Snell & Wilcox Raises Mobile TV Picture Quality to New Level With Helios Mobile

Snell & Wilcox Raises Mobile TV Picture Quality to New Level With Helios Mobile

Advanced Image Processing Delivers Optimal Viewing Experience on Any Mobile Device on All Wireless Networks

HAMPSHIRE, England, Sept. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Snell & Wilcox, a world leader in image processing, conversion, and compression technologies for the film and broadcast industries, has developed a groundbreaking system for the automated repurposing and delivery of content for mobile TV applications.

Helios Mobile leverages the company's multi-award-winning image processing technologies to deliver the best possible quality viewing experience for any mobile device on all types of wireless networks. Mobile subscribers will experience visibly superior video images optimized for mobile TV, making the viewing experience both more compelling and more reliable.

Television content repurposed by Helios Mobile is ideal for the small screens of portable handset displays. The system combines the industry's most advanced video compression with a series of unique image processing techniques to deliver visibly superior results.

For example, Helios Mobile can selectively and automatically adapt conventional video images for delivery to mobile devices. The system can dynamically separate the foreground and the background within the video image, and treat each separately in order to concentrate the energy of the compression encoder on the parts of the image that are most important to the viewer.

Bringing the most important object, character, or athlete into crisp detail while lessening the detail and prominence of objects or scenery in the background, Helios Mobile delivers a compelling viewing experience on tiny displays. Helios is also designed to dynamically reframe video images and produce tighter, sharper shots that retain the emotional impact of the original when displayed on the small screen.

In addition to creating a high-quality viewing experience for the consumer, Helios Mobile also delivers significant benefits to mobile operators. By creating "better pics for fewer bits" the system saves valuable bandwidth and therefore reduces costs for the mobile operator. Helios Mobile's automated operation also saves operators money by enabling them to work more efficiently as they capture and repurpose video content.

"Snell & Wilcox allows mobile operators to utilize less bandwidth while delivering better quality and more reliable video services to their customers," said Joe Zaller, vice president of marketing at Snell & Wilcox. "Our proven image processing, conversion, and compression technologies are set to have a profound impact on the business models surrounding the emerging mobile TV market."

Emmy(R) award-winning technologies developed by Snell & Wilcox give Helios Mobile its unique edge in the mobile TV space. Combined, these advanced imaging processes allow Helios Mobile to eliminate noise and other artifacts that could waste bandwidth during compression, and to focus compression energy on the most important objects in the scene. These techniques enable Helios Mobile to maintain high video frame rates -- essential for smooth motion portrayal even at very low bit rates.

"Snell & Wilcox is an established leader in the professional film and broadcast industries, and winner of more than 100 industry awards for our image processing products and technologies, including four technical Emmy(R) awards," Zaller added. "We are recognized as a video quality authority, and we are now bringing our unique experience to the mobile TV sector to enhance the quality level of video images delivered over this exciting new revenue distribution platform while giving operators bandwidth-saving and operational efficiency benefits that will contribute directly to the bottom line."

The Helios Mobile process is automated, eliminating the need for expensive production equipment and manual intervention by creative staff that is currently required to produce a mobile TV output. Helios can create mobile TV versions of content in H.263, H.264, MPEG-4/AVC, and Windows(R) Media, and it can work with any viewing device on any network. No special software is required on the handset.

Further information on Snell & Wilcox solutions for mobile TV, including a multimedia presentation, podcast, and technology overview is available at http://www.snellwilcox.com/features/mobile.

Snell & Wilcox designs and builds the world's most advanced systems for video playout, mastering, repurposing, infrastructure, and live production switching. Providing solutions that deliver immediate value while enabling a controlled and cost-effective transition to HD and file-based systems, the company serves a worldwide base of customers in the broadcast, postproduction, cable, satellite, mobile TV, and IPTV markets. In business since 1973, Snell & Wilcox maintains its U.S. headquarters in Burbank, Calif., and European headquarters in Hampshire, U.K. Additional offices are located in New York, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Lebanon, Malaysia, and Russia. Visit www.snellwilcox.com for more information.

Snell & Wilcox, Putting Pictures to Work, Helios Mobile, and Ph.C are all trademarks of the Snell & Wilcox Group. All other trademarks mentioned herein are acknowledged as the property of their respective owners.

Source: Snell & Wilcox

CONTACT: Americas Press Contact, Susan Warren, +1-631-261-1013,
susan@wallstreetcom.tv, or Asia Pacific Press Contact,
Dave Netz, +1-303-329-0359, dave@wallstreetcom.tv, both of Wall Street
Communications, for Snell & Wilcox; or EMEA Press Contact, Becky Smith,
+44 1622 684 592, becky@ella-beck.co.uk, for Wall Street Communications

Web site: http://www.snellwilcox.com/
http://www.snellwilcox.com/features/mobile

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