The R&S AVHE100 from Rohde & Schwarz is an encoding and multiplexing solution that offers the best video quality available on the market for HEVC-encoded content, from qHD to UHD, as demonstrated by the company at several shootouts during the past year.
Quality and stability are also of vital importance for OTT providers who stream premium content simultaneously with live broadcasts. With the latest enhancement, the R&S AVHE100 can efficiently generate streaming formats in parallel with broadcast multiplexes on a single platform. The R&S AVHE100 provides ABR encoding, i.e., it simultaneously encodes multiple OTT live streams using several different video profiles so that the consumer always receives the best possible resolution, depending on the quality of the data connection. The platform’s integrated packetizer fully supports all common formats such as MPEG-DASH, CMAF, HLS and MSS; as a result, the R&S AVHE100 supports a wide range of user devices.
The Rohde & Schwarz solution is unique in that it performs dynamic switchover between SDR and HDR content and also supports mixed statistical multiplexing for traditional broadcasting. The statistical multiplex function means an efficient utilization of data rates, making it possible to achieve higher picture quality for the transmitted programs or to broadcast more programs at a time. The R&S AVHE100 also supports a mixture of different video codecs, including MPEG-2, MPEG-4/H.264 and HEVC, and resolutions, such as SD, HD and UHD. This permits operators to continue employing legacy formats until a planned transition to a newer format is completed.
The R&S AVHE100 is a fully software-based solution that employs standard IT components. It provides the entire functionality of an encoding and multiplexing solution on a single server. Its integrated headend management system lets users control and monitor the entire workflow via a single web interface. Enhancements and improvements to coding and transmission standards are easily added, reducing capital and operating expenditures (CAPEX and OPEX) for installation, space, energy and cooling requirements, spare parts management and training. In addition, customers can conclude multi-year service level agreements (SLA) for 24/7 international support for enhanced investment protection.
The independent, family-owned company Rohde & Schwarz has gained decades of experience in the field of broadcasting, which are reflected by the smart redundancy concept and many reliability features employed in the R&S AVHE100 to ensure high availability. The R&S CrossFlowIP function, a Rohde & Schwarz development, provides redundancy for both input and output signals through seamless switchover between the main and the alternate path. In this way, the R&S AVHE100 ensures uninterrupted live transmission in the event a fault is detected and during maintenance. In contrast to conventional solutions, the R&S AVHE100 provides this functionality without requiring an external management system.
David Smith, Marketing Manager for Encoding and Multiplexing Technology at Rohde & Schwarz, noted that the launch of the R&S AVHE100 4K/HDR scalable video and audio processing platform is a significant step toward the cost-effective deployment of UHD/HDR services alongside legacy SD and HD content. The encoder is widely acknowledged as the industry leading HEVC codec with full support for PQ and HLG as well as legacy codecs and formats.
