Audio Video News

Last week, 2netFX reported that its ThunderCastIP technology was used successfully in a recent HDTV-over-IP live demonstration conducted by the government's NASA Research and Education Network (NREN). ThunderCastIP is a multicast server for high-definition video streaming over ordinary IP-based networks; it was also used last March to send HDTV from Hawaii to California.

According to 2netFX, the entire demonstration involved the simultaneous feed of a 20Mbps HDTV signal through a satellite uplink and an optical ground network. The feed was sent from the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, DC to the NASA Ames Research Center at Moffett Field in California. 2netFX adds that the demonstration provided NREN with the opportunity to work with an HDTV feed in three distinct formats: ATM, DVB, and the Internet.

2netFX's Eric Yao says that the ThunderCastIP HDTV is an industrial-strength multicast video server intended for use in professional enterprise applications. "The software supports live or pre-recorded video streaming from 10–50 Mbps over ordinary IP-based networks. Video can be streamed to virtually an unlimited number of users simultaneously via an IP multicast without significantly impacting the network."

The company claims that ThunderCastIP HDTV is the first multicast server for high-definition live or pre-recorded video streaming from 10–50Mbps over ordinary IP-based networks, including future advanced Internets. "The demonstration successfully proved the technology exists today to deliver stunning HDTV imagery virtually anywhere in the world, or above it."