i3 to show multiple live demonstrations of multi-vendor IP TV designs and MPEG-4 AVC Ready ecosystem at IBC2005

At the annual IBC2005 Conference and Expo in Amsterdam, September 9-13, i3 micro technology and partners will demonstrate multiple tried-and-approved MPEG-4 AVC based IP TV solutions as part of the MPEG-4 AVC Ready ecosystem. The objective of this new ecosystem initiative is to provide service providers with leading IP TV technology and system components that can help them rapidly deploy MPEG-4 AVC based IP TV services to broadband subscribers

Featuring equipment from over 10 leading IP TV system vendors, these multi-vendor system designs contain the components needed for complete and interoperable IP TV solutions. They include equipment ranging from set-top boxes to encoders, Video on Demand servers as well as middleware. The aim of this initiative is to speed up the implementation of high-quality content to homes through the use of the latest and by far strongest version of the MPEG-4 compression algorithm, called AVC (Advanced Video Coding).

"MPEG-4 AVC is the technology that the IP TV providers have been waiting for. MPEG-4 AVC is important for the next generation of TV, as it enables the IP TV service providers benefit from reduced video bandwidth", says Michelle Abraham, analyst at In-Stat. "We expect the market penetration of MPEG-4 AVC to take off in 2006."

Demonstration of multiple MPEG-4 AVC Ready ecosystem designs can be seen at the i3 micro technology booth in hall 4 stand 350. Live demos of four different IP TV ecosystem solution designs will be showcased. These interoperable system architecture designs highlight the strength of the MPEG-4 AVC Ready ecosystem by helping service providers more easily rollout end-to-end services based on the new video compression standard.

Participating companies in the i3 stand:
- Headend/encoder vendors are Optibase, SkyStream, TandbergTV, Tut Systems
- Video on Demand vendors are BitBand, C-cor, Kasenna
- Middleware vendors are Espial, Minerva, Myrio, Orca Interactive

“MPEG-4 AVC is quickly increasing in demand and i3 is one of the first to offer commercial availability of tried-and-approved solutions based on this new compression standard. The MPEG-4 AVC Ready program is important for service providers and shows commercially deployable and interoperable solutions”, says Leif Björklund, VP Business Development at i3 micro technology.