Sarnoff Releases New H.264/AVC Bitstreams for OpenCable

Business Wire, April 9, 2008

Cable-Optimized Compliance Testing System Builds on Emmy[R] Award-Winning Family of Compliance Bitstreams

PRINCETON, N.J. -- Sarnoff Corporation today announced the public launch of the new OpenCable H.264/AVC Suite, a cable version of its video decoder testing suite that provides real-time and automated compliance testing of next-generation H.264/AVC digital video decoders in digital/high definition television (DTV/HDTV) receivers and cable converters.

Used by CableLabs[R] to test decoders for Host 2.1 Compliance, the H.264/AVC Suite features accelerated validation and patent-pending visibility enhancements that make errors obvious even with filtering or post-processing. Tests are completed in minutes rather than the hours or days needed by traditional methods.

"The Sarnoff H.264/AVC Bitstreams empower system operators and manufacturers to get their products to market quickly and reliably," said Hans Baumgartner, product manager of Sarnoff's Video Compliance Products. "By allowing testers to visually or automatically spot errors, the Sarnoff Bitstreams simplify and speed testing of decoders, greatly reducing the complexity product certification."

The H.264/AVC Suite includes cable versions of Sarnoff's Syntax, Stress, and Error Resilience Bitstreams as well as specialized tests for OpenCable picture formats, format transitions, channel change and audio support. The H.264 Bitstreams join a complete line of Sarnoff compliance testing products and services for H.264, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, ATSC, Closed Captioning, PSIP Program Guides, Digital V-Chip, Lip Sync, and Picture Quality.

"The Sarnoff H.264/AVC Bitstreams reflect Sarnoff's expertise as the leader in developing industry-standard, Emmy[R] award-winning compliance testing tools," said Dr. Don Newsome, Sarnoff's President and Chief Executive Officer. "For over ten years, IC and software vendors, broadcasters, and major digital television manufacturers have all come to rely on Sarnoff's comprehensive bitstream technology for its remarkable ease of use and ability to greatly speed time-to-market."

Sarnoff Corporation will be demonstrating its products at the ATSC DTV Hotspot at the NAB Show in Las Vegas, April 14-17.

For more information, visit Sarnoff at http://www.sarnoff.com/Bitstreams

About Sarnoff Corporation

Sarnoff Corporation (www.sarnoff.com) delivers vision, video and semiconductor technology innovations that empower government and commercial clients to see/sense, understand and control complex environments. Founded in 1942 as RCA Laboratories, Sarnoff makes continuous breakthroughs in real-time video processing for defense, security and surveillance; ICs, lasers, imaging and sensing devices; high-performance networking and wireless communications. Sarnoff is a subsidiary of SRI International.