Harmonic launches Electra 9000 at IBC

Harmonic has launched the Electra 9000, which it claims to be the world’s first multicodec, multiformat video encoder for broadcast, satellite, telco, and cable operators that simultaneously supports broadcast, mobile, and web formats in a 1-RU chassis.

The Electra 9000 encoder delivers HD and SD video services using Harmonic’s MPEG-4 AVC and MPEG-2 compression algorithms, and combines the company’s broadcast capabilities with the ability to support emerging multiscreen applications. The Electra 9000 provides up to four audio/video processing modules per chassis. Each module supports flexible combinations of up to four SD/HD inputs, with up to eight broadcast output profiles and 32 multiscreen aligned output profiles.

The Electra 9000 supports baseband and IP workflows, as well as three-pass encoding with hierarchical LookAhead technology, pre-processing and an up/downconverter and de-interlacer. The Electra platform also includes integrated statistical multiplexing with Harmonic’s DiviTrackMX and support for DiviTrackIP in LAN or distributed WAN environments. The new platform supports main and secondary outputs for SD or HD, and a suite of audio processing options such as Jünger Level Magic automatic audio levelling adjustment.

Harmonic said it had focussed on incorporating web and mobile support into the Electra platform without compromising quality or reducing the Electra’s broadcast feature set.

“The business benefits are substantial,” said Neil Brydon, senior group manager, compression products at Harmonic. “With mobile and Web delivery, operators can reach a wider audience and increase the value proposition for subscribers by offering maximum video quality on a wide range of devices. The Electra 9000 also reduces expenses through its multifunction, high-density, power-efficient design, which supports multiple services on one platform.”