Envivio and IRT Team Together to Provide MPEG-4 Technology in DVB-MHP Set-Top Boxes
IBC, Amsterdam, September 14, 2001: Envivio.com, Inc., the leading software developer of end-to-end MPEG-4 interactive broadcasting solutions, and the Institut für Rundfunktechnik GmbH (IRT), the research and development center of the public service broadcasters in Germany (ARD, ZDF, DLR), in Austria (ORF) and in Switzerland (SRG/SSR), today announced they are teaming together to provide MPEG-4 technology in DVB-MHP set-top boxes.
As the first application, IRT, together with its partners, will show (at the ISTV - Information Society Technologies Village, Stand 3.111) the Envivio MPEG-4 player integrated in an advanced DVB-MHP set-top-box. This new set-top-box has been developed within the IST-SAMBITS (System for Advanced Multimedia Broadcast and Information Technology Services) project, sponsored by the European Commission. The Envivio MPEG-4 authoring tools and player will be used to make, in addition to the main TV-programme, audio-visual content available to the viewer on an on-demand basis.
Gerhard Stoll, senior engineer at the IRT, recipient in October 2000 of an Emmy-Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for his work on MPEG-Audio, in charge of advanced multimedia broadcasting and information technology services, declared: "Envivio is one the first companies to have developed easy to use and efficient MPEG-4 authoring tools for on-line as well as for off-line production of MPEG-4 based content. The Envivio MPEG-4 application platform for creation, distribution and playback of MPEG-4 compliant audio, video, and data streams is clearly one of the most advanced on the market today, and IRT is looking forward for a successful co-operation with Envivio in order to bring new and promising solutions for interactive broadcasting applications to the European broadcasters".
The Digital Video Broadcasting Project (DVB) is an industry-led consortium of over 300 broadcasters, manufacturers, network operators, software developers, regulatory bodies and others in over 35 countries committed to designing global standards for the delivery of digital television and data services. DVB is the point to multi-point data delivery mechanism with guaranteed quality of service.
The Multimedia Home Platform (MHP) defines a generic interface between interactive digital applications and the terminals on which those applications execute. This interface separates different providers' applications from the specific hardware and software details of different MHP terminal implementations. It enables digital content providers to address all types of terminals ranging from low-end to high-end set-top boxes, integrated digital TV sets and multimedia PCs. The MHP extends the existing, successful DVB open standards for broadcast and interactive services in all transmission networks including satellite, cable, terrestrial and microwave systems.
DVB-MHB is the accepted standard for the broadcast of data and video over satellite and cable. Currently, MPEG-4 is widely considered the leading format for compressed mixed media and low bit rate audio and video. Envivio is extremely pleased to be the first company to be able to show, with IRT, a DVB compliant system with the capability to distribute and view MPEG-4 content. These two standards provide a powerful way for broadcasters to add value and create new revenue streams.
The IRT is positive about MPEG-4 being the most appropriate technology to deliver additional streaming audio-visual content and data to DVB-MHP set-top boxes, because it is an open standard, endorsed by the worldwide broadcast industry. MPEG-4 offers the only non-proprietary, fully developed, scalable architecture enabling the integration of the production, distribution and content access paradigms. Envivio is the first company that provides these tools, and the two companies are the first to show such a solution in a DVB-MHP platform.
About Envivio:
Envivio.com, Inc. is the leading developer of end-to-end MPEG-4 interactive broadcasting solutions utilizing MPEG-4's rich set of integrated streaming media elements: high performance audio and video, two dimensional graphics and animation, and rich interactive user experience. The company maintains a worldwide perspective on creating MPEG-4-based solutions to enable broadcasters, distribution network operators and content developers to build new revenues and utilize the efficiencies of targeting content at the full range of MPEG-4 capable devices. The Envivio Solution includes various components to create, encode, protect and distribute MPEG-4 content: The Envivio Encoding Station for offline encoding and protection of MPEG-4 audio and video, the Envivio Broadcast Studio for authoring complete MPEG-4 applications, the Envivio Media Server, to distribute MPEG-4 content over the Web and broadcast networks, and EnvivioTV™ to retrieve and playback MPEG-4 content. The company is privately held and has received investments from Royal Philips Electronics, France Telecom, Sigma Designs, Aurora Ventures, Global Accelerator and other leading broadband media investors. For further information, visit us at www.envivio.com.
About IRT:
The Institut für Rundfunktechnik GmbH (IRT) is the research and development center of the public service broadcasters in Germany (ARD, ZDF, DLR), in Austria (ORF) and in Switzerland (SRG/SSR). The IRT, which was founded in 1956, is a non-profit company and employs about 200 persons. The R&D work is managed within five business areas: audio broadcasting, television, broadcasting coverage, collaborative research, and R&D services. For further information, www.irt.de.
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