Today, Envivio rolled out its 4Caster C42, the second generation of the company’s Convergence Series video encoding/transcoding platform.

Envivio said 4Caster C42 features the latest-generation Intel multi-core server processors to deliver better quality video, make more efficient use of bandwidth and enable delivery of high-definition video services to all three consumer screens.

The 4Caster C42 joins the 4Caster C4 in the Convergence Series, building on the features of its precursor and giving service providers the flexibility to tailor their video headends to match their requirements. The new platform made its debut today at IBC 2009 in Amsterdam.

“The competitive pressure to deliver more entertainment options, to more subscribers, at the best possible quality, continues to mount,” said Envivio CEO Julien Signès, “yet bandwidth remains precious. 4Caster C42 drives performance and flexibility far beyond platforms based on ASIC hardware. As a result, we can offer significant improvements in both video quality and bit rates. By simultaneously supporting multiple networks and many different consumer devices, 4Caster C42 enables an operator to meet the highest consumer expectations – including top-quality HD service – on any viewing screen.”

Envivio said enhanced performance of 4Caster C42 extends the capabilities of the codec technologies developed by Envivio to further enable delivery of the best-quality video within the tight bandwidth tolerances of different networks and applications.

The new Envivio Extreme HD compression enables operators to deliver a best-quality HD experience to IPTV subscribers using just 4 Mbps. For Internet TV, even lower bit rates are possible and can be combined with adaptive bit rate technologies such as Silverlight Smooth Streaming HD, Flash HD and Apple adaptive streaming to enable quality delivery over networks with no guaranteed QoS.

The company said 4Caster C42 supports all Envivio compression levels for IPTV, mobile TV and Internet TV.