NBC is to use MPEG-4 AVC compression from Ericsson for contribution and distribution to maximise content value from the London Olympics. Ericsson has also introduced a new compression platform, with multi-codec, multi-network support, writes David Fox. Ericsson is providing NBC Sports with a variety of products, including MPEG-4 AVC encoders, professional receivers, multiplexers and satellite modulators as well as a team of support engineers in both London and New York. These engineers will assist in equipment/system set-up, maintenance and troubleshooting ensuring no great sporting moments are lost in transmission. “The Games are the biggest sporting event in the world, and as a result viewers expect coverage to be of the highest quality,” said Staffan Pehrson Ericsson’s vice president and head of TV (pictured). “Live events like this create TV memories and I’m sure that the team at NBC Olympics will raise the bar again this summer. We are proud to provide solutions that allow NBC Olympics to bring US viewers closer to the action and give them the best seat in the house.” “With the athlete’s moving so fast, TV coverage of sporting events is some of the most demanding content to compress and transmit,” added David Mazza, Senior Vice President, Engineering, NBC Olympics. “With millions of viewers throughout the United States watching these events, it is essential that we deliver the best quality pictures possible. Based on our long association with Ericsson, we can be sure its technology will deliver exactly what we need, from the opening ceremony through to the final events.” Ericsson encoding systems were used by NBC for Olympic coverage in 2010, 2008 and 2006. Now Voyager Ericsson launched AVP, a new video processing platform, at NAB. It incorporates multi-codec, multi-function video compression and processing that is claimed to offer “greater performance, scalability, flexibility and efficiency for broadcasters”. These include the AVP3000 Voyager with multi-codec, multi-network support, which is claimed to be “the most advanced live content acquisition solution on the market and the only product to offer a hot-swappable modular architecture capable of supporting MPEG-2, MPEG-4 AVC and JPEG 2000 video compression over satellite and IP networks.” Also new is the AVP2000 Contribution Encoder, for linear content exchange and distribution. In addition to the MPEG-2, MPEG-4 AVC, JPEG 2000 support, new additions include increased density of video processing, video monitoring on the front panel and additional interfaces for analogue video, G.703 networking and contact closures (GPI). There is also the AVP4100 ATSC Integrated System, a self-contained multi-channel headend processing system for the creation of efficient, high quality ATSC multiplex broadcasts within a single rack unit. Ericsson also showed new products for multi-screen video processing. “Broadcasters and TV service providers need to evolve linear and on-demand TV into rich, blended and socially aware multi-screen offerings, and leverage multi-platform delivery and capability to unify delivery networks, back-office systems and client technologies for maximum efficiency and scale,” said Pehrson. To this end, it claims its Multiscreen Video Processing systems provide “the most powerful and flexible approach to the growing multi-screen market. It enables high quality and cost-effective processing of hundreds of channels into the thousands of adaptive streaming profiles necessary for a true ‘TV anywhere’ experience.” Its products include: the SPR1200, a highly dense hardware-based multi-screen transcoder to solve the scaling challenge; and the NPR1200, a flexible multi-screen network processor for packaging and publishing linear multi-screen content. These combine into a scalable system that it claims will provide “sufficient power to solve the multi-screen challenge not just today, but into the future.” www.ericsson.comwww.nbcolympics.com
