CES: Rovi Unveils HEVC Plans

CompleteCoverage: CES 2013

In the run-up to the start of CES, Rovi Corporation has
outlined its development program for the adoption of the new HEVC compression
system, which is designed to significantly reduce storage and bandwidth costs
while delivering the high-quality video.

The program will include a range of Rovi product updates and
launches. These include new MainConcept encoding SDKs and an update to DivX
device certification that will allow companies to introduce products supporting
HEVC.

HEVC is the successor to H.264 compression and will be
important for the development and distribution of Ultra HD and other higher
resolution video formats.

The rollout of HEVC-enabled solutions is planned to begin
early this year shortly after the standard is ratified, Rovi reported.

The first Rovi HEVC solution will be a new MainConcept SDK
offering professional HEVC encoding for developers serving the broadcast,
professional content creation, mobile and consumer industries.

Beginning in the second half of 2013, Rovi then plans to
introduce HEVC support in its video delivery and playback solutions including
its DivX products and technologies.

"As with H.264, Rovi will release core video encoding and
decoding solutions that will be the foundation of a successful HEVC rollout and
enable our customers to save money while enhancing the quality of the video
services they offer," said Matt Milne, executive VP, worldwide sales and
marketing, Rovi Corp., in a statement. "We see HEVC as a huge step, enabling
the industry to cost effectively transition more content to high definition
formats and, eventually, 4K."

Separately, Rovi announced that its DivX digital rights
management used in Rovi's adapting streaming format, DivX Plus Streaming, has
been approved by the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem (DECE) for
streaming use within the UltraViolet ecosystem.

DivX Plus Streaming dynamically adjusts streams to help
deliver maximum visual quality based on available bandwidth and offers such
features as support for 1080p, subtitles, multiple language tracks, and
trick-play functions for smooth fast forward and rewind.