AmberFin and Starfish Technologies inked a partnership agreement at IBC, that will see Starfish’s closed captioning technology integrated into AmberFin’s iCR software from late 2009.
To incorporate closed captioning AmberFin required a partner who could offer a best of breed service to work alongside iCR’s existing QC, audio and video capabilities. Starfish, recognised internationally for its quality of service and innovative technology, offered the ideal solution. The invisible integration of Starfish’s technology within AmberFin iCR will allow broadcasters to ingest, transcode and output their content in any format, with the closed captioning intact at every stage.
The partnership’s first customer will be Warner Brothers Technical Services
Peter Blatchford, sales and marketing director for Starfish, said of the deal: “The move to a file-based workflow is opening up many questions for broadcasters. One of the foremost is how to address the legal requirements for closed captioning in both the US and UK markets. The combination of our closed captioning technology and AmberFin’s iCR software means broadcasters can effectively and reliably ingest and transcode their content, confident that the original closed captioning will remain intact throughout the process.”
Bruce Devlin, chief technology officer for AmberFin, added: “The partnership will effectively address the challenge of closed captioning for broadcasters. The sophistication of the back end technology ensures that closed captioning remains intact throughout the transcoding process, while the straightforward and easy-to-use front end means that broadcasters don’t have to train staff to handle lengthy and complicated new procedures. The process happens behind the scenes and the result is an easy-to-use software package that addresses what has until now been one of the broadcast industry’s biggest hurdles.”
