What is LifeSize announcing?

LifeSize continues to set the pace for innovation in the video communications industry, and we extend our leadership even further with new products that continue to change the way people think of video communication. The LifeSize offerings provide the greatest quality, flexibility and price performance available. Specifically, LifeSize is announcing 3 new and improved HD video communication and telepresence products, including LifeSize Room 200, the industry’s first video communication system to offer 1080p30 and 720p60 resolution. The company also is announcing LifeSize Conference 200, which offers the industry’s highestquality standards-based telepresence experience. Additional products announced include LifeSize software and infrastructure products. These and other LifeSize products extend the company’s leadership in the video communication industry by offering a superior quality of experience, unique flexibility and unmatched price performance.

Products introduced today include:

• LifeSize Room 200 (new)
• LifeSize Conference 200 (new)
• LifeSize Team 200 (new)
• LifeSize Networker (updated)
• LifeSize Transit (updated)
• LifeSize Gateway (updated)
• LifeSize Multipoint Extension (updated)

What are the specific “firsts” today?

LifeSize Room 200 is the first video communication system to ship with Full HD -- standards-based 1080p30 and 720p60 resolution. LifeSize Conference 200 is the first Full HD (1080p30/720p60) telepresence solution.

LifeSize Team 200 enhanced HD communications for workgroup conferencing includes dual HD camera and displays and a built in HD multipoint bridge– less than the price of competing point-to-point, single monitor products. Haven’t other companies announced 1080p solutions? Some companies have announced that they will have 1080p solutions in the future. LifeSize is announcing our products are available for sale now with shipment in early November.

Isn’t Cisco’s telepresence a 1080p solution?

Cisco TelePresence is not built around industry standards, which is an obstacle for most businesses. To get Cisco’s $300,000 system to interoperate with the worlds hundreds of thousands of HD and SD standards-based video endpoints requires a $100,000 investment in switches and bridges. LifeSize Conference 200 is the world’s first Full HD standards-based (1080p30/720p60) telepresence system.

Didn’t TANDBERG announce a 1080p solution?

Tandberg has announced a solution, but the actual availability of the solution is stated to be January, 2009. In addition, the solution that Tandberg announced does not support 720p60.

What is telepresence?

Telepresence is simply being present at a distance. It is connecting people around the globe for a more effective means of communication. To achieve telepresence , start with a superior HD video architecture, then optimize that architecture with cognitive (lighting and acoustics) and aesthetic (room design and furniture) elements to suit a company’s requirements, budgets and tastes.

How do other telepresence offerings compare to LifeSize?

The fundamental problem with most telepresence rooms is they create an artificial studio-like atmosphere. Due to the limitations of their video architecture, they have to enhance the cognitive and aesthetic elements to a much greater degree than does LifeSize. A telepresence room from some other vendors requires significant and expensive infrastructure investments for the system to work effectively. By contrast, LifeSize Conference allows customers the flexibility to tailor their system to suit their décor, budget, available space and desired level of immersion, with the option of using their existing furniture and monitors.

How does LifeSize Conference 200 differ from LifeSize Conference?

The quality of the Conference 200 is even greater and the flexibility is enhanced. LifeSize Conference 200 uses the LifeSize Room 200 to encode and decode video at resolutions up to 1080p30 or 720p60. In addition, it surpasses even the industry leading bandwidth efficiency of LifeSize Conference.

How does LifeSize Conference 200 differ from other telepresence solutions?

LifeSize Conference represents the ultimate in flexibility for telepresence solutions. Unlike other telepresence solutions that are fixed room configurations, LifeSize Conference is the first telepresence platform which can be tailored to the customer’s environment. With LifeSize Conference, companies can build their telepresence networks on a superior architecture while customizing the cognitive (lighting and acoustics) and aesthetic (room design and furniture) traits to fit their requirements, budgets, and tastes.

LifeSize Conference 200 includes – 3 LifeSize Room 200 codecs, 4 LifeSize Camera 200 HD cameras, a LifeSize Phone, software for an AMX touch screen control panel and installation guidance, for$49,999. Adding 4 large flat-panel monitors (3 video monitors, 1 data monitor), a conference table and chairs, customers can deploy a complete telepresence suite for less than $80,000 per room.

LifeSize Conference includes a detailed Optimization Guide defining recommended camera position, monitor position and size, lighting, acoustics and suggested room configuration – the cognitive science that creates the sensation of eye-contact and face-to-face communication. Aesthetic recommendations are also included, from style of furniture to wall color, which can further enhance the immersive effect.

Tell me about the importance of video resolution. Why should I care?

LifeSize delivers Full HD in LifeSize Room 200, and True HD in all other video products. Full HD is 1080p30 and 720p60. True HD is 720p30 resolution. There are three components to video quality –frame rate, resolution and scan type. In video communication, these are expressed in an abbreviation such as 720p30.

To replicate face-to-face human interaction, frame rate is critical. Higher frame rate delivers fluid motion and a sense of realism. The LifeSize Room 200 codec delivers 60 frames per second frame rate at 720p resolution, for an amazing, crisp, lifelike motion.. It also provides 30 frames per second at 1080p resolution. Frame rate is the last number of the abbreviation.

Resolution is a measure of video quality – how many pixels make up an image. The horizontal resolution is expressed in the first number of the abbreviation. 1080p delivers 1,080 horizontal lines of resolution. 720p delivers 720 horizontal lines. HD systems use a wide format, 16x9 aspect ratio, so the 1080p image is 1920 pixels wide by 1080 pixels tall, and 1280x720 for a 720p system. By comparison, US standard definition televisions have 486 horizontal lines (648 x 486) and DVDs have 480 lines (720x480). Standard definition (SD) video conferencing (H.263) only delivered 400x244 resolution, or about half the quality of old broadcast TV.

Finally, there is the scan type, progressive or interlaced. LifeSize uses progressive-scan technology exclusively, meaning every line is refreshed in every frame cycle. That is the “p” in 720p and 1080p, as compared to interlaced resolution, (1080i) where only half the lines are refreshed in a frame cycle. Progressive scan offers superior image quality.

Why does video resolution matter so much?

Quality drives realism, satisfaction and system usage, which in turn deliver value to the customer and increase return on investment.

Many standard definition (SD) video systems were bought with great hopes that they could reduce travel and improve communications, but the quality of the experience was so poor that these hopes were not realized. Standard definition systems have very low usage rates because they fail to deliver on the promise of video.

When LifeSize delivered the world’s first True HD system (720p30) in 2005, it was a giant leap in video technology – about nine times the video resolution of SD video systems.

With HD, the promise of video became a reality – a technology that could accurately replicate a face-to-face communications experience without the need to travel. Communication improves, decisions are made faster, business cycles are accelerated and expenses are reduced.

With these latest products, LifeSize has advanced the technology even further, delivering an experience that replicates natural human interaction more accurately than ever before.

What makes LifeSize different from other solutions?

LifeSize Room 200 and Conference 200 are built on a next-generation HD video architecture. This efficient, high performance design optimizes every element of the system, from the HD camera to the video, audio and networking systems within the compact, sleek unit. This “glass-to-glass” technology advantage delivers superior quality of experience, unique flexibility and unmatched price performance. This video architecture is unique to LifeSize, and allows LifeSize to deliver a superior quality of experience, unique flexibility and unmatched price performance, with no tradeoffs.