Latest Technologies for Statistical Multiplexing and ATSC 3.0 Enable Agile Video Delivery and Superior Video Quality at Low Bit Rates
“In the ATSC environment, bandwidth is at a premium. Providing an enhanced news and entertainment lineup while maintaining the desired level of video quality is challenging without an advanced encoding solution,” said David Gray, vice president of engineering at KWHY. “Harmonic offers a complete ATSC solution that features world-class video compression algorithms and multi-pass encoding technologies, allowing us to deliver the new services while hitting all of our quality benchmarks.”
Harmonic’s market-leading Electra X2 advanced media processors are being used by KWHY for high-quality, low-bandwidth MPEG-2 encoding of SD and HD video content. Powered by the Harmonic PURE Compression Engine™, the media processors support MPEG-2, AVC and HEVC.
Tight integration between the Electra X2 processors and ProStream 9100 stream processors with DiviTrackIP™ statmux technology maximizes the efficiency and flexibility of KWHY’s statistical multiplexing operations. Through the ATSC solution, the television station can support one HD and seven SD channels per pool in order to increase bandwidth efficiency. Using a combination of Electra and ProStream for statistical multiplexing has enabled more services and enhanced video quality for KWHY. Additionally, Harmonic’s DiviTrackIP technology provides geographic extensibility if KWHY participates in a channel sharing agreement with other stations in its market.
The Electra and ProStream solutions are controlled by Harmonic’s NMX video network management solution, which provides mass configuration, monitoring and automated redundancy in centralized or distributed architectures. Featuring an extensible architecture, NMX allows KWHY to support a hybrid mix of ATSC 1.0 and ATSC 3.0 operations under one control system.
“When ATSC 3.0 is completed later this year, the broadcast community will be able to deliver enhanced video and audio services, which will further stretch the limits of their bandwidth,” said Doug Triblehorn, regional vice president of sales for North America Broadcast at Harmonic. “Harmonic’s ATSC solution provides KWHY with a flexible and affordable approach to broadcast service delivery, enabling them to add more channels, with top-notch video quality, and make a seamless transition to the future broadcast television system.”
Harmonic will showcase the latest innovations for agile broadcast service delivery at booth SU1210 at the 2016 NAB Show, April 18-21 in Las Vegas. Further information about Harmonic and the company’s products is available at www.harmonicinc.com.
About Harmonic
The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are also subject to other risks and uncertainties, such as those more fully described in Harmonic’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended Dec.31, 2015, its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and its Current Reports on Form 8-K. The forward-looking statements in this press release are based on information available to Harmonic as of the date hereof, and Harmonic disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements.