【InterBEE2012】NTT Electronics Exhibited New Transcoders Compatible With MPEG-DASH (HVX500 series) As Well As Their Line of AVC/H.264 IP Encoder/Decoders (MV5000 series)

NTT Electronics displayed their media transcoder (HVX500 series), which now has MPEG-DASH functionality, as well as their high image quality and low delay HD video AVC/H.264 IP encoder/decoders with IP transmission enabled MV5000 series at the NTT booth (#6401 in the video and broadcasting related machinery area). The MV5000 series is a new product that was recently announced (on November 13).

■Multi-Screen Video Demo Using MPEG-DASH and HLS
The HVX500 series high functionality media transcoders with multiple platform compatibility are capable of streaming from a single video source to multiple different playback devices using the optimum settings and bitrates for each device in realtime.
The input interface is compatible with MPEG-2 TS Over Ip (RTP/UPD), HD-SDI/SD-SDI, and RTMP. Supported source formats are MPEG-2 TS, QuickTime, AVI, and Flash Video (FLV/f4v). Encoding formats for video are H.264, MPEG-4, and WMV, with AAC (LC, HEv1/2), MPEG-1 Layer II, and WMA audio encoding supported. Streaming can be set up in TS Over IP, RTP/UDP, RTP/RTSP, Apple HLS, Adobe Dynamic Streaming RTMP, or Microsoft Smooth Streaming format.
At NTT Electronics, with the HVX500 series they have introduced a product which builds on the widely used HTTP-based streaming method by adding new functionality in the form of MPEG-DASH. For their booth exhibition at this event, they employed a demo showing how the HVX500 series can distribute using multiple bitrates through both Apple HLS (HTTP Live Streaming) and MPEG-DASH. The demonstration was orchestrated by using HVX500 units set up at their Yokohama offices to access the NTT Communications Cloud (Cloud N), and stream video in multiple bitrates from there with Apple HLS (HTTP Live Streaming) and in ISO format (MPEG-4) using MPEG-DASH. An iPad was used on-site to display the HLS stream, and the MPEG-DASH video was displayed with an STB. Another demo used an HVX500 unit to access Cloud N from the event space, and displayed the video stream with Apple HLS on the iPad.

According to Hiroyuki Niwa, head of the 2nd SE Product Sales Department of the Multimedia Planning Division of the Video Head Offices, 'NTT Electronics is part of an international group called 'MPEG-DASH Promoters Group' which was created to help spread the MPEG-DASH technology. At this time, the group is deciding what type of video profile will be used with the service. Once the profile to be used is decided officially, we will all work together to support it.' Concerning the HVX500 series he commented, 'The HVX500 is already being used as a content provider within the NTT Group.'

■Realtime TS Video Viewing Support
Also at the NTT booth, there was a demonstration of the image quality evaluation software, 'QE1000,' based on the HVX500's ITU-T Rec. J. 247 Annex A. This was billed as a total image quality solution. At the event, there was a viewable demo of a realtime inspection of the input and output of an HVX500 unit. Shin Endo, the vice-director of the No. 1 Product Planning and Operations Department of the Digital Video Head Office, explained, 'Until now people were limited to viewing a video file after creating a file base, but now realtime viewing of raw TS files has been made possible.'

■The First Ever Exhibition of the MV5000 Series: Compact, High Quality, Low Delay, AVC/H.264 IP Encoder/Decoder
Another item on display at the NTT booth was the new AVC/H.264 IP encoder/decoder system, developed with the high picture quality in-house developed one-chip LSI board. this was the first ever exhibition of this new low cost, compact, light, low delay unit 'MVE5000/MVD5000' in Japan. This 'MV5000 series' is scheduled for sale starting in January 2013.
The video input interface works through HD/SD-SDI, HDMI, or analog composite (as an option). Audio inputs supported are SDI embedded audio, HDMI embedded audio, and analog (as an option). The streaming formats available are 100 Base-TX and 1000 Base-T. Also, in order for the unit to be usable as a security camera or weather monitor, there is a 'control number for use with an RS-232C through-in/out as a remote control interface' according to Mr. Endo. As for the low delay, he said, 'The user can choose between 300 msec and 800 msec settings, and starting next year we will also add support for 100 msec.' He also mentioned that with the MV5000 series, 'a feature to support display of characters on-screen is also installed.'
Finally, Mr. Endo explained that at this time, the MV5000 series is, 'available in an analog version and also an ASI version, supports many kinds of audio/video input and output, as well as IP streaming (through either unicast of multicast), and can even be used to output two different streams simultaneously.'