Thomson Upgrades StatMux Tech

Thomson Video Networks has introduced a new capability for its statistical multiplexing technology, Flextream 2.0. Now, Flextream 2.0 has the ability to integrate variable bitrate (VBR) data streams within the video pool. Whenever the data bit-rate decreases, Flextream 2.0 automatically reallocates the freed bandwidth to the video to optimize bitrate usage within a multiplex.Thomson's statistical multiplexing technology is designed to automatically control the company's ViBE MPEG-2/4 SD or HD encoders by dynamically allocating video bitrates according to quality targets and service priorities. Flextream 2.0 extends the technology to intermittent data streams; instead of reserving a fixed amount of bandwidth within the multiplex for passing the streams, Flextream 2.0 dynamically adapts the video pool bitrate based on the quantity of data to be transmitted, up to a predefined threshold.