Cinova CRUNCH Stream Optimizer Cleans up What H.264/AVC Encoders Leave Behind

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Cinova CRUNCH Reduces Bitrates of Encoded Video

CRUNCH picks up where encoders stop, analyzing their video output in real-time and removing this data that the human eye can’t detect.

Mountain View, Calif & Las Vegas, Nevada (PRWEB) April 03, 2014

Cinova (NAB booth C2453C) will break new ground at NAB 2014 with the introduction of CRUNCH™, the world’s first compressed-domain Stream Optimizer. CRUNCH enhances the existing fixed and adaptive bitrate H.264/AVC video encoding workflows used by live and video on demand content and service providers using its patented Perception Optimized Processing (POP). POP trims visually extraneous data from encoded video streams to reduce bit rates by as much as 50% compared to AVC encoding alone. The dramatic bitrate reduction allows Over the Top (OTT), mobile and other video services to deliver high quality, full resolution video streams that require less bandwidth, use less storage, and can be delivered to viewers at the best quality and with greater reliability.

Cinova CEO and founder Anurag Mendhekar said, “Video encoders do a great job of reducing video to manageable, consistent fixed bit-rates. That consistency is also the limitation of encoders, which end up leaving behind information that is visually extraneous to human perception. CRUNCH picks up where encoders stop, analyzing their video output in real-time and removing this data that the human eye can’t detect. The resulting CRUNCH-ed stream is visually indistinguishable from the encoder’s output stream and requires no changes to viewing devices, but uses a staggering 20-50 percent less bandwidth.”

The benefits of CRUNCH stream optimization include:

•     Lower delivery costs by reducing bit rates, reducing the number of resource-expensive encodes required in adaptive bit rate processing, and lowering storage requirements
•     Improved video quality by enabling delivery of higher resolutions at the same or lower bit-rates than in conventional, encode-only workflows
•     Enhanced viewer experience with higher resolutions, reduced usage of mobile data plans, and fewer stream stutters, freezes and crashes.

Perception Optimized Processing (POP) is a patented technique developed by Cinova engineers that performs on-the-fly visual analysis of every macro-block in a video stream and applies sophisticated yet fast compressed-domain transformation algorithms to eliminate visually extraneous information. By eliminating only data that is unusable by the human eye, CRUNCH reduces the size of the video stream without compromising visual quality.

CRUNCH will work with any encoded stream for any delivery network--content providers, services providers, network operators, as well as other video applications. CRUNCH installation takes only a few hours. The lightweight software runs on inexpensive, commodity Intel Core i7 processor based systems running Mac OS, Linux or Windows for flexible deployment downstream of any existing MPEG-4/AVC encoders. It is used in addition to, not in place of, existing encoding systems, and prior to DRM encryption.

The same POP technology has also been applied to digital photos where it delivers up to 90% reductions in image file sizes and has been used to process more than 10 billion online photos to reduce the storage footprint for photography sites.

For more information and demonstrations of CRUNCH visit http://www.cinova.co.

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About Cinova
Cinova is a pioneer in compressed domain image and video processing. Formed in 2012 and based in Mountain View, California, Cinova is reshaping the Content Delivery Optimization category with CRUNCH, the storage secret behind one of the world largest photo services and a compelling solution to the bandwidth challenges facing major entertainment channels, over the top services, mobile services and other content providers. Cinova is driven by a remarkable, experienced team of compression and video experts.

CEO Anurag Mendhekar holds 11 patents, productized compression technologies as a founder of Yahoo-acquired Online Anywhere, and co-invented Aspect Oriented Programming at Xerox PARC. COO Sunil Sanghavi holds one video patent and has been a C-level leader in several successful Silicon Valley companies and start-ups. Chairman Bob Wilson has been leading disruptive video innovations and market transitions for more than 30 years. Cinova is backed by funding from ATA Ventures, Innovacom/Orange, and Qualcomm Ventures.

For more information visit http://www.cinova.co.

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