Cinémathèque québécoise is using the Archimedia Master Player in its archiving department for quality control (QC) and monitoring of any archival-grade master files it receives before checking them into the archive. This is the first software player to support multiple vendors’ JPEG 2000 and MXF formats, and it allows users to view, test, and measure archival-quality files on a standard HDTV and traditional SDI equipment.
“The JPEG 2000 codec has become a well-accepted archiving format, so we needed a player that would allow us to open JPEG 2000 files and their various wrappers, no matter how they were encoded or where they came from,” said Anhtu Vu, technical director at Cinémathèque québécoise. “Until the Archimedia Master Player, there was nothing on the market that could do it easily. If there happens to be a file that the Master Player can’t open, we can call Archimedia and talk to someone immediately, and their engineers will quickly update the player to accommodate the problematic file — often the same day!”
When the Cinémathèque receives material for archiving, it inspects the files first to check for problems such as corruption, colour issues, and dropped frames. Files that pass QC go on to be archived, while those that don’t are sent back to the producer or distributor for correction. The Cinémathèque is receiving an ever-increasing number of JPEG 2000 files and its stringent QC process requires a player that can play JPEG 2000 material in all of its possible wrappers.
“The Cinémathèque québécoise has been preserving Canada’s A/V heritage for many years and is an excellent example of why we invented the product line,” commented Mark Gray, Archimedia president and CEO. “We wanted to apply our intimate understanding of the archiving process to take some of the kinks out of the archiving workflow. The relationship we developed with the Cinémathèque has allowed us to refine our products in ways that will benefit the entire archiving community.”
