SysMedia's Plasma Gold Now Provides IPTV Channel Creation Engine

--Company Says Plasma Gold Now Compatible with All US ITV Standards

SysMedia, a UK-based company that specializes in content- management and production systems for teletext, subtitling and interactive TV, says that it has adapted its flagship Plasma Gold platform to enable US IPTV operators to take advantage of the latter's content production and management capabilities. According to the company, the platform now offers those operators (and companies operating cross-platform services) a comprehensive content and production management suite that allows them to quickly and inexpensively develop "friendly, easy-to-use" channels. The company says that Plasma Gold can now create a dynamic user interface for an IPTV service, without the need for software development, thus saving time and expense; that the platform can be used by editorial rather than just technical staff; and that third parties can access a given system to supply network-ready content. "Plasma Gold really comes into its own when you look at delivery to multiple devices," Kevin Lingley, SysMedia's interactive product manager, said in a prepared statement. "For example, a single piece of content can be delivered to an IPTV set-top box, PC and mobile phone. The content carried on each platform is consistent because it is generated by a single content management system. For example, a viewer watching an IPTV channel could be offered the ability to send clips to friends' mobile phones or email. Alternatively, viewers of the channel could be sending messages from their phones or PCs that are then displayed automatically across all three platforms." Added SysMedia CEO, Andrew Lambourne: "Plasma Gold offers operators the ability to create, modify and extend existing and new services and at the same time provides an assured quality of service because of its assured quality of services through its specifically tailored output."

In other SysMedia news: the company says that Plasma Gold is now compliant with all the proposed standard middlewares for US interactive TV development from both ATSC and CableLabs, including OCAP, ETV-BIF, and now ACAP. The addition of ACAP support extends the platform's reach into the still-nascent US digital terrestrial market. ACAP (which stands for Advanced Common Application Platform) was developed by ATSC in conjunction with CableLabs. It is optimized for DTT broadcast, and is designed to enable interoperability with methods of interactive TV distribution used by the cable industry. "As a member of ATSC, SysMedia has been heavily involved in the ongoing applications and interoperability trial demonstrating the power and ease-of-use of its Plasma Gold system," SysMedia's Lingley said in a prepared statement. "The US has a tremendous opportunity to create a harmonized interactive environment leading to a more rapid take-up of services and a lower cost base. ETV-BIF, developed by CableLabs, is also a vital component in the deployment of cross-system interactive applications, providing cable operators with the ability to deliver services to already deployed set-top boxes, with OCAP ready for more advanced implementation in new boxes and PVR's. It has been proven time and again internationally that interactivity from basic information services through content-linked applications to ecommerce opportunities not only increases viewers' stickiness to a channel but, when deployed correctly, also directly increases revenue. By taking advantage of our proven global expertise, broadcasters and content providers can access a wealth of real-world experience in interactive service deployment." According to SysMedia, Plasma Gold "separates the content itself from the way it's presented using templated design, and so offers a powerful author-once/publish-to-many solution for multiplatform content production."

Originally Published: April 16, 2007 in [itvt] Issue 7.26 Part 2

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