New solutions and enhancements enable superior live viewing experiences, powerful file-based workflows and efficient content distribution
April 12, 2010 -- NAB Show, Las Vegas, Booth SL6010: Digital Rapids is showcasing powerful additions to its award-winning range of solutions for transforming and distributing media at the 2010 NAB Show. From unmatched performance and flexibility to unique workflow efficiencies, the new solutions and enhancements deliver exceptional customer value while enabling superior live Web, mobile and IPTV viewing experiences; powerful VOD and file-based workflows; and efficient business-to-business (B2B) content distribution.
In addition to demonstrations of new products and solutions, the Digital Rapids booth also highlights audience viewing experiences across multiple platforms. A 'three-screen' showcase features playback across television, PCs and mobile devices, while a user-interactive demonstration of adaptive streaming offers attendees control of actual network conditions to experience the benefits of adaptive bit rate delivery in action.
"Media organizations, content owners and rights holders continue to seek ways to connect their content to new revenue and distribution opportunities while streamlining their operations. Faced with the challenge of ever-increasing audience expectations combined with new budgetary realities, customers need top quality, flexible and efficient solutions across their entire media workflows," said Brick Eksten, President of Digital Rapids Corporation. "The new advances we're featuring at the show were all designed to help our customers achieve these goals while delivering compelling, engaging audience experiences."
Highlights at the Digital Rapids booth at the NAB Show include:
Multi-Platform and Adaptive Streaming Experiences
Spotlighting the versatility of Digital Rapids' encoding and streaming solutions for reaching an expansive range of viewing devices, a multi-screen video showcase area features live and on-demand video playing on a diverse array of platforms including televisions; game consoles; netbooks; a variety of mobile phones -- including the Apple(r) iPhone(r) -- and the new Apple iPad(r).
The Adaptive Streaming area of the booth showcases the end-user viewing experiences of various adaptive bit rate delivery technologies. Network emulator hardware from Apposite Technologies allows users to interactively control network conditions between the servers and the PC-based players -- mimicking real-world network bandwidth fluctuations -- while the respective technologies adapt accordingly to maintain consistent, uninterrupted playback.
The new StreamZHD Live ABR adaptive streaming system is featured in this area and elsewhere in the booth. StreamZHD Live ABR encodes and streams live HD and SD content at unparalleled quality for delivery through the latest generation of adaptive streaming technologies. Leveraging performance optimizations and increased processing power, StreamZHD Live ABR is already poised to extend its industry-leading concurrent output capabilities with even more adaptive streaming layers than at its introduction last month. (For more details about StreamZHD Live ABR, please see our March 8 press release).
Digital Rapids is also giving NAB Show attendees a sneak preview of upcoming adaptive streaming capabilities in the TouchStream portable live streaming appliance, including HTTP streaming for the iPhone.
Flux HD Capture and Pre-Processing Cards
The new Flux HD video capture and pre-processing hardware makes its debut at the NAB Show. Flux HD boards are the first cards optimized for encoding and streaming to feature dual-link and 3G-SDI input support. The Flux HD PCIe(r) hardware builds on the advanced video processing technology that earned our solutions their reputation for superior encoding quality. Working in conjunction with the Digital Rapids Stream software, Flux HD cards enable real-time, multi-format media capture, encoding and streaming for applications including post production, Internet TV, IPTV, VOD, mobile video, archive and more. (For more details about Flux HD, please see separate press release).
Efficient Content Delivery Systems
New enhancements to the MediaMesh content delivery system are being highlighted, including playlisting for multi-clip output and extended capabilities in the portal-based MediaMesh Web Submitter. Built on Digital Rapids C2 transfer technology, MediaMesh combines a robust delivery framework with full-featured receiving appliances, providing efficient transfer of digital media between content providers, contributors, aggregators, affiliates and distribution partners. Optimizing delivery of HD, SD and Digital Cinema content over terrestrial IP networks and satellite, MediaMesh significantly lowers the costs of delivery for content from ad spots to syndicated series and long-form features. MediaMesh RX receiving appliances provide powerful functionality including integrated review, inventory management, transcoding, re-packaging and playout.
The latest version of the C2 data delivery software is also being featured, combining exceptionally fast speed and reliability with parallel transfers for outstanding efficiency when distributing any type of data files to multiple recipients.
Encoding, Transcoding and Streaming
The acclaimed StreamZHD studio encoding system is being featured with the recently released version 3.2 software. StreamZHD provides HD and SD video capture, encoding, transcoding and live streaming in a versatile configuration that integrates easily into any media environment. StreamZHD seamlessly supports live and on demand multi-platform distribution opportunities and multi-format workflows with real-time encoding to multiple output formats. New features in version 3.2 include integrated segmenting for Apple iPhone delivery, JPEG2000 format support, Dolby(r) Pulse audio, YouTube Content ID fingerprinting support, Microsoft(r) PlayReady(r) technology for protection of IIS Smooth Streaming content and more. (Please see our March 1 announcement of Stream 3.2 for more details about these new features).
NAB attendees are also seeing previews of new features in upcoming versions of the Digital Rapids Transcode Manager scalable, automated transcoding software and the Digital Rapids Broadcast Manager multi-encoder management software. The new version of Transcode Manager incorporates additions mirroring those in Stream 3.2, a new user interface and more. Broadcast Manager 1.5 features the same new user interface style plus improved scheduling precision and enhanced failover capabilities, enabling faster automated switching of operations to a backup encoder in the case of a critical failure.
For more information about Digital Rapids, please visit www.digital-rapids.com.
About Digital Rapids Corporation – Digital Rapids provides the leading hardware and software solutions for transforming and delivering media, enabling the multi-platform experiences that are changing how audiences view content. Scaling from standalone appliances to global workflows, Digital Rapids solutions enable media professionals to maximize their productivity, quality, and the value of their content. Recipient of a coveted IBC Innovation Award and four prestigious Frost & Sullivan honors for encoding and transcoding leadership, Digital Rapids combines innovative technology with proven expertise to help our customers to expand their audiences, increase their media revenues and reduce their costs. Digital Rapids Corporation (www.digital-rapids.com) is headquartered in Ontario, Canada with offices in the United States, the UK, Australia, Argentina and Hong Kong.
