AmberFin Industry Poll Reveals That Poor Picture Quality is a Major Barrier to Content Adoption

AmberFin Industry Poll Reveals That Poor Picture Quality is a Major Barrier to Content Adoption

LONDON, January 27/PRNewswire/ --

- 70% Agree That the Industry is Failing to Take Full Advantage of Market
Opportunities

A recent broadcast industry poll conducted by AmberFin reveals that poor
picture quality remains a major barrier to content adoption on new viewing
devices, such as a mobile phone and PC. Furthermore, 70% of experts surveyed
agreed the industry is failing to capitalize on the new market opportunities
offered by the Internet, VoD and mobile due to the quality and cost issues
associated with repurposing and delivering high volumes of content across
multiple viewing devices.

Respondents agreed current image quality of video content falls short of
viewer expectations and is in need of improvement. Over 35% of the industry
experts surveyed, rated image quality of content viewed via PC over broadband
connection as being poor, or at best average, while 28% noted a similar
disappointing experience via mobile phone or handheld device.

The experts believe greater quality is critical to adoption and is
intrinsically linked to the creation of new revenues and compelling services.
When asked about paid for content, 33% of respondents said only high quality
video would attract viewers to pay or subscribe. Moreover, nearly half (44%)
believed viewers would consume more content via a mobile phone if picture
quality were improved.

Jeremy Deaner, CEO at AmberFin, comments, "While the where, when and how
we consume our content has dramatically changed, image quality remains to be
a critical driver of adoption. This is where AmberFin plays an integral role
as our iCR software tools can digitize and transform new and archived
content. Through our market leading R&D and engineering teams we are able to
produce superior quality pictures for both SD and HD content, delivering the
sharpest images, contrast and color for video content to a range of viewing
devices."

AmberFin iCR has a heritage in providing the best image handling
algorithms on the market and creates a high quality file-based master,
delivers quality control review, provides unique file conversion to multiple
formats and simultaneously prepares multi-platform versions of video content,
all within a single software environment.

Note to Editors

The industry poll was conducted at the IBC exhibition in September 2008,
which involved surveying a total of 100 experts across varying sectors in the
broadcast industry. Further details of the research are available upon
request.

AmberFin Profile

AmberFin enables content owners to maximize the value of their TV, film
and video content, from capture through to distribution, while increasing
revenues, reducing costs, saving time and eliminating incompatibility issues.
AmberFin iCR, with four-time Emmy-award winning technology, plays a key role
in turning the content that owners have into the content their customers
want. As an open standard, future proof platform that digitizes and
transforms new and archived content, AmberFin iCR delivers the best quality
pictures at smaller file sizes across multiple delivery platforms, including
the Internet, VoD, TV, mobile and other small screen devices. AmberFin
already has 100s of iCR systems in the field, and is trusted by some of the
world's most prestigious companies including Sony, NBA, Turner Broadcasting,
BT, Channel 4, RTM and Warner Brothers, managing the digitization and
repurposing of their content.

Privately held by Advent Venture Partners, AmberFin is part of the Snell
& Wilcox Group, headquartered in Basingstoke, UK. More information is
available at: http://www.amberfin.com

Editorial contacts

Kirstyn Langford (UK)
Hotwire for AmberFin
amberfin@hotwirepr.com
+44(0)207-608-2500

Jaime Tero (USA)
GBC for AmberFin
amberfin@hotwirepr.com
+1-415-989-9803

Source: AmberFin

Editorial contacts: Kirstyn Langford (UK), Hotwire for AmberFin, amberfin@hotwirepr.com, +44(0)207-608-2500; Jaime Tero (USA), GBC for AmberFin, amberfin@hotwirepr.com, +1-415-989-9803

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