News: Sony unveils new Multi-Codec Encoder for professional Blu-ray Disc encoding

real-time encoding of MPEG-2 or H.264/AVC primary and secondary video streams suitable for the Blu-ray Disc format

(April 21, 2008) Sony is announcing a professional solution for Blu-ray Disc™ encoding, with the introduction of the BAE-VX1000 multi-codec video encoder. It is designed for real-time encoding of MPEG-2 or H.264/AVC primary and secondary video streams suitable for the Blu-ray Disc format.

“With Blu-ray technology now being recognized as the HD optical disc format for the consumer electronics industry, more studios are increasing production of BD titles,” said Chris Marchitelli, marketing manager in Sony Electronics’ content creation division. “This encoding solution provides a range of features to speed the BD-ROM workflow, offering high-quality and ease of operation for BD-ROM authoring professionals.”

The BAE-VX1000 encoder is designed to meet the needs of the growing encoder market as applications grow beyond BD-ROM to BD-Live for network enabled features, and BD-R/RE for small quantity production. The new solution is affordable and can decrease total encoding time by up to 30 percent over the existing BAE-VA700 solution. This is accomplished through enhancements such as parallel capturing and pre-processing, the elimination of LDEC checking, and increased encoding algorithm efficiency.

It can support a simple and affordable single PC configuration that can accomplish AVC encoding in real-time, ideal for smaller production houses. It can also be easily expanded to a networked distributed processing configuration, in order to achieve the higher performance required by some production facilities.

A multi-codec design enables compatibility with most common Blu-Ray authoring applications, such as Sony Creative Software’s Blu-Print and Sonic Solutions’ Scenarist. The option of using of AVC or MPEG-2 technology will give production professionals more flexibility, depending on their timeframe, client preference or other individual workflow requirements. MPEG-2 encoding for traditional DVD authoring is also available.

The BAE-VX1000 offers multiple settings that are engineered to suit individual production needs. An “Express” mode supports AVC real-time encoding with one PC, when encoding speed is the top priority. When using additional networked processors, “Fast” and “Quality” modes are also available to meet higher performance and quality priorities. The BAE-VX1000 also offers a built in real-time AVC elementary stream decoder that greatly improves the efficiency of quality checking procedures.

New features also include: template parameters, batch processing, support for one PC standalone encoder and compatibility with Windows® Server 2003, XP, and Vista (64-bit operating system required in each case).

“It is designed to maintain a high picture quality BD workflow,” Marchitelli said. “Through distributed processing, it can control a large number of PCs for real-time performance, making it possible to build a scalable system and shorten your overall encoding time with no compromise in picture quality.”

The BAE-VX1000 encoder is expected to be available this summer.

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