Low-Latency HD Encoder Allows VENUS and NEPTUNE Projects to Deliver Fast, High-Quality Seafloor Video to Scientists, Students, and Other Internet Audiences MONTREAL and CHICAGO
— Oct. 21, 2009 — HaiVision Network Video today announced
More… Using the VENUS and NEPTUNE Canada observatories, scientists will gather continuous information on ocean change, seismic activity, fish and marine mammal movements, and seafloor ecology. The projects are unique in that, for the first time, researchers will receive data from instruments, continuously and in real time. The VENUS project deployment will also inform subsequent HD video camera deployment on the NEPTUNE Canada network, comprising 800 km of powered fiber optic cable, connected to a number of seafloor “laboratories” or nodes, on the seabed over the Juan de Fuca tectonic plate. The interactive instruments linked to the NEPTUNE Canada network will empower scientists to respond immediately to events such as storms, plankton blooms, fish migrations, earthquakes, tsunamis, and underwater volcanic eruptions. “The exceptionally low latency of the MAKITO makes it an ideal fit for demanding real-time video delivery and interactive applications, and its deployment as part of the VENUS and NEPTUNE Canada projects is an exciting demonstration of its value in extending the technical boundaries of scientific exploration and the geographic boundaries of innovative teaching opportunities,” said Mirko Wicha, president and CEO at HaiVision Network Video. The MAKITO is based on the highly efficient H.264 compression standard, encoding video up to 1080p60 resolution in under 70 milliseconds and saving more than 50 percent of the bandwidth and disk space required by MPEG-2 IP video deployments. The HaiVision encoder is equally proficient at SD (composite and s-video) as it is at all HD resolutions and frame rates up to 1080p60, and it can comfortably address video-over-IP encoding anywhere on a resolution/bandwidth scale from CIF as low as 150 kbps to full HD at 15 Mbps. Complete information on HaiVision products, including recent case studies and application notes, is available within the download center at www.haivision.com. # # # About HaiVision Network Video Based in Montreal and Chicago, HaiVision Network Video is a private company and a world leader in delivering the most advanced video networking technology and IPTV solutions. HaiVision’s products are deployed worldwide within the foremost Fortune 100 companies, in the most rigorous military and defense applications, in healthcare facilities for video collaboration and training, for education and remote learning, in interactive broadcast applications, in IPTV applications, and within the world’s leading TelePresence suites. HaiVision distributes its products through value-added resellers, system integrators, distributors, and OEMs worldwide. ENDS All trademarks and registered trademarks mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners. For further information, please contact: HaiVision Contact: Peter Maag Senior Vice President of Marketing & Business Development HaiVision Network Video Tel: +1 (514) 334-5445 E-mail: pmaag@haivision.com Agency Contact: Netra Ghosh Wall Street Communications Tel: +1 (801) 266-0077 E-mail: netra@wallstcom.com
that its MAKITO™ HD video encoder will be used to enable delivery of live video from two
pioneering interactive seafloor observatories off the coast of British Columbia. First the VENUS
(Victoria Experimental Network Under the Sea) and then the NEPTUNE Canada (North-East
Pacific Time-Series Undersea Network Experiments) observatory will use the MAKITO to deliver
high-quality, low-latency video to laboratories, classrooms, science centers, and homes around
the world via the Internet.
The two undersea projects are led by the University of Victoria, with HD video-delivery
technology, dubbed “Undersea Window,” guided by John Roston and Jeremy Cooperstock of
the Ultra-Videoconferencing Research Group at McGill University. Deployment on VENUS is
underway now, and the expected result is that scientists will be able to control their own view of
the undersea environment from wherever they are. Installed at the University of Victoria, the
MAKITO encoder will receive HD video from a shore station, which is connected to a camera
100 meters below the ocean surface of the Saanich Inlet on Vancouver Island. As video is
encoded for broader distribution, the MAKITO’s exceptionally efficient video compression and
low latency will allow educators and the public to observe in real time the research work of
scientists operating the camera.
“Our goal is to give viewers the feeling of sitting on the ocean floor, and the MAKITO is a neat
little unit that provides the quality, compression, and speed we need to provide this immersive
experience, as well as the flexibility to output dual data rates simultaneously and offer video in
multiple resolutions,” said Roston. “Paired with a two-way link for conversations between
students and scientists, the low-cost, low-latency MAKITO encoder will allow scientists to talk<
