Belfast company previews products for NAB

Belfast-based codec manufacturer APT will be attending the NAB Convention L3243 to show the latest additions to its data compression range.
The company have enjoyed significant success in the US market over the last 12 months, which has resulted in the signing of licensing deals for its apt-X data compression algorithm with customers including Harris and Scott Studios.
At NAB, APT will be unveiling the E1/T1 Multi-channel Broadcast Solution which offers end users a cost-effective, low-delay, high-audio resolution alternative to existing technologies. The E1/T1 Solution is based around APT’s successful WorldNet codec range and its introduction supplies broadcasters with a highly featured solution that offers a five-millisecond delay, end to end.
The E1/T1 also features full duplex (bi-directional); analogue and AES/EBU (Digital) inputs and outputs; 32kHz, 44.1kHz, 48kHz sampling frequencies; 3.1 sampler rate converter; ISDN back up; alarm ports; RS232 and remote control inputs and outputs and 16, 20 and 24-bit audio resolution.
In recent months, APT has been involved in a joint venture with US telecommunications company, Pulsecom, to develop solutions for Broadband Audio transport. This year’s NAB Exhibition represents the unveiling of the first product from their partnership – the APT/Pulsecom Program Channel Access Unit (PCAU).
The PCAU, which is intended for high-quality broadband audio and secure link applications, capitalises on APT’s acclaimed apt-X 16-bit audio compression technology currently used throughout the broadcast industry. The all-in-one encoder/decoder card featuring apt-X will pass an unprecedented 20Hz to 15kHz over a standard 128kbit/s dedicated ISDN link, enabling broadcast quality audio from any D4, DLC or NGDLC carrier system.
Optimised for web-based, broadcast and traditional applications, the apt-X algorithm results in near-instantaneous encoding/decoding and supports multiple tandem connections without the degradation inherent in other common compression algorithms, which lose as much as 95 per cent of their content after just four tandem connections. In addition to providing superior audio transport, the apt-X compression technology also results in secure, encoded audio communication links that protect against Internet hacking and public switched network access.
Other key new products in the APT line-up for NAB are the WorldNet Rio, WorldNet Milano digital audio codecs and the Soft Sample Rate Convertor.
APT, www.aptx.com
(GMcG)