News-Press & Gazette Expedites Broadcast Workflow with Elemental Server

Elemental Server Provides Faster-Than-Real-Time Transcoding, Improves Speed and Efficiency of Video Conversion from Pitch Blue™ to On-Air Playout

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Elemental Technologies

Jul 14, 2010, 09:00 ET

PORTLAND, Ore., July 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Elemental Technologies, the leading provider of massively parallel video processing solutions, today announced that News-Press & Gazette (NPG) selected Elemental Server for deployment across its affiliate stations to upgrade content delivery for current and future broadcast media demands. Elemental Server's initial installations were implemented within the broadcast workflow at KESQ in Palm Springs, Calif. and KTVZ in Bend, Ore. to quickly prepare incoming Pitch Blue™ files for on-air playout.

Prior to implementing Elemental Server, KTVZ had difficulty transcoding up to 28 hours of video content per day in real-time. The majority of incoming files require conversion of Pitch Blue formatted content to MPEG-2 broadcast formats for playout. By replacing a slower, existing transcoding tool with the massively parallel architecture of Elemental Server, the process is now expedited. Elemental Server can process up to four H.264 high definition files or 12 standard definition files simultaneously. Now, a 42-minute video file of "Ellen" can be transcoded in half the time of the previous solution—an annual time-savings of thousands of hours for the station's operators and technicians.

"Preparing news and syndicated content for timely broadcast on a consistent basis is a major challenge. Elemental Server's transcode speed assists in getting that done," said Jim DeChant, director of technical operations for News-Press & Gazette. "With the high volume of video Elemental Server can handle, we have seen about a 75 percent increase in overall workflow efficiency."

Pitch Blue is a digital file content delivery system used by many major networks to deliver video to broadcasters. Syndicators around the country are quickly upgrading systems to adapt to this new content delivery method. As technological advancements in video continue at an exponential rate, broadcasters require faster transcoding that also preserves video quality, captioning and other metadata, while saving time and reducing operating expenses.

"Since TV's adoption in the 1940s, the technology behind broadcast content has been rapidly developing, constantly placing new demands on broadcasters' ability to deliver on time," said Sam Blackman, CEO and co-founder of Elemental Technologies. "With Elemental Server's efficiency, ease-of-use and throughput, companies like News-Press & Gazette are experiencing immediate rewards in the form of time and cost savings."

Key benefits for broadcast operations, include:

Massively parallel architecture which easily manages high volume conversion,
Quick installation and easy integration,
Future-proof infrastructure with flexible support for upcoming standards and formats, and
Improved efficiency that lowers data center overhead.

To learn more about how News-Press & Gazette's broadcast facilities are integrating the Pitch Blue delivery system, read the case study at http://www.elementaltechnologies.com/support/resources/npg-pitchblue-case-study.

About Elemental

Elemental Technologies is the leading provider of massively parallel video processing solutions for broadcast and online video customers. Elemental's products use off-the-shelf, programmable graphics processing units (GPUs) for compute-intensive video processing and conversion tasks. The product line is ideal for digital media workflows that require video encoding for Internet and mobile delivery, faster-than-real-time transcoding, or support for adaptive bit rate distribution. Elemental's innovative solutions deliver unprecedented price/performance advantages to a variety of customers including broadcasters, online video platforms and content delivery networks. Founded in 2006, Elemental is headquartered in Portland, Oregon. To learn more about Elemental, visit www.elementaltechnologies.com.

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SOURCE Elemental Technologies