Harmonic has introduced predefined transcoding presets for its ProMedia Carbon file-based transcoder that efficiently transform video and audio content into media formats optimised for Netflix, the Internet television network. “With its ability to store and recall parameters that assure transcoded content meets our stringent quality standards, Harmonic‘s ProMedia Carbon plays a significant role in the digital supply chains of our content and services partners,” said Christopher Fetner, director of content partner operations at Netflix. “Collaborating with Harmonic on the new transcoding presets for ProMedia Carbon, we’re able to ensure content operators have greater ease when delivering to Netflix.” Powered by Harmonic’s Rhozet technology, ProMedia Carbon facilitates the conversion of media content into a massive array of acquisition, editing, broadcast, web, and mobile formats. The predefined transcoding presets designed specifically for Netflix include SD/HD and MPEG-2 I-Frame video formats at various frame rates, as well as stereo and 5.1 surround sound audio. The robust ProMedia Carbon also handles a variety of critical operations including PAL/NTSC conversion, logo insertion, colour space conversion, colour correction, and closed-captions extraction. Through a user-friendly interface or API, operators have complete control over every aspect of the transcoding process. Content providers also have the flexibility to deploy ProMedia Carbon as a stand-alone application or as part of a scalable, multi-node, fully automated transcoding farm under the control of the Harmonic WFS file-based workflow engine. “Service providers today receive content from a wide variety of sources in many different formats. The challenge is to align the format and quality of that content, making it ready for distribution through Netflix, as well as other over-the-top (OTT) video providers,” said Yoav Derazon, director of product management for cloud services and transcoding at Harmonic. “ProMedia Carbon is one of the most ubiquitous transcoders on the market today, offering enhanced performance, efficiency, and scalability for the multiscreen environment. Leveraging our new predefined transcoding presets, new and existing ProMedia Carbon users can instantly create a consistent baseline format optimized for Netflix.” www.harmonicinc.com
