Press Release

press contact: carol marcus
director, corporate communications
tel: (510) 814-7000

for pictures in 300 dpi format
send request to carol@rgb.com

JPEG 2000 Graphics Streaming Enhanced with Interframe Compression

June 1, 2007, Alameda, CA - RGB Spectrum announces an interframe compression enhancement to its DGy™ series of JPEG 2000 codecs. Previously, the primary purpose of the DGy was recording and playback. With this new capability, the DGy also becomes a powerful tool for streaming high resolution graphics across networks.

JPEG 2000 compression is excellent for use with high resolution graphics. The algorithm offers intraframe compression, i.e., compression of the image information within a frame. Its use for streaming has been limited because of high bandwidth requirements. Other codecs, such as the popular MPEG-2, offer both intraframe compression and interframe compression, to deal with redundancy between frames, and provide much higher levels of compression. Such codecs are better suited for streaming, albeit at a cost in visual quality.

Now with interframe compression to minimize network bandwidth requirements, DGy codecs offer multicast streaming of computer imagery across Ethernet networks with superior image quality. High resolution audio-visual content can be sent instantly across networks for live viewing and collaboration at remote locations.

Multicast streaming is ideal for demanding imaging applications including remote monitoring, command and control, mission analysis, and telemedicine. Rather than broadcasting multiple streams, the DGy transmits only one stream that is propagated among multiple users. DGy decode units can be in any physical location, nearby or remote, with no limit on the number of multicast participants. Any DGy codec on the network can join the multicast group by initiating a network request linking to a reserved IP address.

The DGy's new interframe compression technology allows the user to increase compression levels to reduce streaming bandwidth. Interframe compression allows users to reduce bandwidth requirements up to 90% in a typical application, depending upon image content, motion, and degree of pixel change within successive frames.

Interframe compression functions by analyzing interframe redundancy and content changes. It exploits the similarities between successive frames, known as temporal redundancy, to reduce the volume of data required in a sequence of frames. The result is reduced data bandwidth during the network transmission with negligible affect on image quality.

The new Interframe compression capability will be available in soon-to-be announced DGy codecs.

RGB Spectrum® is a leading designer and manufacturer of videographic and multimedia hardware subsystems. Products include the View™ family of video windowing systems, the RGB/Videolink® line of scan converters, the DGy™ digital recording system, and SuperWall™, ComputerWall® and MediaWall® multi-screen display controllers. RGB Spectrum is based in Alameda, California, and can be reached at 510-814-7000 and on the internet at http://www.rgb.com.