Imagine Dreams Up On-Demand Gateway
By Karen Brown -- Multichannel News, 6/20/2006 10:40:00 AM MT
Start-up video-technology outfit Imagine Communications Inc. is using the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers’ Cable-Tec Expo as a sort of coming-out party, debuting its initial “PersonalizedTV” product, the “Quality on Demand Gateway.”
The QOD Gateway will serve as the basis for San Diego-based Imagine’s product line, which is designed to boost on-demand content with bandwidth improvements, enhanced video quality, and customized features such as targeted ads and personalized audio.
The QOD Gateway supports as many as 15 standard-definition variable-bit-rate on-demand streams with the equivalent quality of existing 10-stream constant-bit-rate systems. It can also support three HD streams per channel, compared with two streams for existing systems.
To do so, Imagine developed a set of video-analysis, quality-measurement and indexing techniques. Down the road, the vendor plans to add software to allow advanced video services to be multiplexed through the same QOD Gateway.
The gateway can serve up 40 gigabits per second of throughput for a five-rack-mounted unit, supplying more than 14,000 standard-definition TV streams or 3,500 HD streams. A 12-rack mount unit version supplies a whopping 100-gbps maximum throughput supporting 36,000 standard-definition video streams or 9,000 HDTV streams.
“The fact that cable operators look to on-demand content to differentiate themselves from satellite competitors means that improved delivery systems are needed,” Imagine senior vice president of marketing and business development Marc Tayer said in a prepared statement.
“With HD-DVD and Blu-ray players hitting the market this year, now is the time to push the envelope with HD-VOD [video-on-demand],” he added. “And as subscribers' taste for better video quality continues to improve, our QOD Gateway can dial up the video quality to levels well above today's limitations, providing an unmatched viewing experience for consumers."
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