'Internet Traffic Jam' Caused By 'Video Road Hogs' Cited In NY Times Story Addressed By Advanced Compression Technology From Broadcast International

New Video Compression Technology Could Relieve Internet Congestion Caused by Video Uploading and Downloading [The following is a release from Broadcast International]

March 14, 2008

A March 13 front-page New York Times story details the threat posed by "video road hogs" that are jamming up the Internet by users uploading and downloading videos. According to Rod Tiede, CEO of Broadcast International (OTCBB: BCST) ("BI"), new video compression technology could alleviate this bandwidth crisis. His company is demonstrating this technology at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) conference in early April that will cut bandwidth needs by more than 80% so that five to six times more video can be sent using today's limited bandwidth. At NAB, Broadcast International will show an HD-quality picture being transmitted from a live camera feed, using just 3Mbps of bandwidth instead of the 19.4 usually required - an industry breakthrough. Industry analyst Peter White, in his newsletter, Faultline, calls the technology "game-changing" and agrees that "if you really can send an HD signal at 3Mbps, then that changes everything..." Video compression technology is becoming an increasingly critical requirement for video sent over the Internet. Last year, according to the New York Times article, video uploading and downloading from sites like YouTube, "consumed as much bandwidth as the entire Internet did in 2000." "There's just no question that better video compression technology would take the pressure off the Internet -- especially as more and more users want to upload video to sites like YouTube and MySpace, in order to share experiences," said Tiede. "Most current solutions offer only a 25% reduction in bandwidth at best, with compromised picture quality. That's nowhere near what is required. Even new fiber initiatives such as those from Verizon and AT&T will be challenged to deliver the quantity and quality users are going to demand." About BI's patented CodecSys video compression software Broadcast International has a patented technology, called CodecSys, which achieves breakthrough performance through a unique, multi-codec approach to video compression. Codecs are mathematical algorithms that compress and decompress video for transmission and viewing. With CodecSys, the video stream is analyzed in real-time, and the codec best-suited for a particular frame or video sequence is automatically selected from an entire library of specialized codecs. These specialist codecs are designed to handle particular types of high-bandwidth video frames or streams, such as fast-motion sequences in a basketball game or explosions in an action movie. These types of video are extremely bandwidth-intensive and pose chokepoints to generalist codecs. By selecting the best expert codec for the job, CodecSys is able to eliminate these chokepoints and offer performance several times higher than competitive products based on single, general-purpose codecs. Because CodecSys is based on software, not hardware, it can easily be upgraded as new codecs or video compression standards emerge, virtually "future-proofing" the technology.

Read More: