Thomson Video Networks, Dolby and STMicroelectronics in joint demo

Thomson Video Networks has teamed up with Dolby Laboratories and STMicroelectronics to demonstrate the delivery of HEVC compressed content with the Dolby AC-4 audio codec.

According to Thomson, the partners demonstrated he first implementation of a complete encoding-decoding chain for HD and Ultra HD broadcast based on the new Dolby AC-4 audio codec at the Dolby ATSC 3.0 showcase event in Atlanta.

Thomson contributed its ViBE VS7000 multi-screen encoding/transcoding platform, featuring HEVC UHD video delivery integrating with the Dolby AC-4 encoder. The content was played back on a set-top box based on the ST Ultra HD STiH418 chipset.

“The emerging Dolby AC-4 codec is rapidly becoming a new standard for next-generation audio encoding; in fact, it’s known as the audio counterpart to the emerging HEVC video codec. Working together, AC-4 and HEVC provide a coherent and efficient solution to the challenge of transporting Ultra HD content on television networks,” said Eric Gallier, vice president of marketing, Thomson Video Networks.

“As one of the first-ever worldwide implementations of HEVC, our ViBE VS7000 is the ideal platform with which to demonstrate the groundbreaking capabilities of Dolby AC-4 and ST’s SoC for next-generation Ultra HD video offerings on any type of device and over any type of network.”