Mr. John Pomeroy reports

VIXS LAUNCHES UHD HEVC 4K GOLDEN REFERENCE DECODER TOOL TO MEET THE GROWING DEMAND FROM THE BROADCAST INDUSTRY

ViXS Systems Inc. has released an ultrahigh-definition 4K golden reference decoder tool to test, validate, and debug 4K UHD content and deployment plans for the broadcast industry. As the broadcast market transitions to HEVC and UHD 4K, the requirement for a standardized reference tool becomes a necessity for a company planning to deploy any type of UHD 4K service.

The UHD 4K golden reference tool will enable content creators, service operator technologists, encoder manufacturers and HEVC promoters to easily decode and display files from storage or from IP networks, up to 4Kp60 HEVC 10-bit. The golden reference tool will allow users to verify stream compliance, encoder quality parameters, transport multiplexing parameters, video output quality and compare eight-bit versus 10-bit; all key metrics required to upgrade broadcast systems to support 4Kp60 HEVC 10-bit video across all networks.

"At NAB last week there were more than 10 different Tier 1 encoder and streaming technology companies demonstrating their new products with the ViXS UHD 4K decoder. The industry response to the ViXS XCode decoder has been enormous and validates our leadership position regarding advanced video processing capabilities," said John Pomeroy, vice-president, sales, infrastructure and networking, VIXS systems. "Our XCode 6400 product embodied in the UHD golden reference decoder, uniquely enables operators, encoder manufacturers and others to test their networks using the same technology that will soon be deployed in their customer's homes."

Summary and highlights of the golden reference decoder box:

• 4Kp60 10-bit HEVC decode and display;
• File source from storage or IP network;
• Continued support for legacy codecs (AVC up to 4K);
• Simple operation;
• Small form factor;
• Low power.

The VIXS UHD 4K golden reference decoder tool is available for orders now and will ship to customers starting in May, 2014.