Extending 8K over a single, cost-effective wire with TICO lightweight compression

1. increasing the amount of cables or

2. using expensive, high-bandwidth cables. 

Available in FPGAsand on CPU & GPU, intoPIX TICO is a lightweight mezzanine compression codec that has been specifically designed to achieve lossless quality at low compression ratios, for a very low FPGA complexity and cost. It is an intra-frame codec, which makes it perfectly suitable for low-latency applications in comparison to inter-frame codecs that require frame buffers and thus reduce speed. The mezzanine codec’s line-based latency translates into less than 1 millisecond that is induced to the workflow.

- Supports 8K and UltraHD 8K video at frame rates up to 60 fps 

- Robust to multiple en-/decoding generations

- Supports 4:2:0 & 4:2:2 workflows up to 12bit 

- Smallest use of logic & memory (no external DDR), for FPGA (Intel / Xilinx) or ASIC 

- Runs 8K on CPU & single GPU

- Best quality up to 6:1 compression (from math. to visually lossless) 

- Few pixel lines of latency (less than 1 milliseconds end-to-end) 

- Embedded downscaler to decode 4K resolution from 8K TICO source without additional processing 

In a time of rising resolutions and the constant need for simplified connectivity (of things), many AV professionals are switching to IP-based infrastructures. TICO compression can reduce the bandwidth of an 8K 60p video stream to less than 8Gbps while remaining lossless quality and inducing virtually no latency. This enables users to run it over standard 10GbE networks (and CAT6 cables & switch) – a currently extremely cost-effective installation with the additional advantage of simple cable length extension by adding a switch every 100 meters. 

Especially the broadcast industry is massively invested in SDI infrastructures and prolong a costly conversion to Ethernet. To avoid the management of more cables, complex interfaces, additional complexity and the splitting of one stream over multiple cables, TICO 8K compression can enable its users to retain their current 16x3G-SDI or 4x12G-SDI cabling and still transport 8K video. 

Deploying mezzanine compression for 8K not only saves cost, but also greatly reduces power consumption and infrastructure complexity. Next to a reduced amount of cables, TICO compression also reduces the amount of cross-points in a matrix switcher from 6400 to a mere 25.

The transport of TICO compressed video over SDI is described in the SMPTE RDD35*. It specifies specifies TICO bitstream mapping and detection in 3G-SDI environments (including protecting the EAV/SAV codes). The transport of these 3G bitstreams over a quad-link serial digital interface, operating at a nominal rate of 12 Gb/s, is then defined by the SMPTE ST 2082.

Japanese national TV broadcaster NHK has already successfully implemented TICO for 8K over 12G-SDI and 10GbE– a crucial cornerstone for consolidating their leading role in 8K broadcast. Already demonstrating their implementations at NAB and IBC earlier on in the year, and with a first in-field test during the PyoengChang Winter Olympics, the Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK)* will launch their first 8K UHDTV channel in December 2018 under the name 8K Super Hi-Vision.

Implementable on various platforms, TICO compression is a versatile solution that offers its users the possibility to run the compression algorithm on FPGA, ASIC, CPU or GPU – all including the codec’s previously described features without limitations. 

>> With TICO compression at 5:1 compression ratio, it is possible to build AV equipment that offers pristine and robust quality during the transfer of 8K content over a single cable (12G-SDI or 10GbE), while inducing less than 1 millisecond of delay.