Blue Ridge Tunes Up Harmonic HD Encoder

Blue Ridge selects Harmonic's latest generation technology to expand HD service and increase flexibility in its digital video infrastructure

October 29, 2009

1 Min Read

DENVER -- Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ: HLIT) today announced that Blue Ridge Communications has deployed Harmonic's Electra® 8000 universal encoder in an extensive network upgrade that marks the first live installation of the platform by a cable operator. The one rack-unit, multi-channel, multi-format Electra 8000 is enabling Blue Ridge to substantially expand its HD offering to its subscribers in central and eastern Pennsylvania. The system provides a highly cost-effective solution for Blue Ridge's rollout of additional HD content of exceptional video quality over its existing MPEG-2 cable infrastructure.

The Electra 8000's FLEX™ technology provides an integrated decoding front-end and offers unique flexibility by making it possible for Blue Ridge to seamlessly re-encode content from any source format or codec—HD or SD, MPEG-4 AVC or MPEG-2. In addition, integrated Jünger automatic audio level adjustment and support for 1080p50/60 and 3D are available on the Electra 8000, providing a simple migration path that can be easily implemented in the field via software upgrade. The density and power efficiency of the multi-channel platform—utilizing 40 percent less power per channel than equivalent industry averages—was also a key factor in Blue Ridge's selection of the Electra 8000.

"Harmonic's Electra 8000 brings cutting-edge video processing technology," said Gary Woods, Chief Technical Officer, Blue Ridge Communications. "The video quality, bandwidth efficiency, and density of this solution have exceeded expectations. The Electra 8000's simultaneous support of MPEG-4 and MPEG-2 codecs, in both HD and SD formats, also affords us greater flexibility in that we can easily adapt to any type of source or delivery format, which is important moving forward, for example, as content providers move to AVC distribution."

Harmonic Inc. (Nasdaq: HLIT)

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