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  • Amino Communications homepage banner Amino Communications will showcase its pure IPTV focus with a range of new set-top box (STB) products and other interactive solutions at IBC 2009. Visitors to stand 5.B40 can experience Amino’s wide-ranging portfolio, including their new hybrid compatible A532 Compact PVR. This new, high speed HD STB offers the latest in PVR functionality and is presented in one of the most compact and stylish cases in the market. A version without a hard drive — the A132 — will also be unveiled. PLus, the nexgen STBs based on the latest high-performance system-on-chip platforms will also be demo’d. Amino will also showcase innovative user experiences: a personalized, user-centric, bi-directional electronic program guide for linear, catch-up, and “over the top” (OTT) content. And AssetHouse will be shown, this being Amino’s business-focused, on-demand content management system. Amino CTO Dominique Le Foll will be presenting a session, “Decoupling hardware and software in the set-top box using virtualization”, on Sunday, September 13th, in the Forum Lounge from 2:00 until 5:00 p.m..


  • AETME logo ATEME has announced that P&TLuxembourg, the leading postal and telecommunication provider in Luxembourg, is deploying ATEME’s IPTV headend, which includes HD MPEG-4 AVC encoding. This solution will enable P&TLuxembourg to launch HDTV linear broadcast television services in 2009. Jean-Marie Spaus, director of the telecom division at P&TLuxembourg, said, “ATEME’s Video head end architecture with Kyrion HDTV H.264 encoders solution has met our stringent standards for quality and performance, enabling us to provide our viewers with a very compelling HD viewing experience.” The IPTV headend supplied to P&TLuxembourg includes the Kyrion AM2101 MPEG-4 AVC HD encoder, DR8100 Integrated Receiver Decoders and Skyline Dataminer Open Network Management System.


  • Artel Video Systems logo Artel Video Systems, a provider of video over fiber optics equipment, has appointed Gary Schutte to the position of Vice President of Sales. Gary will join Artel in an executive role responsible for leading the sales team as it strengthens and expands existing direct customer relationships and fosters new partnerships with systems integrators and resellers. In addition, Gary’s operational talents and experience will be used in developing marketing plans and product development roadmaps for the DL4000 Video Transport platform. Gary has been involved in the video hardware market as a sales executive for more than 20 years. During that time, he has been successful in building productive, motivated sales teams while nurturing long-term successful relationships with resellers and system integrators.


  • IBC2009 registration banner If you’re heading to IBC2009, on Sunday, September 13, the European Digital Cinema Forum (EDCF) and the SMPTE will look at some of the technical challenges of digital cinema in post production in a free session as the industry and technology evolves rapidly. The SMPTE is already working on standards for digital 3D HD delivery. In the free session it will reflect on this work as part of developing the case for how it might be broadcast, as well as suggesting what 3D might work in the home. David Monk, CEO of the European Digital Cinema Forum, will chair the session. He is a regular contributor to conferences around the world on the topics of Visual Perception 3D Imaging and Digital Cinema Deployment. Oscar-winning engineer Ray Feeney, a SMPTE fellow and co-chairman of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences‘ Science and Technology Council, will discuss the work of The Academy’s ‘Image Interchange Format‘. This topic covers many aspects of standardized digital workflow including metadata, color encoding and archival requirements. Contributing to the discussion on metadata will be Andy Maltz, Director at The Academy Science and Technology Council, and David Stump, Chairman of the Camera Subcommittee of the American Society of Cinematographers Technical Committee. The session will also look at some of the latest developments in the field of Subtitles for 3D Movies, with contributions from Doremi‘s Business Development Executive, Patrick Zucchetta and Philippe Gerard, CTO of 3Dlized. The EDCF/SMPTE d-cinema Technical and Post Production Workshop takes place on from 15:45 to 17:00 in Room L.


  • OmniBus Systems logo OmniBus Systems has been selected to migrate Starz Entertainment to an all iTX transmission system later this year. Both the main Starz facility in Englewood, Colo. and its nearby disaster-recovery backup operation will be converted to run on OmniBus iTX. Starz decided to upgrade its legacy SD and HD transmission infrastructure with OmniBus iTX in order to replace soon-to-be unsupported video servers and as a means to tap the vast potential of IT technology in broadcast transmission. iTX replaces the complexity resulting from multiple outbound hardware and software systems, such as the video server, automation, graphics device and logo inserter, by combining all these functions in a single suite of software applications. The ability to reduce the hardware footprint and the error potential that sometimes occurs with multiple systems is an important advantage to Starz. Also important is iTX’s ability to manage a piece of content in a single IT based storage repository that can then be leveraged across multiple transmission channels.