Sky Italia IPTV platform equipped with V-Nova compression technology

Video compression solutions specialist V-Nova has announced the deployment of its V-Nova PERSEUS video compression on Sky’s IPTV platform in Italy. The move will enable Sky in Italy to expand significantly the reach of its full HD offering over the existing IP infrastructure.

V-Nova’s video compression solution is being deployed as a software-only update, following integration of the V-Nova PERSEUS SDK with Harmonic’s ViBE VS7000 video encoders and the installed base of Sky set-top boxes in Italy.

Massimo Bertolotti, head of innovation & engineering, Sky Italia, commented: “We upgraded our headend and set-top boxes with V-Nova PERSEUS compression to bring the average HD bit-rate down from 8Mbps to 4Mbps. By halving the bandwidth requirement, V-Nova PERSEUS enables us to enhance the viewing experience for our customers and meet our IPTV business objectives much more quickly. We are thrilled with the outcome of this challenging project and hope to set an example for what is possible to achieve on deployed infrastructures through the use of new innovative technologies.”

Guido Meardi, V-Nova CEO & co-founder, added: “We have been working with Sky in Italy for a long time and I am thrilled to follow the successful deployment on their contribution network with this IPTV platform upgrade. Consumers want the same Quality of Service (QoS) whatever the platform and we are proud to be able to help Sky in Italy expand massively the reach of their service while maintaining the picture quality they are recognised for. Importantly, we were able to achieve this on an infrastructure that had been already deployed without changing the existing workflows.”

V-Nova PERSEUS is a video processing technology that is designed to address today’s video delivery challenges, closing the capacity gap for quality delivery to connected devices over existing networks. V-Nova PERSEUS redraws the traditional quality-bitrate curve, enabling operators and service providers to provide high quality video (both linear and non-linear) within their bandwidth constraints. V-Nova PERSEUS technology is available as a software development kit (SDK) for integration into third party encoders and video players.

“This deployment is the coronation of the work we have done with Sky in Italy and our many industry partners such as Harmonic. We are delighted of the results we have achieved together, when many told us it was simply not possible. Sky’s IPTV platform is testament to the value of industry collaboration and the perfect example of why the market needs the step-change that V-Nova PERSEUS delivers,” concluded Eric Achtmann, executive chairman and co-founder of V-Nova.