NOW Business News Channel chooses Streambox

Streambox Inc., a supplier of real-time video solutions for broadcasting, satellite, and cable, announced that PCCW’s NOW Business News Channel (NOW BNC), Hong Kong’s premier financial news provider, has deployed a number of Streambox portable video transport solutions to enable flexible in-the-field news production and transmission for its IPTV-based NOW BNC. The Streambox. ACT-L3 video transport solutions make it easy for NOW BNC’s staff to leverage Hong Kong’s readily available Internet connectivity to transmit and deliver breaking news for editing and broadcasting in realtime.

“A picture is worth a thousand words, and in today’s TV news production, high-quality pictures are the most important element,” said Stefan Kung, system manager for NOW BNC. “Streambox’s solution for portable newsgathering is the best I’ve seen, providing amazing pictures in full D1 quality while running on a 1.5-Mbps connection. The system sets up easily, simplifies our operations, and allows our news crew to turn its complete attention to the news story itself.”

NOW BNC is using the ACT-L3 Portable Video Transport solution to deliver reliable video feeds over low-data-rate networks directly to the newsroom for live broadcast. Streambox portable encoders excel over low-bandwidth connections while providing unrivaled video quality, all in real time. NOW BNC runs the systems on a standard PC notebook or MacBook Pro in a compact, reliable, plug-and-play solution that lets journalists gather, edit, and transmit live video from the field quickly and efficiently. Setup is virtually nonexistent; the system simply connects then transmits video on demand.

“Our portable solutions provide unrivaled video compression and quality and a low total cost of ownership, enabling news organizations to quickly deploy our systems for reliable transmission of breaking news,” said Bob Hildeman, chairman and CEO of Streambox. “Flexibility and ease of use are critical, and we’re delighted that the highly respected NOW broadband TV network has chosen Streambox solutions for faster and smarter news gathering.”

The robust portable encoding system from Streambox enables full-screen live video shots in areas with 1.5 Mbps connectivity and flexible operation when running over a 500 Kbps network. The system’s unique WiFi capability provides NOW BNC’s field staff with a critical competitive advantage, because it enables them to broadcast live from any wireless access point.

“Portability, mobility, and maneuverability are essential for any news agency, and Streambox delivers all of the above,” added Kung. “Our field staff is very happy that portable encoders have been added to our supply of broadcast equipment. It has made remote newsgathering much easier and enhanced our ability to bring high-quality breaking news stories to NOW broadband TV viewers.”