News

Leitch Unveils Expanded SD/HD Applications in NEXIO Server Platform at NAB 2005 (11/5/2005)

Leitch Technology Corporation (TSX:LTV), a leading provider of HD solutions for professional digital video, today announced it is unveiling significant enhancements to its NEXIO(tm) server line at NAB 2005, as the company's new NEXIO HD(tm) server, originally launched at IBC 2004, makes its U.S. debut. With the introduction of the NEXIO XNG(tm) laptop field editor for news, VelocityNX(tm) HD/SD craft editor for NEXIO, and an enhanced SD/HD version of Ingest Control Manager(tm) (ICM), Leitch is set to showcase a full range of news and transmission applications to improve customer workflow in both SD and HD environments.

"By debuting software coding in our HD server offering, Leitch is able to offer customers a server that costs significantly less than its competitors, requires no external encoder or decoder hardware and slots directly into HD-SDI enabled environments," said Tim Thorsteinson, president and CEO of Leitch Technology. "In addition, our expanded and enhanced NEXIO line enables us to deliver a completely integrated solution to meet all the industry's news and transmission application requirements in both standard and high definition."

Leitch's new NEXIO HD server platform integrates the first software-based agile codec for high-definition video, allowing baseband high-definition record and playback, while supporting up- and down-conversion of content for simulcast applications and providing smooth interpolated off-speed play and excellent "scrub audio" performance. Based on a new high-performance, true 64-bit dual processor, the NEXIO HD platform provides two channels of HD output (decoding), or one channel of input (encoding) and one HD output in either 720p or 1080i format. Using the NEXIO MTS MPEG Transport Stream server, it is possible to ingest HD content pre-compressed by best-in-class transmission encoders, which can then be played back through the HD-SDI baseband output of the NEXIO HD platform. Leitch is showcasing the NX4200HDX shared storage HD server, as well as the new, self-contained NX4200HDI integrated storage HD server, which offers built-in RAID 3 storage with a choice of 146GB or 300GB drives and can also be converted to shared storage capability.

Leitch is also introducing an enhanced Ingest Control Manager (ICM), which now includes devices that handle and process HD content, while continuing to support SD. Developed specifically for news and transmission environments, Ingest Control Manager uses EventBase for event scheduled record and device management, including program segmentation and extensive device control for HD/SD environments. ICM communicates directly with the NEXIO server system for up to 16 channel controls, and is fully integrated with Leitch's X75(tm) multiple path converter/synchronizer, as well as up to eight routers and eight VTRs.

Leitch also announces that its NEXIO TXS and ITS servers and NewsFlash(tm) editing systems will support the Panasonic DVCPRO Professional Plug-in ("P2") solid-state memory-based technology. The partnership of Panasonic and Leitch will allow the companies' mutual customers to streamline their workflow by expediting the movement of media acquired in the field into the NEXIO server shared storage environment.

Expanding its news-editing offering, Leitch is introducing the new NEXIO XNG, a field editor based on the acclaimed Velocity user interface, and designed for journalists to use as a portable news desk in remote locations. A software-only NLE using software codecs and effects processing, the NEXIO XNG will be able to access content in the NEXIO SAN using file transfers, as well as edit locally until a remote connection to a NEXIO server can be established. The XNG will use NEXIO's MediaID technology to transfer only the needed video and audio clips back to the server (from any remote location), significantly reducing the bandwidth requirements. NEXIO XNG shares the editing and interface fundamentals of the VelocityX post production software-only NLE, with a feature-set specifically tailored for news editing.

Also new is the VelocityNX, a full-featured HD/SD craft editor for NEXIO environments, again based on the powerful and flexible Velocity(tm) user interface. Integrated into the NEXIO SAN, VelocityNX features the ability to edit Leitch native HD and SD files directly from the NEXIO shared storage architecture. VelocityNX will have the same comprehensive editing and effects toolset as VelocityHD, using software codecs and GPU processing instead of VelocityHD's Altitude(tm) hardware.

www.leitch.com