AMSTERDAM, IBC2011 -- Sept. 9, 2011 -- Sencore, a leading provider of signal quality and video delivery solutions, today announced that it will demonstrate a new range of features and functionality for contribution decoding this week during IBC2011 at the company's stand, 1.C36.
The Sencore demonstration will show how advances in encoding and decoding technologies enable the highest levels of video quality achievable with the H.264 codec. Sencore's implementation overcomes the latency issues that have previously kept H.264 from serving as a viable encoding choice for contribution. With the latency problem solved, customers can harness H.264 to deliver significantly higher quality content with the same or less bandwidth than MPEG-2 video compression.
Sencore's technology demo will feature decoding using 4:2:2 chroma sampling and the H.264 High 4:2:2 Profile (Hi422P). As a part of Hi422P, 4:2:2 chroma sampling has long been favored in the contribution space due to its ability to preserve color resolution better than 4:2:0 chroma sampling. Because it allows for much sharper color reproduction, 4:2:2 chroma sampling enables delivery of the highest quality video further down the broadcast chain.
The demo will also highlight Sencore's implementation of H.264's 10-bit color depth capability, also known as deep color. Historically, color depth when using MPEG-2 and H.264 has been limited to eight bits with approximately 16.8 million possible colors, but 10-bit color depth introduces much finer color resolution at approximately 1.07 billion possible colors. This again ensures the most accurate video reproduction to the viewer while still leveraging the bandwidth-saving compression of the H.264 codec.
"At IBC2011, we're looking forward to showing customers just how much further they can take contribution decoding by using the latest tools and technologies," said Thomas Stingley, executive vice president of sales and marketing at Sencore. "Because most of the steps in the broadcast chain degrade quality, the ability to leverage 4:2:2 chroma sampling can ensure maximum quality early in the chain. Also, by maintaining deep color through the broadcast path, encoders in the broadcast chain are able to perform more accurate, higher quality encodes. And, for the first time, our tools can make H.264 a viable codec for contribution through a combination of low latency and bandwidth savings. All of these techniques have the same key result: an optimum viewer experience."
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About Sencore Sencore is an engineering leader in the development of high-quality signal transmission solutions for the broadcast, cable, satellite, IPTV, and telecommunications markets. The company's world-class portfolio includes video delivery products, system monitoring and analysis solutions, and test and measurement equipment, all designed to support system interoperability and backed by best-in-class customer support. Sencore products meet the rapidly changing needs of modern media by ensuring the efficient delivery of high-quality video from the source to the home. More information about Sencore is available at the company's website, www.sencore.com.
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