VideoLocus Introduces World's First Real-Time H.264/MPEG-4 AVC Standard Definition Video Encoder and Video Evaluation Platform

(WATERLOO, CANADA, August 6, 2002) - VideoLocus, a leading developer of next generation video compression technologies and solutions, today introduced the world's first real-time standard definition video encoder and video evaluation platform for H.264/MPEG-4 Advanced Video Coding (AVC), the newest international video coding standard. Recently previewed at the Joint Video Team (JVT) meeting in Klagenfurt, Austria from July 22-26, the demonstration was so well received that viewing opportunities were extended to meet the overall demand.

The VLP4000 Video Evaluation Platform, consists of a real-time encoder, real-time decoder, and stream analysis tools, and was developed primarily for digital video professionals at major consumer electronics companies, consumer IC manufacturers, video and television systems manufacturers, video streaming and broadcast service providers, technical labs, and technical support organizations.

Organizations can use the VLP4000 Video Evaluation Platform to help bring products to market faster, quickly identify and solve development issues, and improve the knowledge and productivity of their engineers and technicians. The platform also enables companies to evaluate the promise of H.264/MPEG-4 AVC before making costly development or deployment decisions.

"In my personal opinion, it is impressive to see a real-time SD encoder of H.264/MPEG-4 AVC so early," said Sherman (Xuemin) Chen, Senior Principal Scientist, Broadband Systems Engineering, Broadcom. "The development tools showed in the demo are very useful for H.264/MPEG-4 AVC stream analysis and will certainly be useful in AVC product developments."

"The video evaluation platform developed by VideoLocus provides a significant reduction in the risk associated with adopting the H.264/MPEG-4 AVC standard," said Kevin Oerton, Vice President of Marketing and Business Development, VideoLocus. "This is the first time content providers, hardware and system manufacturers will be able to evaluate the performance and coding tools of H.264/MPEG-4 AVC in real-time."

H.264/MPEG-4 AVC is quickly stealing the limelight away from MPEG-4 Advanced Simple Profile (ASP), creating a sense of urgency for companies to deploy H.264/MPEG-4 AVC-based products. The new standard is being developed jointly by the ITU-T and ISO/IEC standards organizations and formal approval of the standard is expected to be complete by the end of 2002. H.264/MPEG-4 AVC makes use of spatial, temporal, and psycho-visual redundancies to improve video coding efficiencies. Video compression using H.264/MPEG-4 AVC generates video at bit rates that are typically two to four times lower than previous MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 compression standards, at equivalent video quality levels. The H.264/MPEG-4 AVC standard has had several names over the course of its development. It was initially known as ITU-T H.26L and is now formally becoming Part 10 of the ISO/IEC MPEG-4 standard identified as ISO/IEC 14496-10 AVC.

Video compression is a critical component of many multimedia applications such as DVD, digital television broadcasting, satellite television, Internet video streaming, video conferencing, video security, and digital camcorders. In the final stages of its aggressive worldwide standardization, it is widely expected that H.264/MPEG-4 AVC will be the preferred standard for transmission of digital video over today's band-limited networks, and in a wide variety of storage-constrained applications.

VideoLocus has been working with the two leading standards organizations as part of the JVT, a working party developing the next generation of video coding standards. The company has filed numerous patents relating to H.264/MPEG-4 AVC and has contributed multiple critical components to the standard.

A tutorial on the new H.264/MPEG-4 AVC standard and a white paper that details the differences between the new standard and previous video standards such as MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 ASP can be found at http://www.videolocus.com. For a demonstration of the VideoLocus mobile demo platform, please contact VideoLocus at +1-519-725-9797 or via e-mail at sales@videolocus.com.

Pricing and Availability
The VideoLocus VLP4000 Video Evaluation Platform will be shipping in September 2002. Pricing information may be obtained by contacting VideoLocus at +1-519-725-9797 or via e-mail at sales@videolocus.com.

Regular updates to the VLP4000 Video Evaluation Platform are scheduled through to the final release of H.264/MPEG-4 AVC to ensure compliance with the evolving standard.

About VideoLocus Inc.
VideoLocus develops next generation video compression technologies and solutions, with a specific emphasis on low bit rate, high quality, full resolution, and full frame rate applications. Founded in May 2001, VideoLocus is based in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. More information is available at http://www.videolocus.com.

All company and/or product names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

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