Vidyo

Key takeaways

Vidyo belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Vidyo to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Vidyo from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Vidyo, Inc., founded as Layered Media, provides software-based collaboration technology and product-based visual communication products. It is currently owned by Enghouse Systems. The company's VidyoConferencing products are the first in the videoconferencing industry to take advantage of the H.264 standard for video compression, Scalable Video Coding (SVC). The firm's implementation of this technology enables video communication across general purpose IP networks.

History Vidyo was founded by Ofer Shapiro, who had developed the first IP video conferencing bridge and programmable gatekeeper technology at Radvision. He left Radvision in early 2004 to develop improved video conferencing networks. Packet loss and latency that accompanies general purpose IP networks posed significant challenges to the existing systems. Costly dedicated networks and expensive Multipoint Control Units (MCU), which exacerbated delay due to transcoding or forced all endpoints to conform to the least common denominator endpoint quality, were the only products the industry had to offer at that time. He realized that to take advantage of state of the art H.264 compression technology, the fundamental technology behind video conferencing systems had to change. Shapiro's efforts resulted in a paradigm shift for the video conferencing industry - a new system architecture. It was based upon Scalable Video Coding (SVC) which allowed for error resiliency which was absent in monolithic encoding schemes that were common throughout the industry. Implementation of SVC for only some system components offered little value. The full benefit of SVC required re-designing both the endpoint (client) and MCU (server), a costly and time-consuming proposition for incumbent providers of video conferencing systems. Unencumbered by a legacy product line, Shapiro developed a new architecture in which the MCU was replaced with a low-cost router and all of the encoding and decoding was done at the end points. At the end of 2004, Shapiro obtained support from Avery More in early 2005; and secured seed funding by October 2005, led by on Bayless of Sevin Rosen Funds. Operating in stealth mode through the beginning of 2007, Shapiro's team created a video conferencing product with HD quality video, that effectively addressed the interactivity inhibiting delay common in legacy systems, and enabled each end point to send and receive at its highest quality levels, irrespective of the other end points and the network. Layered Media licensed its technology to its first OEM customers early in 2007. In June 2007 Layered Media secured series B funding, with Rho Ventures joining in to lead the round. Shortly after Layered Media changed its name to Vidyo, Inc. By the beginning of 2008, Vidyo emerged from stealth mode with a product offering for the enterprise market and an annual licensing price model. In the first quarter of 2009, Vidyo raised another round of funding, led by Menlo Ventures joining Rho Ventures, Sevin Rosen Funds, and Star Ventures. In early April 2010, the company announced another $25 million from their Series C round of financing, bringing the total amount of capital raised by the company to $63 million since its founding in 2005. All existing investors, Menlo Ventures, Rho Ventures, Sevin Rosen Funds and Star Ventures, participated in the round, which was led by Four Rivers Group. In May 2010, Vidyo launched its Software Development Kit (SDK), enabling developers to build multipoint video conferencing applications into Android and Moblin-based smart phones and tablets running Intel Atom Processor Z6xx series-based platforms (formerly Moorestown) and on ARM processor-based platforms. In June 2010, at Infocomm in Las Vegas, Vidyo demonstrated the first videoconferencing system to attain 1440p (decode), at 2560 × 1440p resolution, in an HD multiparty video conference via general purpose IP networks. A few days later, the company announced a partnership with HP to expand the HP Halo portfolio to include conference room and desktop endpoints that run on enterprise networks. In May 2012, Vidyo announced a fourth round of funding securing $22.5 million bringing the total amount invested to $97 million. In April 2013, Vidyo announced a fifth round of funding securing $17.1 million bringing the total amount invested to $116 million. In March 2016, Vidyo integration was added to KioWare Kiosk System Software, creating a video conferencing kiosk solution. On May 15, 2019 it was announced that Vidyo, Inc. was acquired by Enghouse Systems Limited (TSX:ENGH) for a purchase price of approximately $40 million. Vidyo's current annual revenue is approximately $60 million.

Products Video-chat service for Nintendo's Wii U game console was co-developed with Vidyo, Nintendo European Research & Development and Nintendo Software and Nintendo Software Technology. VidyoRouter is an appliance that performs the packet-switching function. The VidyoPortal is a Web-based environment used to access and manage the VidyoConferencing system and accounts from anywhere with internet access. VidyoDesktop is a software-based endpoint, managed via VidyoPortal, able to support HD quality video. HD-200 is a High Definition room system endpoint. The HD-100 is an entry-level High Definition room system endpoint. Both of these products are managed by the VidyoPortal and interoperate with VidyoDesktop users. VidyoGateway is an appliance used to connect legacy video conferencing systems with the VidyoConferencing network. The VidyoCampus Program is used by colleges and universities to deploy the system to every desktop throughout their collaboration community. VidyoHealth is a scalable high-definition telemedicine product that uses the public Internet and existing general purpose IP networks at medical facilities for doctor-patient and doctor-doctor interactions.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Vidyo

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Vidyo claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Vidyo before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Vidyo ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Vidyo

In research: Vidyo appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Vidyo in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Vidyo is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Companies based in Bergen County, New Jersey, Hackensack, New Jersey, Teleconferencing, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Vidyo outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

How to study Vidyo in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Vidyo means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Vidyo out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Vidyo in simple terms?

Vidyo, Inc., founded as Layered Media, provides software-based collaboration technology and product-based visual communication products. It is currently owned by Enghouse Systems.

Why does Vidyo matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Vidyo?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Vidyo.