Encoding company Envivio today announced that its 4Caster C4 has been selected by Guangzhou Digital Media Group to provide the high-definition and standard-definition video encoding for China’s first interactive TV service based on the Microsoft Mediaroom platform.

Envivio said the installation was also the world’s first Mediaroom-powered service delivered over a cable TV network.

Guangzhou Digital Media Group’s new Zhujiang Digital connected TV service operates alongside the company’s existing analog and MPEG-2 digital services and is delivered via IP across the same network . The MPEG-4 AVC compression provided by Envivio allows at least twice as many SD and HD channels to be delivered to consumers when compared with MPEG-2.

Envivio said converting to an IP delivery mechanism provides content delivery flexibility and efficient support of the advanced interactive features of Microsoft Mediaroom.

“Guangzhou has built a remarkably compelling system which combines Envivio advanced encoding with Microsoft Mediaroom interactivity and time-shifting to unlock the full potential of IP-based television for its customers, without having to make major changes to its existing transport infrastructure,” said Julien Signès, president and CEO of Envivio, 

The 4Caster C4 encoder has been qualified by the Microsoft Mediaroom Interoperability and Qualification Lab (IQ Lab).

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