Envivio Launches Program to Help Customers Implement HEVC

Envivio’s HEVC Early Access Program has been launched for customers seeking to implement HEVC (H.265) encoding. HEVC for live or on-demand applications will be available for new installations or as a software upgrade for Envivio Muse customers who run their encoding services on the latest generation Envivio 4Caster G4 appliance or HP blade servers. Initial HEVC software deployments are expected to begin with selected customers in Q2 2013.

Envivio and Broadcom Corporation are working on HEVC encoder and decoder interoperability in order to provide a proven, reliable solution ahead of commercial market deployments. The two companies will demonstrate their technology at NAB 2013 and feature HEVC streams in HD encoded by Envivio Muse and decoded by the Broadcom BCM7445. This collaboration enables faster time to market for service providers seeking to roll out HEVC services for OTT or Pay TV services in the coming months.

“Our collaboration with Envivio speeds time-to-market for operators seeking to implement the latest codec standards,” says John Gleiter, vice president of marketing for set top products, Broadcom. “Together, we are able to enhance the user experience, both for multi-screen and with the future addition of Ultra HD 4K video, which take the in-home HD viewing experience to a whole new level.”

Julien Signès, president and CEO of Envivio, adds thatHEVC offers a number of advantages for operators, most immediately in enabling a high definition experience for multi-screen and OTT at bit-rates that meet the bandwidth requirements for those services.

“Our software-based approach simplifies deployment for our customers, as they can migrate to HEVC via a simple license upgrade,” he adds. “In addition, working closely with Broadcom on interoperability ensures that operators can confidently deploy reliable and high quality HEVC services in the near future.”

The new HEVC standard is expected to achieve up to 50 percent bandwidth reduction at comparable video quality to MPEG-4 AVC (H.264), or provide substantial quality gains for services delivered at the same bitrates. In IPTV architectures, operators can increase eligibility to reach more customers and second/third screens, while in satellite and cable environments, HEVC can be used to increase the number of channels service providers can deliver in a transport or QAM. Moving forward, HEVC is also expected to enable new viewing experiences with 4K video resolutions.

Envivio’s HEVC compression will be on display at NAB 2013 booth #SU6202, April 8-11 in Las Vegas. The company will showcase HEVC for both HDTV and viewing on tablets.