Grass Valley Group And Microsoft To Bring Interactive TV Technology To The Profile XP Media PlatformTo accomplish this, the Grass Valley Group will leverage the technical strength and installed base of the Emmy® award-winning Profile product line—widely considered the cornerstone of the broadcast industry's transition to digital—providing a logical, non-invasive integration of interactive television for today's broadcast production and distribution processes. Further, by leveraging Profile XP's advanced software architecture to integrate the Advanced Television Enhancement Forum (ATVEF) Specification for Interactive Television, content creators and their advertisers and viewers will be able to take advantage of a rich array of television-based transactions, information, and entertainment choices as the demand for interactive television services grows. Microsoft and the Grass Valley Group are targeting one of the most critical links in the content creation chain: the point at which video, audio, and data-enhancing materials are assembled, packaged, and delivered. This will enable content providers to edit ATVEF interactive television data on the platform (both actual data and the timing algorithms key to ensuring that the video and data material are properly matched)—and ultimately will enable the insertion and playout of interactive television data in real time from it. "We believe in continually expanding and enriching the possibilities for interactive television, video and broadcast," said Phil Goldman, vice president, TV Platforms Group at Microsoft Corp. "This relationship with Grass Valley Group along with our other tools providers means that Microsoft TV customers now have the highest quality solutions available across the entire production chain for creating and distributing interactive commercials, programs or any other content. " "Our customers are telling us that interactive television is not a matter of if, but how soon—and they're saying very, very soon," said Tim Thorsteinson, president and chief operating officer of the Grass Valley Group. "As broadcasting gives way to what we call 'digicasting,' teaming with Microsoft will help provide our customers the competitive technologies they require to deliver a high-value experience to their viewers, no matter the digital pipeline." MAKING TELEVISION MORE USEFUL, FUN, ENGAGINGMicrosoft's innovative technologies are working to make television better by enabling broadcasters and consumers to take advantage of the television for a whole new set of services. The Microsoft TV platform is a comprehensive software solution for the television industry that makes television more useful, fun and engaging for consumers and creates significant new economic opportunities for network operators and their suppliers of programming, hardware and software. The client software, Microsoft TV, operates a range of TV-centric appliances, from advanced set-top boxes to integrated televisions. Microsoft TV Server is a suite of software components that offers network operators the tools to provision, manage, and operate a large-scale, commercial-grade enhanced TV service. A catalyst for sending interactive TV content and services is the widespread support for the content format specified by the ATVEF. ATVEF is an alliance of companies that has defined protocols for Hypertext Markup Language (HTML)-based enhanced television, which allow content creators to deliver enhanced programming over all forms of transport (analog, digital, cable, and satellite) to any intelligent receivers. Microsoft and WebTV Networks, Inc. are one of the 14 founding members of ATVEF. The technologies used by the Grass Valley Group and Microsoft will be compliant with the standards specified by ATVEF. A MEDIA PLATFORM FOR A NEW MEDIA AGEWhile traditional video servers typically offer only playback and storage capabilities, the Profile XP Media Platform, with its Microsoft Windows NT architecture and standard networking and storage technologies is extensible to new applications inside and outside a broadcast facility. The platform already hosts more digital content than any other broadcast solution in the market today, and enjoys the support of more than 50 software developers. It is also the industry's most open platform, flexible enough to support MPEG, DVCPRO, HD, AC3 and Dolby E formats, MPEG Transport Streams (MTS), and Internet streaming formats such as Microsoft Windows Media.. The Profile XP Media Platform is also easily upgradeable—it takes just a change of codec and I/O boards to move from standard- to high-definition signal processing. The Profile XP Media Platform software portfolio includes the InSync™ and NetCentral™ applications. The InSync application maintains two servers as a mirrored pair; if a primary unit fails or needs to be taken offline, the software enables the back-up to take over so record and replay operations can continue seamlessly, and for quick automatic resynchronization over a high-speed Fibre Channel or Ethernet network connection once the unit is back online. The NetCentral application uses the industry-standard Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) to centrally monitor the status of networked Profile XP Media Platform devices from any location worldwide—a capability the Grass Valley Group will extend to its next-generation solutions, including switchers, routers, and modular products. ABOUT GRASS VALLEY GROUPThe Grass Valley Group knows more about high-quality video than anybody else—especially as video goes digital. Interactive television. Digital cinema. Data-enhanced broadcasting. Internet. It's a world of Digicasting™ — of Media Without Bounds™. Whether online or on the air, the Emmy® award winning Grass Valley Group, a privately held digital media leader, has the hardware, software, and new media technologies necessary to get content wherever it needs to go. For the latest Grass Valley Group product information, see www.grassvalleygroup.com. # |
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