| By: Jason Dachman, Assistant Editor | Published: April 13, 2010 |
Since entering the contribution market, Adtec has focused primarily on attacking small niches with cost-effective offerings, but, with the newly unveiled Total Contribution, the company has its first end-to-end solution for the broadcast market. The new unit, on display in Adtec’s booth at NAB, features two encoders and an integrated receiver/decoder (IRD).
“When we came into the contribution market a few years ago, we were the new kid, and we knew we had to very surgically focus on one niche, which was an economical MPEG-2–only solution,” Adtec President Kevin Ancelin said at the company’s NAB press conference. “Then, once we were rolling with our encoders, we expanded [our place in the market]. Eventually, people began to ask us for an end-to-end solution, so, about a year ago, we decided that it was really time to do an IRD. Now it’s all resulted in [Total Contribution].
Total Contribution represents the follow-up to Adtec’s MediaHUB-HD422 and comprises an EN-80 HD/SD and an EN-40 SD DSNG MPEG-2/MPEG-4 encoder, along with the RD-60 HD/SD MPEG-2/MPEG-4 integrated IRD. The unit gives users a broad range of capabilities in a single all-encompassing 1RU package.
“Our [target market] for Total Contribution is very high-end sporting events like the NBA Playoffs, Major League Baseball, the Super Bowl, World Cup soccer, etc.,” says Ancelin. “ I think it’s perfectly suited for DSNG or SCPC single-service sporting events.”
The EN-80 DSNG/contribution encoder/modulator supports HD and SD MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 with 420 and 422 encoding. The EN-80 encodes both MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 video with 4:2:0 and 4:2:2 chroma sampling. It is equipped with four pairs of stereo audio, including MPEG-1 Layer 2 and Dolby AC3 audio encoding.
The EN-40 DSNG encoder/modulator supports only SD MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 with 420 and 422 encoding. It encodes both MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 video with 4:2:0 and 4:2:2 chroma sampling. It boasts four pairs of stereo audio, including MPEG-1 Layer 2 and Dolby AC3 audio encoding.
“The EN-40 is essentially the same device [as the EN-80], except it’s designed for NTSC contribution circuits and does not have HD capability,” says Ancelin. “Obviously, that comes at a significantly lower price point than the HD device. It’s suited for emerging markets or applications where HD is not essential. It’s geared toward news or sporting events in markets where HD is not essential. “
The RD-60 IRD supports MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 platforms with 420 and 422 high- and standard-definition decoding. The RD-60 decodes both MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 video with 4:2:0 and 4:2:2 chroma sampling. It boasts four pairs of stereo audio, including MPEG-1 Layer 2, Dolby AC3/5.1, HE-AAC, AAC-LC audio decoding.
“We’ve seen a very strong first quarter — the largest marks in company’s history,” says Ancelin. “People just aren’t willing to pay the prices from three years ago. Our focus is to go in and disrupt the market with lower pricing but leave none of the performance off the table. Total Contribution will continue to be a very big part of that.”
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