The International Telecommunications Union, ITU announced January 25th the new High Efficiency Video Codec (HEVC) to be known also as H.265. The new codec is expected to use about 50% of the data bandwidth of its predecessor H.264, which itself uses about 50% of the bandwidth of its predecessor MPEG-2.
The savings in bandwidth comes at the cost of processing power. It’s said to take 4 to 5 times the CPU power to compress and decompress, so it could take years for wide adoption, during which time another technology could leapfrog the standard.
But potential economic benefits are profound. If H.265 is adopted by transmission media like cable, satellite, and broadcasters, as many as twice the number of channels could fit into available bandwidth.
Two former employees of the defunct TV Magic, Inc. are creating a new systems integration company in San Diego they call Pacific Design and Integration, Inc. Bob Anderson expects to perform business development and management duties, and Steve Sagady will be principal engineer. Bob says they have strategic alliances with an equipment supplier and an installation specialist to help fulfill projects.
Many thanks to Sean Melia of Bassett Sales for coming to San Diego to explain today’s communications backbone systems and buy us lunch. They sell 2-way radio systems and can hook you up with a highly versatile system, whether buying or leasing.
This month’s meeting was hosted by Martin Banks at Video Gear in the Miramar area. Video sells and rents cameras, lighting, and really every product necessary to get your video production recorded and edited. Another great venue!
Kevin Schrader began his full-time engineering position with KPBS this month. He was formerly Chief Engineer at Cox Media channel 4 downtown, where he took care of its studios and the Cox HD vehicle. When Fox Sports won the Padres contract, he…well, yeah. In a bit of refreshingly creative management, KPBS and Cox transitioned him between jobs for several months during which he worked part-time at each.
