[SatNews] Thomson Video Networks has announced that Australian payTV provider Foxtel is upgrading its DTH video platform with the latest generation of the ViBE™ EM4000 premium HD/SD encoder.

In addition, Foxtel has installed updates of Thomson Video Networks' NetProcessor 9040 multiplexer and video processor, Amethyst redundancy switch, and XMS network management system. Foxtel operates one of the largest Thomson Video Networks-based platforms in the Asia-Pacific region, incorporating several generations of ViBE encoders, multiplexers, and video servers. With the latest release of the EM4000 earlier this year, Foxtel took the opportunity to upgrade its platform to take advantage of the encoder's superior HD video quality and Thomson's advanced feature sets for multiplexing and network management. Foxtel chose the EM4000 not only for its video quality, but also for its ability to integrate smoothly with the company's existing ecosystem and its world-class density, supporting up to eight HD MPEG-4 AVC channels in a single rack unit.

"The latest ViBE EM4000 includes compression innovations specifically designed to give payTV operators even more bandwidth savings and higher video quality, so we knew it would be ideal for our DTH upgrade,” said Foxtel Transmission Technology Manager Darren Windus. “With the EM4000, we'll be able to offer the best possible quality of experience to our audience, and the system offers an exciting and aggressive roadmap for density, feature set, and video quality to help us plan for the future."

Further information about the ViBE EM4000 and other Thomson Video Networks products is available on their infosite at http://www.thomson-networks.com.