Since its incorporation in 1972, Norpak has specialized in the development of television-based data transmission systems and interactive on-line information systems. Norpak has made a long career of addressing broadcaster’s data/metadata/PSIP needs through analog TV to digital. Norpak co-developed the North American Basic Teletext Specification (NABTS), the open standard for transmission of data over the television vertical blanking interval (VBI), and built the first NABTS delivery and reception system in 1978. NABTS is now an established standard for television data transmission, and is in use by broadcasters and systems integrators in North America, Europe, South America and the Far East.
Norpak is the only manufacturer in the world that offers equipment meeting all data transmission formats - both the international standards mentioned and proprietary standards such as Gemstar and Nielsen. Norpak equipment functions in any TV system in the world: DTV, HD-DTV, NTSC, PAL, SECAM, 525 line and 625 line.
At NAB2003 Norpak will feature a wide range of products for data insertion, VBI insertion, protocol encapsulation. These products include:
- HDVANC DATA – SMPTE292 video has become the international standard for program production. Norpak’s TES7 handles VANC data encoding of captions or metadata.
- MPEG DATA SERVICES - Norpak’s new TES8 MPEG encoder is being used in Asia, Europe and North America.
- DATA MONITORING AND CONTROL – Norpak will demonstrate the latest versions of WHAZ-it monitoring system and WHAK-it data control system. Norpak is the only source for comprehensive data monitoring including Nielsen and Gemstar data.
- NIELSEN – With the announcement of the new generation NMR audio/passive audience monitoring ratings technology will leap ahead. Norpak is the sole supplier of Nielsen data encoders.
- TV GUIDE ON SCREEN – A new generation of TV onscreen guides targeting digital TVs, DVD recorders and PVRs was recently announced and is being built into TV sets by major CE manufacturers. Gemstar / TV Guide staff will demonstrate this next generation guide.
Norpak encoders are ATVEF compliant and a popular choice for ATVEF applications. Norpak protocols and advanced Forward Error Correction code (FEC) form the basis of the new 'IP over VBI' Internet specification.
The VBinet Internet and Data Distribution System.
Every major U.S. television network now uses Norpak encoding/insertion equipment, receivers, monitoring and content control systems for their TV data transmission requirements, as do broadcasters in 42 countries. Typical applications include Internet delivery, Interactive TV, network communications, news and stock quote delivery, electronic publishing, weather radar image systems, metadata encoding and closed-captioning.
Norpak has drawn on its 20 years of interactive and TV data broadcast experience to develop a system that combines the power of broadcast television with the huge demand for remote delivery of content.
Called VBinet, the system allows for the gathering, scheduling and delivery of existing content via the television signal directly to personal computers. The VBinet family of applications packages includes an "IP Multicast Bridge" which supports advanced multicast applications such as audio and video streaming. File Transfer and Subscription Management are also part of the VBinet family.
For more information visit www.norpak.ca.
