Aiming to expand and strengthen the breadth of its existing portfolio and improve the performance of its core solutions, V-Nova has bought the full global patent portfolio of video imaging experts Faroudja Enterprises.
Founded by video pioneer Yves Faroudja, who has been granted more than 80 patents and received three Emmys, Faroudja Enterprises says its mission is to develop intellectual property to improve video streaming and file compression efficiency without affecting perceived quality. Its technology is claimed to offer the potential to deliver a bit rate reduction of 35-50% with any existing compression system.The purchase marks V-Nova’s first acquisition and the company says it has made a strong investment in its own long-term technology roadmap. The Faroudja technology will see use in improving the flagship PERSEUS compression technology, and V-Nova adds that it can be integrated without requiring modifications to the standard codec.
The acquired patent portfolio consists of the Faroudja pre-processor, for use prior to compression, and post-processor (after compression decoding; techniques for video enhancement such as multi-dimensional video processing); the use of what is claimed to be a ‘unique’ support layer in parallel with the conventional compression path. It also complements compression standards such as MPEG-2, h.264, HEVC and V-Nova PERSEUS.
“These are exciting times for V-Nova and our customers, as we continue to expand our capabilities and grow internationally,” said V-Nova CEO and co-founder Guido Meardi, commenting on the acquisition. “New, disruptive technologies such as Ultra HD TV, 360° video, VR immersive video and high quality video transmission on any network can all significantly benefit from solutions that reduce the bandwidth requirements in a cost-effective and scalable way.”
Added Yves Faroudja: “Our patent portfolio has been developed through years of experience in award-winning image processing and video compression. We are pleased that our innovation and hard work in developing industry-leading patents will now contribute to V-Nova’s wider global strategy to enable operators and service providers to connect more people with high quality content, even when challenged by bandwidth constraints.”
