Cisco's Videoscape Unity Connects Media Companies and Service Providers to New Video Experiences at NAB 2013

LAS VEGAS, NV--(Marketwired - Apr 8, 2013) - NAB 2013 -- At NAB this week, Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) is showcasing Cisco Videoscape™ Unity solutions that combine the power of the network, cloud and client. These solutions help Cisco's media, broadcast and service provider customers increase connections with their audiences and address challenges associated with delivering video content to multiple screens. Visitors can expect to see a range of demonstrations from primary content distribution and video processing to video content delivery and the client/software-driven video experience. Visit Cisco's booth A113 at the Las Vegas Convention Center, North Hall.

Highlights
Cisco & Fox Proof of Concept Demo: Ethernet-based live video production
Cisco and Fox Broadcasting are collaborating on a proof-of-concept demonstration that explores the impact of using Ethernet as the sole medium for carrying live, uncompressed video in a broadcast studio. A leader in technology innovation, Fox is investigating taking Ethernet into the production facility and is collaborating with Cisco for its industry leadership in providing innovative video back-office and data center implementations. Using Ethernet as the backbone offers key advantages:

• Ethernet in a production environment offers significant flexibility and cost efficiencies.
• Ethernet's multiplexing ability greatly reduces the number of physical connections that need to be made.
• Ethernet would allow unprecedented flexibility for video processing, enabling new servers to be quickly and easily programmed to address production needs.

Videoscape Unity solution demonstrations are available in the following three areas of customer priorities:

• Broadcast and Cloud Connected Environments:
  • Adaptive bit rate (ABR) everywhere: embedded ABR from origination to cloud connections
  • Videoscape Unity for mission-critical broadcasting and utilizing the cloud
  • Ultra high-definition (HD) and High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), demonstrating the new standard for video quality
• Multiplatform, Multiscreen Video Distribution Services
  • Linear transcoding & ABR support in fully automated or cloud deployments
  • Videoscape Unity Cloud: linking applications, network elasticity and the orchestration of content delivery
  • Video processing optimization across local, private and public cloud
• Creating and Monetizing Immersive User Experiences
  • Experience engineering: from the "Future of Video" to the Videoscape Unity user experience
  • Dynamic advertising insertion for broadcast and multiscreen video
  • Analytics dashboard for real-time audience insight in mobile environments

Cisco Speakers at NAB

• Advanced Technologies for Television: Part I: The Future of TV: Project Fresco, Broadcast Engineering Conference, Sunday, April 7, 11:30 a.m. - noon, location: S225/226; Simon Parnall, director, new initiatives, Cisco Service Provider Video Technology Group
• Advanced Technologies for Television: Part II: HEVC: Driving Disruption in Multi-Screen Service Delivery Architectures, Broadcast Engineering Conference, Sunday, April 7, 3:30 - 4:00 p.m., location: S225/226; Arturo Rodriguez, distinguished engineer, technical director, advanced technologies, Cisco Service Provider Video Technology Group, speaker.
• Cisco-sponsored CXO Breakfast Series: "What's Next for the Media Value Chain?" Monday, April 8, 7:30 - 8:45 a.m., location: North Hall, N238; Leszek Isdebski, director, service provider media group, Cisco Internet Business Solutions Group, speaker.
• Super Session: "Display Technologies of the Future," Monday, April 8, 10:30 a.m.-noon, location: S222; Simon Parnall, director, new initiatives, Cisco Service Provider Video Technology Group, panelist.
• Enterprise Computing PIT "Production-Oriented Media Clouds," Tuesday, April 9, 10:45 - 11:05 a.m., location: Booth N6621; Tom Ohanian, business development manager, mobility, web & media, Cisco, speaker.
• Super Session: "What Will the Content Networks of the Future Look Like," Tuesday, April 9, 12:30 - 1:30 p.m., location: S222; Greg Ireland, research manager, consumer markets, video, IDC, moderator; panelists include:
  • Fernando Bittencourt, CTO, Globo
  • Rob Huner, vice president of innovation, ESPN
  • Maitreyi Krishnaswamy, director and principal manager of consumer video services, Verizon
  • Clyde Smith, SVP, new technologies, Fox
• Cisco-sponsored "Connected Media World Theater" Speaker Events
  • Panel: "The Connected Stadium Experience," Monday, April 8, 12:30 - 1:30 p.m. location: Booth A613; panelists include: Saleha Williams, vice president, BPL Broadcast Ltd, moderator; Colin Farquhar, CEO, Exterity; Steven Hellmuth, SVP operations & technology, NBA Entertainment; David Holland, SVP and general manager, Sports and Entertainment Solutions Group; Christina Mixon, founder, Mixon Digital.
  • Keynote: "Video Everywhere Advertising: Challenges and Opportunities," Monday, April 8, 1:30 - 2:30 p.m., location: Booth A613: David Stengle, vice president of distribution, Black Arrow, speaker.
  • Keynote: "The Future of Linear TV Advertising Is In Your Hands: What Brands, Broadcasters and Service Providers Need to Know Now," Tuesday, April 9, 10:00 - 11:00 a.m.; Greg Philpott, founder and CEO, mDialog, speaker.
  • Keynote: "It's Time to Digitize, Manage And Automate," Wednesday, April 10, 10:00 - 11:00 a.m., location: Booth A613; Warren Arenstein, business development, Primestream, speaker.

Supporting Quote

• Chuck Stucki, vice president and general manager, multiplatform distribution business, Cisco Service Provider Video Technology Group
  "Videoscape Unity creates an opportunity to connect broadcasting, multiscreen distribution, and immersive end-user experiences, through an open and flexible architecture that lets Cisco customers reinvent 'TV your way.' We are excited to meet with customers this week to show them new ways to unleash the potential of personalized video experiences. We are also very excited to showcase for the first time, our Ethernet proof-of-concept demo with Fox Broadcasting. The promise of Ethernet-based live video production will soon be realized, and as Ethernet becomes the glue that connects production facility equipment together, Cisco Videoscape Unity will be well-positioned to be the only IP video platform that unifies the video experience from contribution, to production, to distribution."

Supporting Resources

• About Cisco Videoscape Unity http://www.cisco.com/go/videoscape
• Cisco Service Provider blog: SP360: http://blogs.cisco.com/sp
• Read the Cisco IBSG white paper discussed during Cisco's CXO breakfast: "Media Industry Futures: Dark Ages or Wonderland"
• Follow Cisco NAB news and activities on Twitter: #VideoscapeUnity

Tags/Keywords
Cisco, Fox, Fox Broadcasting, Ethernet, NAB, Videoscape, Videoscape Unity, multiplatform, multiscreen

RSS Feed for Cisco: http://newsroom.cisco.com/rss-feeds

About Cisco
Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the worldwide leader in IT that helps companies seize the opportunities of tomorrow by proving that amazing things can happen when you connect the previously unconnected. For ongoing news, please go to http://thenetwork.cisco.com.

Cisco and the Cisco logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Cisco and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. A listing of Cisco's trademarks can be found at www.cisco.com/go/trademarks. Third-party trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. The use of the word partner does not imply a partnership relationship between Cisco and any other company.