Appear TV Demonstrates Key Modular Headend Technologies at 04 NAB Show

Appear TV, a leading global provider of next-generation headends for broadcast and IP television, will showcase its modular platform, supporting top transmission functions, at the 2014 NAB Show . On display will be modules providing multiple processes for all stages of the transmission chain, from content aggregation and video processing to multiplexing and multiple carrier delivery.

The unique modular nature of Appear TV's XC platform is designed to help broadcast, cable, satellite and telecom providers address the challenges of delivering content in today's multiformat, multiscreen environments. Users can select from the different Appear TV modules to create a solution custom-tailored to their needs. With its ability to support multiple processes from its XC 5000 Series 4RU or 1RU modular frames, Appear TV's solution greatly reduces space by increasing functional density providing significant operating cost savings. In addition, all Appear TV modules can work with other third-party devices, making integration with existing transmission equipment seamless.

With the convergence of aggregation and distribution formats, broadcasters and IPTV operators are aiming to create a single platform that can be used to acquire content and distribute all video formats and profiles on multiple carriers, says Carl Walter Holst, CEO, Appear TV. The modular nature of our platform allows users to have multiple dense distribution format processes originating from one chassis, allowing them to stay competitive while making it easy to add and upgrade as new formats and transmission technologies arise. Our latest offerings, the High-Channel Density, MultiFormat SD/HD & Multiscreen Universal Transcoder Module and the Multiscreen/OTT Encoder Module, expand the amount of channels that can be simultaneously processed in a single platform for a multiple network topology centrally or at the edge.

Content Aggregation

Appear TV has a wide range of input modules, making it the most effective content aggregation solution on the market. An input module analyzes incoming transport streams and extracts selected services from the desired physical multiple input interface. Services may then be descrambled, decoded or routed to desired multiple output or processing modules through the integrated frame backplane. The Appear TV XC5000 frame can receive signals from a variety of sources, including satellite (DVB-S/S2), terrestrial (DVB-T/T2), cable (QAM), IP networks or local ASI feeds. These can then be descrambled by CAM or software-based modules or decoded to baseband, offering a highly dense downlink and content aggregation platform.

Video Processing with N+1 Redundancy

Appear TV's encoding/transcoding modules are designed to provide state-of-the-art support of all headend encoding and transcoding duties, while offering control over all inputs and outputs. This means that any format input can address any format output for any device, making operation simple and straightforward.

The Encoder module can handle up to 32 HD or 64 SD channels per 4RU chassis, offering HD-SDI/SDI, with MPEG-2/MPEG-4 AVC encoding. Audio encoding includes MPEG-1 Layer 2 stereo, LC-AAC stereo, HE-AAC v1/2 stereo and Dolby Digital pass through formats. New for encoding capabilities at NAB 2014 is the Dense Multiscreen/OTT Encoder Module. Designed for Multiscreen and OTT applications, where SDI or HD/SDI baseband inputs are required, such as primary distribution, the module reduces the need to re-transcode in the broadcast chain for all screen delivery. Users will have the capability to create 64 HD or 192 SD or more than 400 sub-SD profiles from an XC5000 4RU frame.

Appear TV's transcoder matches the 32 HD- or 64 SD-channel capability of the encoder, offering full decode, re-encode, HD-to-SD and SD-to-HD rescaling conversion. Audio transcoding includes HE-AAC v1/2 and LC-AAC v1/2 to MPEG-1 Layer 2 and MPEG-1 Layer 2 to LC-AAC translation. Also new for transcoding at NAB 2014 is Appear TV's High-Channel Density, MultiFormat SD/HD & Multiscreen Universal Transcoder Module, which performs any-to-any format transcodes, supporting four HD or up to 16 SD or more than 28 profiles per module, as well as associated audio channels. The modular nature of the Appear TV solution allows multiple transcoder modules to be operated from one 4RU XC5000 chassis, with the capacity to support 64 HD or up to 256 SD or more than 448 sub-SD profiles per frame.

Along with these capabilities is Appear TV's self-managing N+1 redundancy solution, a pair of ultra-reliable, hardware-based and fully integrated 1+1-redundant control cards that comprehensively manage redundancy switching, without the need for third-party network managing software.

Multiplexing and Modulation

Appear TV's multiplexer modules are powerful digital multiplexing solutions that simplify engineers' deployment and operational routines. The modules have a throughput of 850 Mbps and each output card supports 250 services for CBR, Capped VBR or Statistical Multiplexed services (VBR). They offer high-performance IP, ASI, QAM, DVBS/S2 and COFDM output modules for direct insertion of digital services into a satellite, cable, terrestrial or IP-based network.

DELIVERY

Appear TV offers a large number of different output modules that feature MPEG multiplexing and PSI/SI/PSIP regeneration, adaption and DVB/AES scrambling options available as integrated features with exceptional IP-based seamless network switching and I/O redundancy features for robust and reliable delivery QoS capability of a single or multiple multiplexes from a single platform centrally or regional/edge based in the network. The web open standard-based user interface can be used for local or remote configuration and monitoring of all aspects of the fully integrated solution.

About Appear TV

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