IPTV Technology Featured Article
April 11, 2008
Scripps Networks Selects Cisco HD Encoding and Transcoding Technology
By Cisco (News - Alert) has announced that its infrastructure equipment will be used by Scripps Networks’ lifestyle brands HGTV HD and Food Network HD. Using infrastructure equipment from Cisco, these lifestyle brands will make a transition to MPEG Advanced Video Coding (AVC) HD distribution from MPEG-2 high-definition (HD) video delivery.
“This is a major technology inflection point for Scripps Networks to help drive the expansion of our programming to support the HD-rich video environment our affiliates and their customers want,” said Mike Donovan, senior vice president, engineering and distribution technology, Scripps Networks. “Using the most advanced MPEG AVC, transcoding and DVB-S2 network technologies from Cisco enriches our leadership position in the marketplace and prepares us to respond quickly and efficiently to the rapidly changing video environment.”
Cisco’s one-rack-unit Model D9858’s dual-channel output can also be used to transcode two MPEG AVC HD programs to two MPEG-2 HD programs to support the Scripps Networks’ application. Other supports provided include two MPEG AVC HD to two MPEG-2 SD; two MPEG-2 HD to two MPEG-2 standard definition (SD); two MPEG AVC SD to two MPEG-2 SD; and one MPEG AVC HD to one MPEG-2 HD and one MPEG-2 SD.
With this partnership, Scripps Networks will look to increase the number of channels it can deliver over a single satellite transponder with the new advanced Cisco MPEG AVC HD Encoder, Cisco Advanced Receiver Transcoder and Cisco Digital Video Broadcast (DVB
)-S2 modulation platform. The bandwidth-saving capabilities of both AVC encoding and DVB-S2 modulation will also be available to Scripps Network with this agreement.
)-S2 modulation platform. The bandwidth-saving capabilities of both AVC encoding and DVB-S2 modulation will also be available to Scripps Network with this agreement. The Cisco Advanced Receiver Transcoder (Model D9858) reduces the number of receivers needed by 50 percent when compared to single-channel equipment as it supports the delivery of two MPEG AVC HD channels in a single device. It also converts the incoming MPEG AVC HD signals to MPEG-2 HD for reception by the installed base of MPEG-2 set-tops already deployed.
The new agreement with Cisco is expected to provide Scripps with the ability to provide HGTV and Food Network plus an estimated six to 10 additional channels over the satellite bandwidth now used for the two programs.
Raju Shanbhag is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To see more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.
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