Live full-frame UHD encoding with new Harmonic Electra X

Harmonic has launched the latest generation of its Electra product line, the Electra X family of advanced media processors for broadcast and multiscreen content delivery. Claimed to be the world’s first encoder family to support graphics, branding and playout functionalities, as well as industry-leading video quality and full-frame Ultra HD (UHD) live encoding, Electra X enhances video delivery.

Powered by the Harmonic PURE Compression Engine, Electra X appliance-based media processors boost video compression efficiency across a range of formats and codecs — including MPEG-2, AVC, and HEVC codecs — over CBR, VBR, and ABR encoding schemes to support a broad array of devices from handhelds to UHD TV. Already deployed by Harmonic customers, the multicodec and multiformat nature of Electra X makes it well suited to solve the video processing challenges of broadcast, cable, satellite, and telco operators today and in the future.

“Building on the success of our industry-leading compression family, the Electra X media processors offer a dramatic new approach to encoding,” said Bart Spriester, senior vice president, video products, Harmonic. “The Electra X simplifies content delivery operations, enabling video content and service providers to offer linear and multiscreen services from low bandwidth profiles all the way up to UHD. Plus the additional function integration can have a profound impact when deploying new services.”