AmberFin launches new iCR Format Convertor

AmberFin today announces the launch of the new iCR Format Convertor as part of its award-winning iCR software range. The launch comes with initial sales of five Format Convertors to major European broadcasters.

The Format Convertor is designed to support the increasing need for broadcast file based workflows which require up-converting existing content from 576i to 720p or 1080i for HD transmission. The iCR Format Convertor is also specifically relevant for companies looking to take advantage of HD web delivery, which uses primarily 720p but has recently started to require 1080p. A range of other up, down and cross conversion modes also appeal to post-production houses in need of all-round high quality file format conversion.
The iCR Format Convertor is ideal for use in a file-based workflow. Old fashioned hardware format convertors can need a device to turn the incoming files into video and then another device to convert video back into files. The result is three purchases of three separate devices. By contrast, the iCR Format Convertor completes all process in one software application and also includes a fully featured transcoding toolset. This allows users to work with a much bigger range of input and output file formats than those available with a hardware format convertor.
The iCR Format Convertor also includes motion compensated SD standards conversion at no extra cost.
Independent research by Contentinople has show that viewer perception of quality is a key business driver, especially in web and mobile. Previous research by User Analytics also confirms the importance of quality. Key determining factors include the ability to see detail: skin tones, hair, texture and movement are all psychological cues to content quality.

Bruce Devlin, CTO of AmberFin, says: “Our customers have been crying out for a software product that delivers the picture quality of a top-end hardware format convertor. With iCR they can now get both and we have delivered it for no additional charge. Broadcasters must be able to provide high quality if they are to make the most of the new revenue streams offered by new formats. We can deliver that quality, in a cost effective open architecture approach, that fits seamlessly into file based workflows”.
The iCR Format Convertor is available now.
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About AmberFin

AmberFin enables content owners to maximise the value of their TV, film and video content, from capture through to distribution, while increasing revenues, reducing costs, saving time and eliminating incompatibility issues. AmberFin iCR, with award winning technology, plays a key role in turning the content that owners have into the content their customers want. As an open standard, future proof platform that digitises and transforms new and archived content, AmberFin iCR delivers the best quality pictures at smaller file sizes across multiple delivery platforms, including the Internet, VoD, TV, mobile and other small screen devices. AmberFin already has 100s of iCR systems in the field, and is trusted by some of the world’s most prestigious companies including Sony, NBA, Turner Broadcasting, BT, Channel 4, RTM and Warner Brothers, managing the digitisation and repurposing of their content.

AmberFin is privately held by Advent Venture Partners and headquartered in Basingstoke, UK. More information is available at: http://www.amberfin.com

Editorial contacts

Annette Leach UK)
Hotwire for AmberFin
amberfin@hotwirepr.com
+44 (0) 207 608 2500

London, 17th, November, 2009 – AmberFin today announces the addition of Quinto, Australia’s leading supplier of professional equipment for the television and post production industry to its Asia Pacific network of resellers. The announcement comes as part of AmberFin’s Partner Program created to develop and forge new channel and OEM partnerships internationally.

Under the agreement, Quinto Communications will resell AmberFin’s iCR ingest, video conversion, automated/assisted QC and transcoding software tools in Australia and New Zealand.

“Quinto Communications is a well regarded company in the broadcasting industry,” said David Abel, Worldwide Director of Partner Management at AmberFin. “Quinto has a strong heritage and reputation in the region, and its market expertise will help us increase our presence in the Asia Pacific region.”

Quinto is one of Australia and New Zealand’s leading suppliers of high technology broadcasting equipment. Established in the 1960’s, the company has been synonymous with the Australian television and radio industries for over 30 years.

Further information about AmberFin’s Worldwide Partner Program and its technology and channel partners is available at: http://www.amberfin.com/about/partners/

About AmberFin iCR

AmberFin’s iCR software delivers superior image quality for HD/SD ingest, video conversion and transcoding through its multiple Emmy award-winning image processing techniques. AmberFin’s leading integrated quality control (QC), automation, asset management and tight integration with industry standard storage also offers a unique path for content owners and partners looking to reduce the costs associated with managing and distributing media for multiple revenue-generating platforms.

About AmberFin

AmberFin enables content owners to maximize the value of their TV, film and video content, from capture through to distribution, while increasing revenues, reducing costs, saving time and eliminating incompatibility issues. AmberFin iCR, with four-time Emmy-award winning technology, plays a key role in turning the content that owners have into the content their customers want. As an open standard, future proof platform that digitizes and transforms new and archived content, AmberFin iCR delivers the best quality pictures at smaller file sizes across multiple delivery platforms, including the Internet, VoD, TV, mobile and other small screen devices. AmberFin already has 100s of iCR systems in the field, and is trusted by some of the world’s most prestigious companies including Sony, NBA, Turner Broadcasting, BT, Channel 4, RTM and Warner Brothers, managing the digitization and repurposing of their content.

Privately held by Advent Venture Partners, AmberFin is, headquartered in Basingstoke, UK. More information is available at: http://www.amberfin.com

Editorial contacts

Annette Leach (UK)
Hotwire for AmberFin
amberfin@hotwirepr.com
+44 (0) 207 608 2500

Matthew Lloyd (US)
Hotwire for AmberFin
matthew.lloyd@hotwirepr.com
617-834-3146

AmberFin Expands Globally,
Establishing North American Headquarters in Burbank, CA
New Presence Helps AmberFin Extend Support and Gain Access to Top Industry Talent
BURBANK, Calif. October 26, 2009 — AmberFin today announces the establishment of its new North American headquarters in Burbank, California, expanding its operations to meet the demand for best-in-class image quality for HD/SD ingest, video conversion and transcoding worldwide. Following on the heels of a newly announced deal with Warner Bros, the opening of the Burbank office is the latest step in AmberFin’s North American market strategy and provides the company with ready access to the $68 billion entertainment industry while also extending customer support coverage to 20 hours a day.

By establishing itself in Burbank, AmberFin joins the ranks of some of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies who are also headquartered or have significant production facilities in this area. These include several prominent AmberFin clients such as Ascent Media Networks, Sony Pictures, Disney Studios, Technicolor, and the most recent addition Warner Brothers., which was announced at IBC in September.

“AmberFin iCR has a significant role to play in today’s fast growing and evolving market for TV, film and video content,” said Jay Batista, President of the Americas for AmberFin. “The aggressive moves we have made into the US market this year will pay off not only for our company, but also for content owners who are struggling to prepare content for delivery across multiple platforms and who need to increase their profitability margins.”

AmberFin’s Burbank headquarters will house the company’s pre- and post-sales support teams and labs, and will feature a fully equipped demonstration room.  The company is expanding its pre-sales support engineering group to assist both clients and partners with configurations, project designs and unique customizations/integrations of its iCR systems.

AmberFin recently announced the availability of iCR version 5.0 at NAB 2009; the product embodies a “new media factory” approach and now features JPEG 2000 HD encoding and transcoding support, closed caption workflows, an MXF AS02 implementation and AVID Interplay support. 

The North American headquarters in Burbank, CA will be officially opened on October 27, 2009, located less than one mile from Burbank Airport at 7590 North Glenoaks Blvd, Suite 101, Burbank, CA 91504. You can reach the office direct at (818) 768-8948.

About AmberFin

AmberFin enables content owners to maximise the value of their TV, film and video content, from capture through to distribution, while increasing revenues, reducing costs, saving time and eliminating incompatibility issues. AmberFin iCR, with award winning technology, plays a key role in turning the content that owners have into the content their customers want. As an open standard, future proof platform that digitises and transforms new and archived content, AmberFin iCR delivers the best quality pictures at smaller file sizes across multiple delivery platforms, including the Internet, VoD, TV, mobile and other small screen devices. AmberFin already has 100s of iCR systems in the field, and is trusted by some of the world’s most prestigious companies including Sony, NBA, Turner Broadcasting, BT, Channel 4, RTM and Warner Bros, managing the digitisation and repurposing of their content.

AmberFin is privately held by Advent Venture Partners and headquartered in Basingstoke, UK. More information is available at: http://www.amberfin.com

Editorial contacts

Matthew Lloyd (US)
Hotwire for AmberFin
matthew.lloyd@hotwirepr.com
617-834-3146

Annette Leach (UK)
Hotwire for AmberFin
amberfin@hotwirepr.com
+44 (0) 207 608 2500

Blue Order partners with AmberFin to integrate iCR into its Media Archive offering

London, 15th, October, 2009 – AmberFin today announces that Blue Order Solutions AG has signed an OEM agreement to incorporate and resell AmberFin’s industry-leading iCR ingest functionality as part of its Media Archive offering.  As a result of this agreement, Blue Order customers will benefit from best-in-class multi-format SD/HD ingest, QC and transcoding, ultra-reliability, easy integration and third party interoperability though AmberFin’s web service APIs.
“We chose to partner with AmberFin and fully integrate its ingest functionality with our Workflow and Media Asset Management solution Media Archive to enhance digital archiving and the distribution of productions for our customers,” says Ulf Genzel, Chief Sales Officer, Blue Order. “With the addition of AmberFin iCR, we can offer our customers best-in-class ingest capabilities with improved content-related workflows, allowing them to better manage a myriad of rich media content and meet the ever-changing demands of the broadcast industry.”
“We are very pleased that Blue Order is joining our OEM partnership programme,” says Jeremy Deaner, CEO of AmberFin. “Blue Order shares AmberFin’s passion for producing the highest quality media content for its customers, who make up some of the world’s largest broadcasters. This partnership continues our goal to build AmberFin’s presence in the broadcast & new media market as well as helping to address the needs of our OEM partners as they look to better meet the requirements of their customers.”

About AmberFin iCR

AmberFin’s iCR software delivers superior image quality for HD/SD ingest, video conversion and transcoding through its multiple Emmy award-winning image processing techniques. AmberFin’s leading integrated quality control (QC), automation, asset management and tight integration with industry standard storage also offers a unique path for content owners and partners looking to reduce the costs associated with managing and distributing media for multiple revenue-generating platforms.

About AmberFin

AmberFin enables content owners to maximise the value of their TV, film and video content, from capture through to distribution, while increasing revenues, reducing costs, saving time and eliminating incompatibility issues.  AmberFin iCR, with four-time Emmy-award winning technology, plays a key role in turning the content that owners have into the content their customers want.  As an open standard, future proof platform that digitises and transforms new and archived content, AmberFin iCR delivers the best quality pictures at smaller file sizes across multiple delivery platforms, including the Internet, VoD, TV, mobile and other small screen devices.  AmberFin already has 100s of iCR systems in the field, and is trusted by some of the world’s most prestigious companies including Sony, NBA, Turner Broadcasting, BT, Channel 4, RTM and Warner Brothers, managing the digitization and repurposing of their content.

Privately held by Advent Venture Partners, AmberFin is, headquartered in Basingstoke, UK. More information is available at: http://www.amberfin.com

About Blue Order

Blue Order is a global provider of turnkey Media Asset Management (MAM) solutions. Media and entertainment companies, corporations and public institutions use Blue Order products to collect, index, catalog, retrieve and distribute audio-visual and multi-format content. Blue Order’s ‘Media Archive®’ provides a comprehensive MAM framework to support new digital content services, optimize workflows and increase efficiencies along the content value chain.

Blue Order is headquartered in Germany with subsidiaries in the UK and US. The company has been deploying its products since 1995 for a broad range of customer applications, with a special emphasis on broadcast, library and media production applications. Blue Order has well-established partnerships with technology providers and system integrators to ensure industry-specific solutions and professional services.  References encompass many well-known companies, including Al Jazeera, Astra Platform Services, Bayerischer Rundfunk, Caracol TV, ESPN Brazil, NBC Olympics, PLAZAMEDIA, ProSiebenSat.1, RTM, Technicolor Network Services, VMMa, YLE and ZDF.

AmberFin Editorial contacts

Annette Leach (UK)
Hotwire for AmberFin
amberfin@hotwirepr.com
+44 (0) 207 608 2500

Blue Order media contacts:

Christina Seemann
+49 (0)631 / 303-5200
press@blue-order.com