OSLO -- T-VIPS AS, a Norwegian technology company that designs, builds and supplies world-leading solutions for contribution and distribution of broadcast quality video signals over IP networks, today announced that it is equipping Scandinavian broadcast solutions provider Media Netwerk with JPEG2000 contribution solutions for ice hockey coverage in Sweden. The main advantage for Media Netwerk and its broadcaster clients is that the T-VIPS JPEG2000 solutions enable HD and SD content to be cost-effectively transported at high quality over Gigabit Ethernet links.

Media Netwerk has been awarded a contract to provide video contribution services of Swedish ice hockey. Media Netwerk won the project by offering a solution based upon JPEG2000 compression and the MXF metadata format, enabled by T-VIPS’ TVG415 SDI and TVG430 HD video gateways. JPEG2000 offers many advantages over traditional MPEG-2 based contribution to the broadcast market, including the elimination of blocking defects by encoding each frame individually. This ensures that errors are not spread through a group of pictures, as can be the case in MPEG encoding schemes. Additionally, JPEG2000 operates at full 10-bit video resolution.

“Our aim is to provide our clients with the best possible picture quality in the most cost-effective way. The combination of the T-VIPS JPEG2000 solution with MXF support and the T-VIPS Connect management system enables us to offer our clients the best available solution for transmission, post production, storage and support. All these elements were decisive factors when we chose T-VIPS technology and all were equally instrumental in us winning the contract from the broadcaster,” said Terje Roijen-Hammer, CEO, Media Netwerk.

“Following the successful testing of the T-VIPS TVG415 and TVG430 solutions, it’s clear to us that the most important benefit provided by T-VIPS’ JPEG2000 technology is that it enables us to provide high-quality distribution of SD and HD video over cost-effective Gigabit Ethernet links. This project again draws upon the combined experience and expertise of T-VIPS and Media Netwerk to provide our clients with the best possible video transport services,” concluded Hammer.

A long established advocate of advanced IP networks, Media Netwerk was one of the first solutions providers to identify and deliver the highly attractive benefits achievable by migrating from traditional transmission methods to IP. By taking advantage of the inherent flexibility of IP, Media Netwerk provides its broadcast clients with an efficient, affordable and scalable solution for professional quality standard definition (SD) and high definition (HD) video contribution. Media Netwerk will install the T-VIPS TVG415 and TVG430 JPEG2000 gateways and the Connect management system at 12 ice hockey arenas in Sweden in time for the start of the 2007/08 season. This equipment will be used to distribute coverage of the matches in real-time to TV networks and also to large screens inside the ice hockey arenas.

The TVG415 and TVG430 are part of the T-VIPS Video Gateway suite; a line of compact, powerful and cost-effective products designed for real-time contribution and distribution of broadcast quality video over IP networks. The TVG415 provides JPEG2000 compression of SDI signals, allowing cost-effective transmission of high quality TV signals over Ethernet links, whilst the TVG430 provides JPEG2000 compression of HD-SDI signals for transmission over Gigabit Ethernet links. Furthermore, these solutions perform better at high bit-rates than i-frame only MPEG-2/4 and alternative frame-by-frame compression schemes. T-VIPS Connect allows broadcasters and network operators to simplify their day to day operation of video gateways, providing an intuitive solution for the management of connections in contribution and distribution IP networks.

“We are once again delighted to help Media Netwerk provide its clients with advanced video distribution services,” said Johnny Dolvik, CEO, T-VIPS. “The fact that such important content is entrusted to our TVG415 and TVG430 solutions is further evidence that JPEG2000 is now a commercial reality and that our implementation of the codec provides the picture quality and QoS levels that broadcasters demand for SD and HD video transport.”

T-VIPS AS