ATEME Claims 4K and 8K Over IP with New EAVC4 Codec

法语编码专家 ATEME claim that their new EAVC4 codec is capable of delivering 4K and even 8K video over IP using current MPEG-4 compression. While ATEME is also a core member of a consortium researching the High Efficiency Video Codec (HEVC)—the successor to MPEG-4 and designed expressly for higher resolutions—it suggests that Ultra-HDTV video transport can be achieved today.

ATEME声称H.264-compliant EAVC4 codec can deliver a 20% gain in efficiency over previous MPEG-4 H.264 AVC编解码器.

“It provides a major leap forward in performance for users to either encode faster at current video quality levels or to significantly increase quality while maintaining current encoding speeds,ATEM首席技术官Pierre Larbier说. The software unlocks the future of multi-screen delivery and supports MPEG growth demands while HEVC matures.

The EAVC4 encoder is said to have the following attributes:

Up to 20% bandwidth gains for progressive and interlaced content based on objective measures, even higher gains based on visual perception
Reduced bandwidth for use cases with high and emerging market demand with support for iPad (1080p), 智能手机(即使是64kbps), all with efficient software-based CBR and VBR bit-rate regulation
Expanded range of available use cases—including 4K and 8K, 4:2:2和4:4:4色度, 高达14位的编码精度, 和AVC-I内部编码

The technology makes use of a patented technique ATEME calls Multi-Screen by Design which the companysays “relies on intelligent parallelisation to perform common processes only one time for all bit- ates and screen formats.”

It states that in practice this delivers up to three times more speed for file transcoding workflows, 如VOD处理, three times as many linear channels per processor blade to benefit live transcoding workflows, 例如IPTV.

There is already some 4K content available on-demand and supported by YouTube at a resolution of 4096 x 3072 pixels, (12.6像素). The introduction of 4K-ready TV sets to the home in 2013 will see 4K begin to seep into the home however for longer term and wider scale streaming and DTT broadcast of UltraHDTV—4K (3840x2160) and 8K (7680x4320) resolutions—the industry is looking to standardise on HEVC.

ATEME is part of a three-year multi-million Euro research program, 4永远, aiming to demonstrate a first complete Ultra-HDTV production and transmission chain by mid-2013.

其他4永远成员包括橙色的实验室, GlobeCast, TeamCast, 鲜艳的色彩, Doremi实验室，以及电信ParisTech 和INSA-IETR大学实验室. 在生产方面, the lead partner will be France Télévisions which is already experimenting with 4K captured content. Orange is targeting the end of 2012 for end-toend 4K testing over its IP network.

“ATEME is well underway with plans for HEVC product releases. 然而, it is clear that the need for higher performance, encoding flexibility and improved multi-screen capabilities is not something that users can simply defer until the full testing and adoption of future HEVC solutions,拉比尔说.

The initial version of the HEVC standard, scheduled to be completed in January 2013, 包括16x9的宽高比, 进步的唯一, 帧率高达120Hz. 它将是8位/样本, 4:2:0, 仅单层, with an extension planned for January 2014 that will include 10 bits/sample, 4:2:2, 和4:4:4.

The support for a higher frame rate option of 120Hz may be necessary for accurate portrayal of motion at extreme resolutions on large wall-sized displays. Pay-TV operators and vendors are already thinking along such lines. 教你们, 例如, demonstrated delivery of 4K UHDTV to large displays at IBC 2011 over its Surfaces platform.

If a plug-in can be developed for download then the first applications of HEVC can be used almost immediately for carrying HD video over the internet.

“Today’s video encoding systems must not only support large-scale, 连续视频编码操作, but they must also offer a high degree of flexibility for outputting different levels of video quality, 帧速率, 比特率和屏幕分辨率. The release of EAVC4 addresses the ever-escalating consumer demand for rich video content now, empowers broad access across an increasing number of viewer devices.”

The EAVC4 will be available shortly as part of ATEME’s 泰坦转码器的范围.