TANDBERG Television Re-Shapes the Future of Video Head-Ends with NAB Launch of iSIS 8000 IP System

Follows acquisition of SkyStream with announcement of industry’s most complete IP system for central and regional head-ends - NAB introduction of new IP products and features, includes MX8400 Multiplexer and nCompass Control V5


Southampton, UK, April 20, 2006 - TANDBERG Television (TAT.OL) today moved its IP strategy forward with the NAB launch of a complete IP-based system designed to change the face of IP video head-ends in both contribution and distribution networks and in large and small scale DTH cable, satellite, terrestrial and telco platforms. The iSIS 8000 IP system includes best-in-class MPEG-2, MPEG-4 AVC and SMPTE VC-1 video encoding and transcoding, IP multiplexing and new receiver/decoders, all based on over five years of IP development at TANDBERG Television, and brought together under a single control and management system, nCompass.



“IP is the great leveller in the digital video market. The future of IP is secure as the operational and cost efficiencies it provides bring enormous benefits to all operators. At NAB we will launch our new IP head-end system combining new products into a complete solution. The new iSIS 8000 combines best-in-class TANDBERG Television technologies with SkyStream award-winning IP products to offer operators a very broad range of options, whatever the size, scale or application of their network,” says Roger Bolton, VP of Business Development at TANDBERG Television.



At the heart of the iSIS 8000 system is TANDBERG Television’s extensive capability in video processing and multiplexing, now further expanded with the addition of the SkyStream xPlex range. New at NAB will be the TANDBERG MX8400 IP Multiplexer, a next generation product designed for central head-end applications including primary multiplexing for large DTH satellite, cable and terrestrial and contribution and distribution systems. This open standards, IP based product enables the simplification of systems and with support for up to 4 independent multiplexed outputs from a single unit, eases future expansion and delivers significant reduction in infrastructure costs. Moreover, the combination of ReflexTM statistical multiplexing and advanced multiplexing architectures ensures maximum usage of available bit-rate. TANDBERG Television has always led the market in terms of conditional access integration and has continued this with the iSIS 8000, including a number of DVB Simulcrypt integrations that are available at launch.



For large head-end and central office video processing, and local channel insertion and public, education and government (PEG) channel encoding, TANDBERG Television has integrated the SkyStream MediaPlex / iPlex into the iSIS 8000 system. The MediaPlex and iPlex are flexible switched digital video processing platforms capable of MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 AVC SD Encoding, MPEG-2 SD Transrating, MPEG-2 to MPEG-4 AVC Transcoding, multiplexing, de-multiplexing, routing and streaming. With their capability of simultaneous outputs over ATM, IP and ASI transport streams, the NEBS-compliant ultra-compact iPlex and high-density MediaPlex are the ultimate chassis-based solutions for hybrid transmission networks, such as dual cable and IPTV delivery to the home.



Both the TANDBERG MX8400 and the xPLEX head-ends will be fully integrated with the latest version of TANDBERG Television’s industry leading nCompass management applications, which combine ease of use with advanced control and management. NAB will see a new version of TANDBERG nCompass Control, v5.0, providing redundancy protection for the MX8400 and the xPLEX in both 1+1 and N+M multiplexer configurations. TANDBERG nCompass Control is ideally suited to controlling and monitoring satellite, cable and terrestrial super head-ends, especially where n+m multiplexing is required to save costs. Powerful re-multiplexing capabilities make it perfect for digital turnaround applications. Cost-effective control of standalone devices through intelligent web pages is available for the simpler regional head-end.



Other new iSIS 8000 system components and features to be launched at NAB include:

* Dual GigE Encoder output - NAB will see the debut of the new TANDBERG dual GigE output card in the EN5900 and E5700 encoding ranges for MPEG-2, MPEG-4 AVC and VC-1. The encoder to multiplexer transport stream data connection has a dedicated high speed IP output and provides full redundancy protection of the transport stream data. The transport stream output from the encoder is transmitted on both outputs simultaneously as a multicast packet stream and full N+M encoder redundancy is provided. The dual GigE Encoder output option card also supports splitting of the encoder multi-program transport stream outputs into separate multicasts - so for example the EN5930’s MPEG-2, MPEG-4 AVC and PIP programs can all be multicast on separate addresses.
* TANDBERG RX1290 - the world’s first professional multiformat MPEG-2/MPEG-4 AVC SD/HD decoder being launched at NAB will enable network operators and broadcasters to deliver IP streams of standard definition (SD) and high definition (HD) content from studio to studio and across networks to regional head-ends and affiliates. (see separate press release).
* TANDBERG RX5130 Descrambler - the latest generation of the TANDBERG DVB-CA Common Interface Descrambler features satellite and transport stream input, with optional IP output, and is a key component in the turnaround of content into the broadcast head-end. By removing the previous transmission scrambling the RX5130 enables programming to be processed, and re-multiplexed for onward broadcast.

About TANDBERG Television

Whether it’s advanced compression systems, on-demand or interactive television, TANDBERG Television delivers the technology and expertise that is moving digital video forward. The company’s award-winning solutions are used by the world’s leading network operators, broadcasters and content owners to deliver new viewer experiences and advertising opportunities. With a broad suite of open, standards-based products, TANDBERG Television offers the highest quality digital TV solutions including IPTV, HDTV, video-on-demand, advertising on-demand, and interactive TV applications to customers in the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East and Africa. For more information, please visit www.tandbergtv.com.

Contact Information

Dwight Witherspoon

TANDBERG Television

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