Imagine Communications and TANDBERG Television Announce Plans to Integrate on the OpenStream Switched Digital Video Platform

Business Wire, April 26, 2007

Imagine's VBR/StatMux for VOD and Switched Digital Video (SDV) Will Interoperate with the TANDBERG OpenStream[R] Switched Digital Video Platform

SAN DIEGO, Calif. -- Imagine Communications, developer of the industry's most powerful and scalable platform enabling system operators to cost-effectively increase VOD and SDV streaming capacity and video quality, today announced it is integrating with TANDBERG Television's OpenStream[R] Switched Digital Video Platform. Imagine's Variable Bit Rate and statistical multiplexing technology ("VBR/StatMux") allows operators to supercharge their VOD and SDV deployments with up to 50 percent more streams per 256 QAM channel.

With Imagine's technology, three (3) HD-VOD VBR streams can occupy a 256 QAM channel at the same quality as today's maximum of two (2) HD-VOD Constant Bit Rate (CBR) streams. Similarly, fifteen (15) SD-VOD VBR streams can share a 256 QAM channel at the same quality as today's maximum of ten (10) SD-VOD CBR streams. Similar results apply to SDV.

"We believe this agreement represents the beginning of a fruitful relationship between TANDBERG Television and Imagine," stated Marc Tayer, senior vice president of Marketing and Business Development, Imagine Communications. "TANDBERG Television has successfully led the industry in opening up the VOD infrastructure, and now they're pursuing the same course with SDV."

Imagine's Quality On Demand Product Suite (QOD Product Suite) integrates Imagine's software on a carrier-grade, off-the-shelf hardware platform, available from multiple suppliers. The suite employs industry-standard open interfaces and plugs seamlessly into existing infrastructure, allowing interoperability with multiple VOD Servers, Session Resource Management (SRM) systems, and Edge QAM devices.

TANDBERG Television's groundbreaking OpenStream Switched Digital Video (SDV) Platform utilizes many software components from its industry-leading OpenStream Digital Services Platform. In keeping with the company's open architecture philosophy, OpenStream SDV supports leading industry specifications for switched digital video and is designed to support multiple SDV clients and resource management models. In addition, it provides a clear migration path to the introduction of MPEG-4 AVC compression, a technology in which TANDBERG Television is the acknowledged market leader.

"Imagine has developed a sophisticated technology that, combined with our OpenStream system, moves the needle forward significantly in the cable market," said Braxton Jarratt, senior vice president of Marketing and Business Development, TANDBERG Television, Inc. "Interoperability of our respective solutions will be beneficial to cable operators by increasing VOD and SDV streaming capacity without sacrificing video quality."

Virtually all multi-channel digital broadcast signals take advantage of VBR/StatMux in order to deliver the best video quality at the most efficient bit rate. The addition of Imagine's QOD Gateway system brings these benefits to VOD and SDV, enabling end-to-end VBR and up to 50 percent more streams per 256 QAM channel, while maintaining excellent video quality. The QOD Gateway allows operators to maintain pre-encryption and session-based encryption for VOD, and centralized bulk encryption for SDV.

About Imagine Communications

Imagine Communications has launched the industry's most powerful and scalable digital video platform enabling system operators to cost-effectively increase bandwidth efficiency and video quality. Imagine's Quality on Demand Product Suite (QOD Product Suite) incorporates breakthrough next-generation variable bit rate and statistical multiplexing technology (VBR/StatMux), enabling up to 50 percent more streams per QAM versus today's Constant Bit Rate (CBR) approach. Imagine's state-of-the-art ICE-Q([TM]) video quality measurement algorithms enable better video quality at any given bit rate. Imagine is based in San Diego with R&D and engineering in Israel. Its strong management team includes industry leaders with decades of experience delivering innovations in video communications. Founded in 2005, Imagine Communications is privately held and funded by Carmel Ventures and Columbia Capital. For more information, visit www.imaginecommunications.com.

About TANDBERG Television

Whether it's advanced compression systems, on-demand or interactive television, TANDBERG Television (TAT.OL), part of the Ericsson group, delivers the technology and expertise that is moving digital video forward. The company's award-winning solutions are used by the world's leading network operators, broadcasters and content owners to deliver new viewer experiences and advertising opportunities. With a broad suite of open, standards-based products, TANDBERG Television offers the highest quality digital TV solutions including IPTV, HDTV, video-on-demand, advertising on-demand, and interactive TV applications to customers in the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East and Africa. For more information, please visit www.tandbergtv.com.