Envivio Unveils Third Generation of its 4Caster C4 Live Encoder, Targeting Large-Scale Multiscreen TV

Envivio, a provider of technologies for processing live and on-demand multiscreen IP video, said Monday that it will unveil the third generation of its 4Caster C4 live encoder/transcoder for mobile-TV, connected-TV and IPTV services at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this week. According to the company, the 4Caster C4 Gen III, as the new product is called, offers twice the processing power and supports twice the HD channel density of its predecessor, and has already been deployed in live trials at four major operators in the US, Europe and Asia, where it is supporting live HD video services for connected TV's and tablets.

Envivio is also unveiling version 2.4 of the firmware for the 4Caster C4 product line (4Caster C4, C4² and Gen III). According to the company, the new firmware offers a range of enhancements, including support for the new Envivio Genesis output format, which the company bills as a single intermediate mezzanine format that supports multiple bitrates and resolutions to drive live and on-demand television services for every consumer device across multiple networks. "The explosive growth of tablets and other TV alternatives is creating incredible opportunities for operators," Envivio CEO, Julien Signes, said in a prepared statement. "Beyond the novelty of just delivering content to other devices, there is the greater challenge of building the high-quality services that retain subscribers. They want premium HD and other features on all of their devices. That is where Envivio's 4Caster Gen III delivers--it is the first video encoding platform optimized for the growing number and variety of HD formats operators must support."

Key advantages claimed by Envivio for 4Caster C4 Gen III include:

• Being "the only system in the industry" that can deliver traditional broadcast TV services and connected and mobile TV from a single platform and a single headend.
• The ability to ingest sources and deliver up to 15 outputs per channel, in order to meet the needs of traditional broadcast and IPTV ecosystems, as well as emerging Internet-TV applications.
• Improved operational efficiency and simplified headend management by reducing the number of encoder systems needed.
• Increased encoder density, thus reducing space, power and cooling requirements at the headend.
• Integration of Envivio's patented multi-core compression engine with the latest-generation Intel Xeon Processor 5600 Series for "optimal encoding efficiency."
• Upgradeability via firmware, thus allowing support for future formats such as 1080p 3D MVC.

Key advantages claimed by Envivio for the new firmware, meanwhile, include:

• Support for the new Envivio Genesis mezzanine format.
• Being the "world's first solution to simultaneously support both IPTV and OTT outputs compatible with Microsoft Mediaroom 2.0, Silverlight and PlayReady environments."
• Enhanced interoperability for cable MSO networks.
• Increased input redundancy, in order to maximize availability and reduce operational expenditures.
• Fine control over adaptive stream output, in order to enhance quality of experience.
• Simplified deployment using native publishing interfaces to major CDN's such as Akamai, Level 3 and Limelight.

Envivio says that 4Caster C4 Gen III and the new firmware will be commercially available next month.