Broadcast International Inc. ("Broadcast"), a leading provider of satellite and Internet enterprise multimedia networks, today announced that it has entered into a non-exclusive, license agreement with
Sun Media Investment Holdings Limited ("SMIH"), the leading, privately held media company in China, for the distribution of its patented CodecSys technology. According to the terms of the agreement, SMIH is authorized to incorporate CodecSys in its electronic products and services for which it will pay royalties to Broadcast based on the number of electronic devices receiving video transmissions. The electronic devices include IPTV, cable and satellite set-top boxes, cellular telephones, personal computers, and other similar appliances.
Broadcast's CodecSys technology employs real-time artificial intelligence systems to manage libraries of standard and specialized data compression/decompression software, known as codec (enCOder/DECorder). Codec technology is commonly used to encode a digital data stream or signal for faster transmission of video-on-demand, live broadcasts, videoconferencing, streaming media and similar applications, and decode it for viewing. There are over 100 different types of codecs, each of which are specialized for particular audio and voice patterns and characteristics. Broadcast's CodecSys scans the library of existing codecs, on a scene-by-scene or frame-by-frame basis, to determine the most effective codec for each frame, which is done on the fly, taking approximately one tenth of a second. CodeSys will perform this process for the entire video or audio recording to provide the highest quality video and audio output at the lowest bandwidth.
China, with a population of 1.3 billion, boasts 370 million TV sets and 1.2 billion TV viewers -- the largest number in the world. Rod Tiede, Broadcast International's president and CEO, commented on the license agreement, "Our CodecSys technology aggregates the latest codec software and determines the most effective version to use for each frame. The results are optimum data compression for transmission or storage and the highest quality video and audio playback. CodecSys eliminates the need to rely on any one codec technology, ensures that users always have the latest versions available in the market and minimizes hardware obsolescence." Mr. Tiede added, "Sun Media Investments is a key partner to forward the roll-out of our technology to the vast and growing market in China. Their expertise in the application of advanced technologies and credibility in China's media world should prove indispensable in achieving a broad market penetration for CodecSys."