International Datacasting Corporation, (TSX:IDC) announced today that its longtime customer AccessIT broadcast the February 18 University of Texas vs. Texas A&M basketball game live to digital cinemas. The event, which marks the professional debut of AccessIT’s CineLive® broadcasting technology based on IDC’s SFX ProVideo HD receivers for live digital cinema events, showcased the classic rivalry between the two teams at Carmike Cinemas, Galaxy Theatres and Rave Motion Pictures locations across Texas.
AccessIT is the world’s leading provider of digital cinema, with deployments to more than 3,700 screens thus far, and IDC has provided the advanced satellite network technology AccessIT has used to deliver digital films for millions of showings. In support of this special live event for a major sports television broadcaster, IDC provided its next-generation SuperFlex SFX3101 ProVideo models with HD/SD real-time decoding capabilities.
The broadcast, in crisp, real-time, high definition, was well-received by fans and industry professionals alike.
“We are impressed not only with the outstanding performance and reliability of IDC’s technology, but also the company’s responsiveness to the tight logistical deployment challenges, deadlines and complexities of live events,” Jeff Butkovsky, Chief Technology Officer of AccessIT commented “With digital cinema, theatergoers can enjoy more events like this basketball showdown.”
“We’ve been providing technology to enable the satellite delivery of digital cinema for years. Now with the expanded live 2-D and 3-D capabilities in our ProVideo and CineLive®/Sensio product line we are playing a key role in enabling important new business models and revenue opportunities for this rapidly growing market. It’s important to note that this is just one of several applications where our ProVideo line is proving itself invaluable as the world moves more and more towards expanded digital distribution,” said Ron Clifton, President and CEO of IDC.
The announcement was made at Satellite 2008, a leading industry conference and tradeshow that brings together the satellite industry to showcase new technologies and advanced applications. IDC’s ProVideo receivers are on display along with a complete line of products for advanced applications such as IPTV, Video on Demand, broadcast audio and video networks, enterprise networks.