V-Nova to demo "UHD at HD" compression tech

The technology will be demonstrated for the first time at NAB next week.

Led by London based video processing technology firm V-Nova, the Perseus technology, which is currently offered in the form of appliances, embedded software and codec plug-ins, has been in development for five years.

It includes an end-to-end solution for live UHD as well as distribution products for UHD, HD, and SD video. Perseus,

V-Nova chief executive and founder Guido Meardi (pictured, right) said: “With Perseus we are able to shift the entire bitrate-quality curve toward the mass population, offering UHD quality at HD bitrates, HD at SD bitrates, and SD video at audio bitrates. 

“This allows our partners to differentiate their products, increase market penetration, and provide new services. 

“In particular, Perseus makes 4K commercially viable at scale, enables HD over 3G/4G mobile networks and makes video available to millions who do not yet have it. 

“Most importantly, Perseus achieves this within currently available bandwidth and infrastructure. This guarantees rapid, seamless deployment and an extremely high return on investment.”

The consortium includes Broadcom, European Broadcasting Union (EBU), Hitachi Data Systems (HDS), Intel, and Sky Italia. 

Meardi added: “The coming together of global broadcasters in Las Vegas is an opportunity to take a hard look at the industry’s future.

“The inspiration for V-Nova arose from the observation that legacy compression technologies, which were designed for the early chips of the 1970s and 1980s, were no longer fit for purpose.

“We are excited to debut our industry-advancing Perseus technology at NAB.”