-per-frame formats such as DPX.
ProView(TM) 7100
Harmonic's ProView(TM) 7100 is the industry's first single-rack-unit, scalable, multiformat integrated receiver-decoder (IRD), transcoder, and MPEG stream processor. Leveraging Harmonic expertise in intelligent function integration, it adds broadcast-quality MPEG-4 AVC and MPEG-2 video compression to the feature-rich ProView IRD platform, allowing content providers, broadcasters, cable MSOs, and telcos to streamline their workflows easily and cost-effectively and decrease operating costs.
ProView 7100 addresses the vast spectrum of content reception applications, from single-channel decoding and MPEG-4 AVC-to-MPEG-2 transcoding, to DVB descrambling and remultiplexing of multiple transport streams. With an advanced and dense multichannel descrambler, the ProView 7100 simplifies the deployment of (or migration to) an all-IP headend solution and powers the launch of added-value services such as HD. It performs any-to-any transcoding of up to eight channels of H.264 to MPEG-2, allowing programmers to distribute superior-quality video content efficiently while using minimal satellite transponder capacity. Content can be received and transcoded in any resolution required.
Photo Link: www.wallstcom.com/Harmonic/ProView7100HR.zip
ProStream(R) 1000 with ACE(R)
Harmonic's ProStream(R) 1000 with ACE(R) transcoder harnesses the company's award-winning H.264 video compression technology to deliver exceptional video quality for multiscreen applications. With the new multiscreen transcoding functionality, it is capable of transcoding up to 20 HD streams and 80 adaptive streaming profiles in a single, dense, power-efficient 1-RU appliance. The ProStream 1000 with ACE is integrated with Harmonic's ProMedia(TM) file transcoders, adaptive bit rate packager and origin server, and Omneon(R) MediaGrid(TM) active storage system, enabling seamless and operationally efficient deployment of multiscreen services. The combination of broadcast and multiscreen formats allows programmers, pay-TV operators, and terrestrial broadcasters to deliver high-quality video to traditional set-top boxes and devices such as tablets, smartphones, connected TVs, or PCs simultaneously without compromising on functionality or density. It also features an extensive array of stream processing functionality including multiplexing and encryption, as well as audio transcoding and CALM Act-compliant audio level control, dramatically reducing the rack space required to perform these tasks.
Harmonic Company Overview:
Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ: HLIT) provides infrastructure that powers the video economy. The company enables content and service providers to efficiently create, prepare, and deliver differentiated video services for television and new media platforms. More information is available at www.harmonicinc.com.
Quote with Headshot
"Broadcast Asia is the only regional show that all the SEA broadcasters attend. Being held at the same time as CommunicAsia, it is an opportunity for Harmonic to meet most, if not all, of our customers in the region. This year we are looking forward to an exciting show, we are seeing the rapid convergence between broadcast and Internet distribution around the world, which brings new challenges and opportunities. We will showcase end-to-end solutions from integrated production and channel play to multiplatform, multiscreen delivery. We are also holding regular key technology and workflow seminars by invitation."
-- Andrew Thornton, vice president of Asia/Pacific sales at Harmonic
Speaking Slot
Thierry Fautier, senior director for convergence solutions at Harmonic, is presenting at BroadcastAsia June 21 at 9:15 a.m. in Track 7, "Outlook and Business Strategies for Pay TV, IPTV & OTT." Fautier's topic is "Enabling Streaming Video Applications for Internet-connected Devices."
