b<>com and Thomson Video Networks Team Up to Deliver 4K *Ultra Player*
RENNES, France — Sept. 8, 2015 — At IBC2015, b<>com and Thomson Video Networks will highlight their ongoing collaboration with the announcement of b<>com’s *Ultra Player*, a solution for playing the latest generation of uncompressed audio/video content. The b<>com 4K *Ultra Player* is being sold by Thomson Video Networks as a complement to its ViBE® 4K HEVC encoder.
“We work each day to develop innovative solutions that accelerate time to market for content providers looking to offer a higher-quality experience to the end user. The business partnership with Thomson Video Networks is a win-win situation and a perfect example of our willingness to transfer technology to our partners,” said Bertrand Guilbaud, CEO of b<>com. “This new deal will allow both partners to address one of the key issues in the market for new media formats — improving the sensation of being immersed in content.”
Eric Gallier, vice president of marketing at Thomson Video Networks, said, “The experts at b<>com conceive and design technologies that allow content to be published, stored, and shared widely in a constantly changing market. Several of our engineers were involved in the original design of *Ultra Player* within b<>com, so it was only natural that we partner with them for its distribution. This agreement confirms our position at the cutting edge of technologies that are driving the broadcast industry forward, including 4K Phase 2.”
*Ultra Player* is a solution that combines ultra high definition (UHD) images with spatial audio that makes it possible to play immersive content and all videos with very high resolution. Initially developed for b<>com researchers, the tool also completely meets the needs of professionals who want to edit audio/video content prior to compression. *Ultra Player*‘s Web user interface incorporates any workflow intuitively and seamlessly, and it works in applications as diverse as broadcasting systems, testing laboratories, exhibits, museums and theme parks, universities, and surgical operating theaters.
Thomson Video Networks will offer *Ultra Player* as a bundled solution with the company’s ViBE 4K HEVC encoder for UHD broadcasting.
“We are already working on upgrades to our *Ultra Player*; for instance, it will soon be able to play new formats such as UHD HDR at 120 frames per second along with 64 audio tracks. This will make it an essential tool for experimenting with UHD Phase 2, combining immersive video and spatialized audio,” Guilbaud added. “Our agreement with Thomson Video Networks is the concrete result of a partnership between the Institute of Research and Technology and an internationally recognized broadcast technology provider, paving the way for b<>com to develop future collaborations with other partners.”
The b<>com experts are at the IBC2015 conference in Amsterdam, inviting you to come and discover *Ultra Player*:
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About b<>com
With its innovations, the Institute of Research and Technology (IRT) b<>com is taking part in the European digital transformation. Its 230 researchers develop tools, products, and services that make everyday life easier. They focus on two fields of research: Hypermedia (ultra-high definition images, 3D sound, smart content, virtual and augmented reality) and more agile ultra-high speed networks (cloud, cybersecurity, ultra-high speed mobile, network resilience, Internet of Things). Of the many fields of application for these technologies, e-health has allowed b<>com to participate in the digital revolution going on in medicine. Founded through a public/private partnership, the IRT gathers the best experts from industry and academia at its campus in Rennes, and at its sites in Lannion and Brest. Since its creation in 2012, the IRT has grown 30% a year. Visit www.b-com.com.
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About Thomson Video Networks
A global leader in advanced video compression solutions, Thomson Video Networks empowers media companies, video service providers, and broadcasters to deliver superior video quality at the highest density and lowest bandwidth for contribution, terrestrial, satellite, cable, IPTV, and OTT services. Through its innovative Behind Every Screen® approach, Thomson Video Networks combines both on-premises and cloud-based resources to create an all-encompassing video infrastructure for its advanced ingest/playout, branding, ad insertion, encoding/transcoding, and packaging technologies. Media enterprises now have every key capability they need to raise video quality and reduce cost of ownership not just for broadcast, but also for multi-screen services on every device and platform. Behind Every Screen you’ll find Thomson Video Networks. Visit www.thomson-networks.com.
