Press Releases: Latest News

New ASTEROID Open Standards Ingest System for Archives Delivers Quality, Functionality, and Ease of Use to Content Owners Looking to Monetize Media Assets

Based on Multiple-Award-Winning Snell & Wilcox Technologies, New Systems Facilitate Creation of MXF-Based Content Libraries

LAS VEGAS (NAB) -- April 17, 2005 --

ASTEROID, a new MXF archives ingest workstation that allows content owners to maximize the value and profitability of their video assets on an open-standards platform, was announced today by Snell & Wilcox.

The ASTEROID platform combines high-quality MPEG-2 video digitization, MXF DMS-1 content annotation for cataloguing purposes, and verification and validation of content integrity into a single solution, bringing Snell & Wilcox quality to this first, critical stage toward migrating video archives to a file-based, digital repository of program assets.

By storing the metadata information safely inside the industry-standard MXF wrapper, ASTEROID gives users the benefit of a truly interoperable and manufacturer-independent approach to cataloguing program libraries. For legacy systems, ASTEROID also automatically exports an XML version of the metadata, allowing it to be aggregated easily into existing centralized asset management systems.

The SD/HD ASTEROID and previously announced SD-only COMET open-standards ingest workstations are the first products on the market combining all of these capabilities, allowing content owners to turn archives into high-quality, open-standards MXF files that can be stored and transported over an IT-based infrastructure that leverages less-expensive general-purpose storage devices versus current proprietary video servers. Ingested content can then be repurposed for distribution to broadcast playout, video on demand, Internet streaming, and numerous other content-delivery platforms. The MXF video, audio, and metadata formats have been standardized by SMPTE and are fully interoperable across manufacturers supporting MXF.

"With ASTEROID and COMET, Snell & Wilcox gives content owners the profit-making opportunity to rapidly and efficiently ingest both legacy and newly produced video content for multiple distribution channels in the way that best suits their evolving business requirements," said Joe Zaller, vice president of marketing and product management at Snell & Wilcox. "The era of proprietary server, storage, and content management systems is coming to a close with the emergence of MXF as an industry-wide recognized standard file format. More and more, content owners are coming to recognize that open-standards solutions are an essential part of turning video assets into revenue streams."

ASTEROID
Based on the Snell & Wilcox MEMPHIS MPEG-2 encoder and incorporating two Emmy® Award-winning technologies from Snell & Wilcox, Ph.C phase correlation motion estimation and Prefix compression pre-processing, ASTEROID can handle both SD and HD 1080/720 formats, uncompressed PCM, MP1L2, Dolby E, and AC-3 audio, and encode at any MPEG-2 profile, including 4:2:0 and 4:2:2, CBR/VBR, and I-Frame/Long GOP up to 175 Mbps.

Tight integration of pre-processing and encoding technologies in ASTEROID enables advanced metadata handling and insertion, including flagging of cuts and 3:2 cadences in order to deliver a high level of encoder efficiency that cannot be achieved when external pre-processors and encoders are combined.

Quality Control
Both ASTEROID and COMET offer built-in quality control of audio and the MPEG stream. In a single pass, integrated QC tools allow users to asses at a glance the quality of the compressed program as well as areas where audio is too loud, quiet, or silent.

Ease of Use
ASTEROID and COMET have been designed from the start with ease of use in mind. Using programmable templates, work supervisors can define compression, QC, and annotation templates ahead of time to minimize operator typing and decisions. With built-in VTR control and EDL batch-digitizing tools, operators will find the system a breeze to use and will get up to speed in minutes.

ASTEROID and COMET open a new world of emerging media opportunities to broadcasters, producers, rights owners, and content service providers, allowing any such organization to fully exploit the value of its video content assets in the burgeoning world of digital broadcasting, on-demand content delivery, and mobile distribution channels.

ASTEROID and COMET at a Glance
ASTEROID: High-Performance Ingest for MultiResolution Archives
- MEMPHIS-based MXF ingest workstation for SD/HD I-Frame and Long-GOP encoding based on Ph.C motion estimation and Prefix compression pre-processor for optimum quality

COMET: Cost-Efficient Ingest for SD Legacy Archives
- MediaX PCI-based, entry-level MXF ingest workstation for SD-only I-Frame encoding

Orders for the Snell & Wilcox ASTEROID and COMET systems are being accepted now, with the first units scheduled to ship during summer 2005.