Virgin Media has deployed Harmonic’s ProMedia family of integrated software solutions to power Virgin TV Anywhere.
Harmonic’s real-time multiscreen video processing and encoding technology enables Virgin TV Anywhere customers to watch up to 45 live TV channels on a wide range of devices, including TVs, PCs, smartphones, and tablets. Virgin customers can also manage recorded programmes and control TiVo set-top boxes through a Virgin TV Anywhere app.
Neil Drennan, director of TV engineering at Virgin Media said, “The world of digital entertainment is moving fast and consumers are always looking for compelling ways to take advantage of the connectivity built into today’s gadgets. Harmonic’s ProMedia software solution optimizes our multiscreen operational workflow, helping us put fantastic entertainment at our customers’ fingertips.”
ProMedia Live transcodes MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 AVC H.264 content to multiple high-quality adaptive bit-rate streams optimised for the Virgin TV Anywhere service. By handling metadata information, such as language, captions, and ad insertion signaling, upon input and output, the ProMedia family provides a complete video preparation solution.
“Harmonic has been Virgin Media’s go-to technology partner for a variety of high-profile television events and services over the years. With this latest installation, we’re excited to bring cutting-edge multiscreen services to subscribers in the U.K.,” said Ian Graham, VP, sales, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, Harmonic.
“Based on its integration, flexibility, and scalability, Harmonic’s award-winning ProMedia Suite is the industry’s trusted solution for high-quality multiscreen production and delivery.”