Harmonic announced support for high-definition 1080p encoding at 24 fps on its H.264/MPEG-4 Part 10 AVC (H.264) encoder, the DiviCom Electra 7000.

At IBC2007, Harmonic will conduct the first public demonstration of its H.264 compression technology for 1080p at 60 or 50 fps, which it bills as the "most advanced HD technology available".

"In the near future, digital video production for sports, documentaries, television and other programming is expected to begin in 1080p format at frame rates of 50 fps in Europe and 60 fps in North America and other regions", the company said.

Service providers using the Electra 7000 will be able to migrate to 1080p24 compression via a firmware upgrade. The 1 RU platform supports up to four channels of full-resolution video alongside four simultaneous low-resolution outputs for applications such as picture-in-picture and multichannel mosaics.