T-VIPS AS, a global leader in professional video management and distribution, with advanced solutions for the contribution & distribution of broadcast quality video signals, has appointed Scivo as its first Business Partner in PRC to help pioneer its IP video transport and JPEG2000 compression in China. Beijing-based Scivo Technology Co. Ltd., which designs, engineers and manufactures networking solutions for the broadcast industry, will market T-VIPS ASI-IP Video Gateways, JPEG2000 Video Gateways, Transport Stream Processors and the T-VIPS Connect management system throughout mainland China.

"Even with China's strong IP-based communications infrastructure, delivering video over IP to broadcast industry standards has been challenging. The entry of T-VIPS into the market and the experience of its business partner Scivo, means that the Chinese media industry can now safely make the decision to move to IP video distribution to achieve the cost-saving, flexibility and picture quality benefits of our ASI and JPEG2000 solutions," concluded T-VIPS' Myhre.

T-VIPS IP video transport and JPEG2000 solutions enable best-in-class performance for professional broadcast contribution applications, studio-to-studio media exchange, post-production and primary distribution of content to transmitters and regional head ends. T-VIPS technology enables Chinese broadcasters and transmission providers to dramatically reduce their video transport costs and at the same time improve video quality and latency, especially when content is repeatedly decoded and encoded between source and destination.

Lihong Zhu, General Manager at Scivo Technology says: "The T-VIPS range of video transport solutions will help Chinese media companies increase the volume of content they produce and transport, thanks to lower contribution and distribution costs. China has a forward-looking media industry with strong growth ambitions and companies are keen to understand the benefits of combining IP video transport and JPEG2000 compression. T-VIPS has pioneered this technology in Europe and the United States and we are confident Chinese broadcasters and transmission service providers will recognize the impact T-VIPS solutions can have on their operations. We are excited by this partnership."

JPEG2000 is a mature, ISO/IEC standardised technology that delivers studio quality HD at manageable bit rates and maintains that quality throughout multiple encode-decode stages, avoiding the artefacts that may appear when cascading MPEG compressions. With latency below 100ms, HD signals can be transported with cascading encodes/decodes while still keeping the delay within acceptable levels. T-VIPS' JPEG2000 products deliver a source signal that is suitable for editing, format conversion and transcoding; this is very important for footage such as news and sports, which are often broadcast on a number of channels in different geographic regions, or even transmitted over mobile TV networks and the Internet.

T-VIPS is the market leader for JPEG2000 video contribution/distribution solutions. The company was first to market with JPEG2000 for the IP backhaul of SD content and then for HD content, and was the first to launch Forward Error Correction for JPEG2000-enabled IP backhaul.

The combination of JPEG2000 and IP video transport is delivering significant benefits to broadcasters worldwide. T-VIPS customer Showtime Networks Inc. in the U.S. calculates that moving to IP provides savings of up to 70% of video distribution costs.

Company Site: T-VIPS

About IPTV Evangelist

IPTV Evangelist (ipTVe) is the ultimate guide to the people and the companies that are defining the red-hot iTV and IPTV markets. Founded by streaming video pioneer Gilbert B. Hammer, IPTV Evangelist combines the latest iTV and IPTV news and analysis with interviews with key players. As the title of the site implies, Gilbert is passionate about the space, which he views as the next-generation for online and mobile entertainment for its creative integration of new and improved forms of communication, storytelling and community.

Everywire Home Entertainment Network Standard Gains Support

CopperGate Communications , the Everywire Home Networking Company™, has announced full support for G.hn, the next generation home entertainment network standard, which was just approved by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland on December 12, 2008.

G.hn represents the first global standard to support all three wire types that already exist in consumer's homes: phone lines, coax cables and AC power lines. The new standard (Recommendation ITU-T G.9960) is designed to deliver up to 20 times the throughput of existing wireless technologies and more than three times the performance of existing wire solutions. On December 12, the G.hn working group consented on a "foundation specification" that will allow silicon manufacturers to begin designing solutions. Ratification of the final specification is expected in September, 2009

"G.hn is going to be a life-changing technology," said Malcolm Johnson, director of ITU's Telecommunication Standardization Bureau in Geneva. "With G.hn, every wire in every home around the world can become a home entertainment network. This will enable seamless communication between computers, HDTVs, and telephones over existing wires. This exciting new technology will also foster tremendous innovations such as energy efficient smart appliances, home automation, and telemedicine devices."

"G.hn provides the next-generation standard for networking over customer-owned wiring. It is destined to become the first universal standard for home networking," said Steve Rago, principal analyst at market researcher iSuppli. In his recently released report, Home Networking Technology's Killer Connection, Rago projects G.hn nodes will grow at a CAGR of 257% between 2010 and 2013.

"CopperGate has long been an advocate of G.hn. With its foundation in both coax and power-line home networking technologies, CopperGate is a key player in this space," indicated Rago.

"CopperGate is 100 percent committed to G.hn," emphasized Gabi Hilevitz, CEO of CopperGate Communications. "We've been involved in the G.hn working group from the beginning and we intend to leverage our nearly 10 years of experience in each wire type to become the leader in G.hn chipsets. Our exclusive know-how well positions CopperGate for G.hn's inevitable success."

About CopperGate

CopperGate Communications is the only company whose standards-based chipsets enable carrier-class distribution of broadband digital content over all three types of existing wires in the home: coax, phone, and power. The company sells its technology to OEMs who build solutions for multimedia home networking and multi-dwelling unit (MDU) broadband access markets. CopperGate's chips are used in set-top boxes, residential gateways, optical network terminators and Ethernet bridges deployed by four of the top five telcos in North America who are deploying IPTV. Founded in 2000, CopperGate is headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel with offices in the United States, Taiwan, Korea, China, and Japan.

Company Site: CopperGagte

About IPTV Evangelist

IPTV Evangelist (ipTVe) is the ultimate guide to the people and the companies that are defining the red-hot iTV and IPTV markets. Founded by streaming video pioneer Gilbert B. Hammer, IPTV Evangelist combines the latest iTV and IPTV news and analysis with interviews with key players. As the title of the site implies, Gilbert is passionate about the space, which he views as the next-generation for online and mobile entertainment for its creative integration of new and improved forms of communication, storytelling and community.

HD/SD MPEG-4 AVC encoders used to expand linear broadcast TV services

Singapore - 5th December, 2008 - TANDBERG Television, part of the Ericsson Group (NASDAQ:ERIC), today announced that KT, Korea's leading integrated wired/wireless communications service provider, has selected a TANDBERG Television IPTV head end to support the continued growth of its Mega TV IPTV service. Mega TV has over 700,000 subscribers and provides interactive and pay per view services, including movies on-demand. KT will use TANDBERG Television's market leading EN8090 HD MPEG-4 AVC and EN8030 SD MPEG-4 AVC encoders to expand its linear broadcast TV services.

Regulatory changes in Korea mean IPTV providers are now allowed to offer broadcast services to complement their existing VOD. Korea Telecom already uses a wide range of TANDBERG Television head end and C&D (Contribution & Distribution) equipment for the Mega TV IPTV service. This head end expansion contract follows a competitive tender.

About KT

KT (Korea Telecom) is creating a world with ubiquitous, cutting-edge technology that goes beyond world-class broadband technology. KT, Korea's top integrated wired/wireless communications service provider, has been Korea's leader in the development of the information & communications business for the last 25 years. In that same time, it has helped turn Korea into an IT powerhouse with the world's leading technology in the operation of broadband service. With the commercial launch of the world's first wireless broadband service (WiBro), KT is paving the way for U-Korea with ubiquitous infrastructure through which people can share information wherever they are.

Company Site: KT

About IPTV Evangelist

IPTV Evangelist (ipTVe) is the ultimate guide to the people and the companies that are defining the red-hot iTV and IPTV markets. Founded by streaming video pioneer Gilbert B. Hammer, IPTV Evangelist combines the latest iTV and IPTV news and analysis with interviews with key players. As the title of the site implies, Gilbert is passionate about the space, which he views as the next-generation for online and mobile entertainment for its creative integration of new and improved forms of communication, storytelling and community.