TANDBERG Television Powers First-Ever Transmission of Live, High Definition Video from the Seafloor

TANDBERG Television Powers First-Ever Transmission of Live, High Definition Video from the Seafloor

University of Washington's VISIONS '05 expedition delivers real-time transmissions from sea with TANDBERG Television technology

ATLANTA, Oct. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- TANDBERG Television today announced that it is playing a key role in the world's first transmission of live high definition (HD) video from the sea floor. The VISIONS '05 research expedition to the underwater volcanoes of the Juan de Fuca Ridge in the northeast Pacific Ocean is led by University of Washington and brings the extreme life forms and geologic activity of the seafloor to viewers on land at a scale and quality never before experienced in real time. TANDBERG Television technology, supplied through Heartland Video Systems, is an integral part of the delivery of three-dimensional views of ocean and seafloor environments, transmitted in real time to shore and over the Internet by ResearchChannel.

Using TANDBERG Television's HD encoder and decoder, the high definition video was compressed and transmitted live from the research vessel over IP satellite to the University of Washington, where it was streamed over the Internet to research facilities across the United States. The seafloor locations are located about 200 miles offshore and HD video links reached 20Mbit/s. The live images of deep-sea volcano research are provided with the highest visual fidelity currently possible using a satellite link, and are available to computer and ocean scientists, engineers, students, and the general public.

"Through taking advantage of the latest transmission technology, we're enabling viewers to virtually participate in a journey of scientific exploration and discovery," said University of Washington professor of Oceanography John Delaney and co-leader of the expedition with UW professor Deborah Kelley. "Making live high quality video available allows to us to truly educate society about real, dynamic ocean systems and how scientific research is conducted."

"TANDBERG Television's compression equipment is the highest quality MPEG-2 technology available and is key in overcoming the limitations of traditional ship-based oceanography, including low-bandwidth satellite transmission," said Matthew Goldman, Vice President of Technology, Compression Systems, TANDBERG Television. "We're excited to be working with Heartland Video Systems on making the scientific research taking place during the VISIONS '05 expedition visually available to multiple audiences globally."

"The VISIONS '05 expedition had very specific needs -- high quality transmission and the ability to transmit IP data with video," said Dennis Klas, President, Heartland Video Systems. "TANDBERG Television products met this need and we're proud to be a part of this significant milestone in live, high definition video transmission from the sea floor."

TANDBERG Television products used in the VISIONS '05 expedition include: - The E5780 High Definition MPEG-2 encoder, providing rapid on-air capabilities and ease of use features. The E5780 can encode at multiple profiles in both High Definition (HD) and Standard Definition (SD) modes. The flexibility to encode at a wide range of bit-rates (up to 90 Mbit/s) and provide high quality video even at low bit-rates makes the E5782 ideal for applications such as VISIONS '05 expedition that require very high detail and stability. - The TT1280 HD decoder, offering high-quality 4:2:0 HD decoding in a compact one-rack unit. The TT1280 decoder used during the expedition has satellite input and outputs high quality IP data for the live internet stream.

The live transmission from the VISIONS '05 research expedition can be viewed at http://www.researchchannel.org/visions05/.

About TANDBERG Television

TANDBERG Television (Oslo: TAT.OL) designs and develops professional systems that enable new business models in the media and entertainment market through the delivery of high quality live digital video and on-demand content. The company provides open standards-based technology solutions, systems integration, support and monitoring through its sales and 24-hour support operations in the Americas, Asia, Australia and Europe. TANDBERG Television's customers include many of the major broadcasters, network operators, telephone companies, cable operators and content owners around the world. For more information visit: http://www.tandbergtv.com/

About Heartland Video Systems

Heartland Video Systems, Inc. (HVS) represents a broad range of products and solutions for applications in the Broadcast, Post Products, Education, Corporate and Professional fields. These products/solutions include analog/digital transport solutions (microwave/fixed, portable/mobile), film and video equipment, fiber optic communication systems monitoring devices, digital video/audio interfacing and display products, HDTV technologies, routing switchers and control products; professional system design consulting. For more information visit: http://www.hvs-inc.com/

About Visions '05

VISIONS '05 exemplifies the transformation that is underway in the field of oceanography. VISIONS '05 -- which stands for Visually Integrated Science for Interactive Ocean Networked Systems -- is a five-week multidisciplinary research expedition to the underwater volcanoes of the northeast Pacific on the University of Washington Research Vessel Thomas G. Thompson. A total of 55 scientists from the United States and Canada are onboard for this expedition. K-12 science teachers from throughout the U.S. are contributing to the research as part of the REVEL Project: Research and Education: Volcanoes, Exploration, Life.

About ResearchChannel

ResearchChannel is a nonprofit media and technology organization that connects a global audience with the research and academic institutions whose developments, insights and discoveries affect our lives and futures. ResearchChannel was founded in 1996 by leading research and academic institutions so they could share the work of their researchers with the public while collectively participating in advanced distribution and interactive technology experiments. Programs are shared in their original form, unmediated and without interruption. Today, more than 50 institutions participate as members and affiliates, and that number continues to grow.

Through cable and satellite distribution, ResearchChannel is available to more than 21 million U.S. households. The ResearchChannel website, with users in over 70 countries worldwide, provides programs on demand and through a live webstream. The online video library houses more than 2,100 full-length programs.

Source: TANDBERG Television

CONTACT: Dwight Witherspoon of TANDBERG Television Inc., +1-678-812-6319, or dwight.witherspoon@tandbergtv.com; or Dariana Lau of Bite Communications, +1-415-365-0404, or dariana.lau@bitepr.com; or Gay Bell of Platform PR, +44 208 964 9149, or gay@platformpr.com

Web site: http://www.tandbergtv.com/ http://www.hvs-inc.com/ http://www.researchchannel.org/visions05

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