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Vidyo Granted Patent for Groundbreaking Video Conferencing Architecture

Patented VidyoRouter Architecture Delivers the Only Available Scalable Video Coding Solution that Eliminates the Multipoint Conferencing Unit

Hackensack, NJ–October 29, 2009 – Vidyo® Inc., the first company to deliver personal telepresence, today announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has awarded the company a patent for its VidyoRouter™ architecture which delivers reliable, low latency, multipoint conferencing over any IP network including the Internet. The patent (U.S. Patent No. 7,593,032 entitled “System and Method for a Conference Server Architecture for Low Delay and Distributed Conferencing Applications”) covers the key intellectual property behind Vidyo’s groundbreaking video conferencing technology. “For many years video conferencing just didn’t work because the quality was inconsistent and the delays were too long for highly interactive communications,” said Ofer Shapiro, CEO of Vidyo. “Telepresence remedied these problems by guaranteeing the network and eliminating the Multipoint Conferencing Bridge, but at very high cost. This patent validates the innovation and technology behind the VidyoRouter architecture, which is based on the new H.264/SVC (Scalable Video Coding) standard, and maintains the lowest latency and most consistent quality of telepresence on the Internet and on any computer.” “When you eliminate the need for expensive networks and expensive MCUs as part of the HD multiparty video conferencing experience, then the possibilities of what can be done with video communications are endless,“ said Andrew W. Davis, Senior Analyst and Partner at Wainhouse Research. “Vidyo has changed the economics, the scalability and the quality of the experience. Their technology opens the door for large scale video conferencing deployments.”

Vidyo’s Intellectual Property
Vidyo was the first company to utilize H.264/SVC as the basis for a video conferencing solution.
H.264/SVC is a video compression standard that enables a video stream to be broken into multiple resolutions, quality levels and bit rates. Utilizing this capability and Vidyo´s intellectual property, the VidyoRouter architecture offers unprecedented error resiliency while eliminating the MCU. The VidyoRouter is the first video multipoint solution that can deliver rate matching and continuous presence capabilities without an additional video encode and decode. This unique capability allows for less than half of the end‐to‐end latency of MCU‐based solutions.
“SVC‐enabled video solutions work better in environments with variable performance, such as the Internet,” said Scott Morrison, Research Vice President, Enterprise Network Services, Gartner, Inc. “As a result; it will be increasingly possible to stream video communications over Internet connections for many use cases, while retaining a high‐quality experience.” Although others are attempting to use the H.264/SVC standard and claiming improved quality, potential customers should exercise caution, because not all SVC products are equal in terms of quality or price. Without the VidyoRouter architecture, other SVC solutions are still dependent on using the MCU to transcode and that remains the biggest obstacle to the advancement of video conferencing. “We’ve dramatically changed the business model from one that’s dependent on hardware, to a software platform,” said Shapiro. “The VidyoRouter reduces by several orders of magnitude the amount of processing required in the network core.”

VidyoTechnology – Setting a New Bar for Video Conferencing Quality and Scalability
Until Vidyo introduced its revolutionary technology in 2008, unified communications companies wanting to deliver video over converged IP networks did not have the necessary means to provide high quality video conferencing over non‐QOS IP networks. When Vidyo offered the first commercial video conferencing implementation based on H.264/SVC, it radically changed this scenario, offering unified communications solution providers and conferencing services providers the ability to integrate better point‐to‐point and multipoint video communication capabilities into their offerings. “When we looked for a video conferencing technology that would enable us to deliver high quality and cost‐effective personal telepresence, Vidyo was clearly our only choice,” said Takeshi Masuda, Executive Vice President of Telecommunications & Network Systems Division, Hitachi,Ltd. “With Vidyo’s technology, we were able to build a video conferencing solution that is better than any MCU‐based product. We feel that this gives us a tremendous competitive advantage.”

About Vidyo, Inc.
Vidyo, Inc. pioneered Personal Telepresence enabling multi‐party video conferences using a personal computer, with HD quality over converged IP networks. Leveraging its patented technologies built on the new H.264 Scalable Video Coding (SVC) standard, Vidyo’s award winning products deliver the industry’s best error resilience and lowest latency videoconferencing over the Internet and general purpose networks. Vidyo’s technology for OEMs and end‐to‐end product solutions for enterprises support point‐to‐point and multi‐point connections that include a variety of different platforms ranging from Mac & Windows desktops to dedicated room solutions. VidyoTechnology™ is used by Hitachi, Teliris, Shoretel and other major organizations and enterprises. Vidyo is based in Hackensack, New Jersey and is privately held.

Written by Liz Gannes
Posted Thursday, October 29, 2009 at 12:28 PM PT

Vidyo Powers Google Video Chat, Gets Patent
Did you know that a startup called Vidyo powers Gmail’s video chat feature? Not many people do, and that seems to be by design. There’s a tiny little reference to Vidyo’s participation in the product when you install it, though when I talked to Vidyo today they said they don’t comment about the deal publicly. Google built a web client around Vidyo’s system and launched it nearly exactly a year ago; I for one am grateful to whoever powers the functionality to turn my text chats with my sister in Montreal into video; face-to-face is so much better.

Today Vidyo did comment on something else though: the Hackensack, NJ-based company announced that it has secured a patent for the technology that underlies the telepresence service it provides Google and other customers: “System and Method for a Conference Server Architecture for Low Delay and Distributed Conferencing Applications.” Vidyo’s technology treats every participant in a conference individually so as to give each the best capable up-stream and down-stream experience at any one moment by adjusting bitrates and resolutions dynamically (Google limits its implementation to only two people, but Vidyo can accommodate many more). Through its architecture and the new H.264/SVC video compression standard, Vidyo avoids requiring a centralized multipoint control unit (MCU), as most videoconference systems do.

That means no special equipment, and it also means a remarkable lack of latency; I talked to Vidyo SVP marketing Marty Hollander today using the company’s Mac app for video and my cellphone for audio (not an ideal situation, but our office bandwidth was acting up) and amazingly, his voice and picture were just about perfectly in sync. All you should really need is solid broadband and a webcam. The company, which launched in Jan. 08, is also included in Hitachi’s video conferencing products and Teleris’ telepresence room systems. Vidyo has 84 employees and has raised a total of $45 million, including $15 million earlier this year in a round led by Menlo Ventures with Rho Ventures, Sevin Rosen Funds and Star Ventures. When it was founded four years ago it was called “Layered Media.”