August 30, 2013 -- Not widely known but not exactly a secret either; intoPIX has been developing a new advanced image and video compression algorithm in order to efficiently and invisibly tackle important cost and bandwidth challenges faced by our industry.

At the upcoming IBC show in September 2013, intoPIX will unveil and display its new TICO compression.

At IBC, intoPIX launches the new disruptive light visually lossless compression standard that will be known collectively as TICO (pronounced “Teeco”). Designed to have an extremely tiny footprint in FPGA/ASIC fabric, it is nevertheless also powerful in software applications for real-time operation.

At present, images and video are transported and stored uncompressed into many systems such as cameras, video servers, displays, recorders or mobile devices. But this revolutionary compression technology has been conceived for utilization as a mezzanine compression format.

TICO can thus be utilized as a smart upgrade path to manage HD and higher resolution (4K, 8K…) workflows and frame rates. TICO assures visual quality using a 2:1 to 4:1 compression ratio, but keeps power and bandwidth at a reasonable budget. On top of this, its selectable latency down to as little as 1 pixel line ensures absolute real-time and instant operation.

Gael Rouvroy, intoPIX Chief Technology Officer, explains: “As a responsible technology provider, we have been considering how we can contribute towards the growth of the audio-visual industry as a whole. We are aware that equipment manufacturers and end-users need new smart ways to manage the higher resolutions and frame rates previously captured, stored and transported uncompressed. Hence, we constantly push the boundaries of today’s compression technology with a state-of-the-art, innovative codec assuring visual quality, keeping power and bandwidth at a reasonable budget and reducing significantly the complexity and cost of the system without adding any latency.

Main highlights of the TICO compression technology: 

• Visually Lossless compression quality between 2:1 and 4:1. 
• Persistent and Robust: Indistinguishable image loss over multiple generations.
• Fixed Latency: down to microseconds – single pixel line (selectable from 1 to x).
• Small complexity and ultra-compact codec: easy to implement in low-cost chips (FPGA/ASIC). Limited internal memory - no external memory required.
• Powerful , Real-time or faster than real-time in CPU. 
•  Compatible with different resolutions, from mobile to 4K/8K UHDTV, via multiple traditional transport schemes. Support of 4:2:2/4:4:4 formats.
• Designed to be a standard for industry-wide support: TICO compression technology will be available on multiple software and hardware technologies. Code, hardware IP-cores and software libraries can be licensed from intoPIX. 

intoPIX welcomes everybody at its booth (10.D31g) and at the Altera booth (10.A10) at IBC 2013 (September 13-17) to discover the new TICO compression and enjoy the first technology demos. For more information: keep an eye on the intoPIX website !

About intoPIX

intoPIX is a leading supplier of video and image compression technology to audiovisual equipment manufacturers. We are passionate about offering people a higher quality image experience and have developed FPGA IP-cores and solutions that enable leading-edge video and image compression, security and hardware enforcement. More information on our company, customers and products can be found on www.intopix.com.



Contact:

intoPIX s.a.Av.
Emile Francqui, 9
B-1435 Mont-Saint-Guibert
Belgium
Tel: +32 (0)10 23 84 70
Fax: +32 (0)10 23 84 71
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