Products, Video, Encoding, Global: Claiming to offer higher-quality video encoding at lower prices, Media Excel have introduced a video encoding/transcoding hardware platform based on the Texas Instruments Da Vinci processor.

Media Excel believes its Hera 4000 series of hardware encoders/ transcoders offers "real-time simultaneous video delivery to any mobile device, PC, or TV over any network, performing file transcoding conversions at up to 15 times real-time speed." The introduction of the new, DaVinci-based transcoders will also "provide higher quality video at much higher speed and much lower cost than previous industry solutions.

Key to Media Excel's solution is using the DaVinci processor in a 1U rack product intended for broadcasters and cable operators, as well as mobile operators, telcos, web video aggregators, content delivery networks and media content production firms. The Hera family is  designed to be upgradeable to accommodate new feature and codec releases, thus allowing Media Excel customers to enhance existing solutions with a software upgrade without the need to purchase additional hardware. In what is claimed to be an industry first, Media Excel customers can redeploy the Hera appliance as required: encoding or transcoding for VoD/File, Live IPTV, Live MobileTV,

Offline and Live WebTV

The DaVinci based Media Excel HERA 4000 encoder/transcoder product line is said to provide within a single 1U appliance:

• an appliance to deliver live or file transcoding from Mobile TV to HD applications;
• multi-device broadcast delivery, converting any content for any device, whether  IPTV, MobileTV, or WebTV;
• real-time multi-pass encoding, advanced video pre-processing for "unmatched quality output";
• up to 70% lower TCO than x86/software based solutions(time, space & energy);
• 16 MPEG2 channels simultaneous H.264/MPEG4/H.263 real time transcoding for Mobile TV;
• 8 MPEG2 SD channels to 8 H.264 SD IPTV transcoding;
• 8 SDI SD channels encoding;
• up to 15x faster than real time file transcoding.

* Media Excel is a next-generation transcoding company for mobileTV, webTV, IPTV and digital media. It received a Frost & Sullivan 2008 Award for Product Innovation. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Media Excel is a privately held company founded in 2000. 

• More info: www.mediaexcel.com