Imagine Communications to showcase IP, virtualisation, media software and video infrastructure innovations in IBC2014 debut

Imagine Communications to showcase IP, virtualisation, media software and video infrastructure innovations in IBC2014 debut
July 21, 2014 Meriam Khan

[21 July 2014]

Demonstrations will feature advances that realise the company’s bold technology vision

Imagine Communications, a market leader of media software and video infrastructure solutions serving the global broadcast, multichannel video programming distributor and enterprise markets, today announced that the company will showcase the latest ground-breaking innovations in its end-to-end solutions portfolio and its bold new vision, product direction and strategy at the IBC2014 conference and exhibition, taking place 12 – 16 September in Amsterdam.

This year’s showing at the industry’s largest international event in Europe marks the first IBC for Imagine Communications since its transformation from Harris Broadcast earlier this year. Imagine Communications CEO Charlie Vogt is also slated to participate in the opening Keynote “Assessing the Health of Broadcast TV” on 11 September.

Visitors to the Imagine Communications stand, number 7.G20, will experience first-hand how the company’s vision and innovation are poised to guide the media and entertainment market through the transition to a future defined by IP, software-defined networks and workflows, virtualisation and TV Everywhere. Attendees will learn how Imagine Communications’ IP-based, cloud-optimised, software frameworks help improve how media companies manage, deliver and monetise multiscreen content, while live demonstrations of upcoming solutions built on these foundations highlight the realisation of this vision.

“Since unveiling our new technology roadmap earlier this year, we have invested significantly and innovated rapidly to deliver on our vision of leading the broadcast, OTT and service provider markets from the limitations of historically siloed, proprietary infrastructures to a scalable and much more flexible, service-oriented software architecture,” said Mr. Vogt. “We’re excited to be heading to IBC with tangible demonstrations of virtualised, software-defined networks, solutions and workflows that will help solve our customers’ biggest challenges as they pursue unprecedented monetisation opportunities.

“The industry’s move from traditional broadcast architectures will be a transition over time, however, and at IBC we will also be showcasing new advances that build on existing technologies while providing bridges to next-generation infrastructures, helping ensure that customers’ investments today aren’t stranded tomorrow,” concluded Mr. Vogt.

Advanced technology and solutions making their IBC debut at the Imagine Communications stand will include:

Playout in the Cloud: Expanding on its industry-first live NAB demonstration of playout in the cloud, Imagine Communications will showcase innovations that redefine how video content will be originated, managed, stored and delivered. Demonstrations will combine content originating from public and private clouds with on-ramps and off-ramps to bridge baseband video and IP; hybrid integration with on-premises playout systems to leverage existing investments; and seamless transformation for multi-platform delivery including TV Everywhere.

Software-Defined Networking: The MultiService SDN™ software-defined networking (SDN) framework simplifies the network architecture of media companies operating in hybrid baseband and IP environments by enabling the video bit flow to be software-mapped, creating a fully virtualised network fabric for deploying advanced services. MultiService SDN offers customers exceptional flexibility and scalability as they transition to IP while leveraging their investments in baseband infrastructure.

Advanced Advertising: Building on the service-oriented MediaCentral framework, Imagine Communications will highlight new solutions and functionality in the Landmark™ business application management platform, including the campaign management of impression-based, dynamic ad insertion for streamed and nonlinear content. New capabilities enable faster, intelligent decision-making and smarter advertising around available inventory across a range of consumer viewing platforms – including traditional linear TV, mobile, video on demand and OTT – helping media enterprises easily create cross-platform campaigns that capitalise on an increasing array of monetisation opportunities.

Software-Defined Workflows: Leveraging technology gained in the acquisition of Digital Rapids earlier this year, the Xenio™ workflow management foundation provides an agile software engine that enables the design, deployment and management of extensible, customisable, software-defined workflows. Xenio’s unique, software-defined approach provides a flexible environment that allows users to quickly adapt their workflows to capitalise on new service opportunities and simplify their management.

TV Everywhere:  As consumer adoption of TV Everywhere services grows rapidly, the ability to efficiently process and deliver content at scale for multiscreen viewing is critical. The SelenioNext™ adaptive bit rate (ABR) transcoder optimises space and power efficiency with up to 10 times the density of competing offerings, while SelenioFlex™ software-based media processing solutions, powered by Xenio, provide flexible live and file-based encoding and transcoding for applications from production to multiscreen distribution. The SelenioEdge™ content delivery network software provides scalable, cache-efficient streaming to end-user devices, enabling complete TV Everywhere processing and delivery workflows.

Signal Processing and Compression:  Imagine Communications’ comprehensive processing and compression portfolio supports both traditional and next-generation broadcast infrastructures, with innovations designed to ease the technology transition between them. New processing solutions making their IBC debut include the Selenio X100™ 1RU processor, featuring a unique architecture with a path to IP and UltraHD, and new modules for the Selenio™ MCP media convergence platform that enable high-performance JPEG2000 contribution encoding for live events and highly efficient satellite distribution via a dual-channel DVB-S/S2 demodulator.

These industry-leading innovations will be showcased alongside the latest versions of additional market-leading Imagine Communications solutions and new unveilings that will be announced in the coming weeks.

To learn more about Imagine Communications’ solutions and vision, please visit stand 7.G20 at IBC2014 or www.imaginecommunications.com.