XOrbit, a manufacturer of broadcasting automation, management, and distribution solutions launched Xilex, a revolutionary new process to embed closed captions directly to MPEG video files.

While many broadcasters have worked to eliminate videotape from their facilities, nearly all captioning is still done on tape. Even using digital videotape is highly inefficient and costly, requiring content producers to send their digital material to videotape before it can be captioned.

Xilex inserts captions directly into SD, HD, program, and transport stream MPEG files without the need to encode physical media. Programs can be captioned in a fraction of the time of the former, tape-based process. Through full integration with the broadcaster's digital asset management (DAM) system, Xilex receives captioning data and video data in separate file formats, embeds the captions based on timecodes, and then automatically restores the captioned MPEG to the DAM or a separate storage device. Xilex eliminates the need for a VBI encoder to deliver video to air, and the system is unique in its ability to handle both the program file and the transport stream — making it ideal for video-on-demand applications. 

"Until now, closed captioning has been one of the last tape-based holdouts in a typical broadcasting operations environment, which is increasingly defined by digital, file-based processes and systems," said Steven Blumenschein, president of XOrbit, Inc. "With Xilex, we're closing that gap and enabling customers to realize a full transition to digital operations, with significant savings in time, costs, and editing resources." 

The Xilex server is packaged as a 1-RU solution with full API documentation and development support. The system works with standard ATSC MPEG-2 files, and supports an extensive list of caption file formats including NCI, CaptionMax, Vitec, Soundwriters, CaptionColorado, CCS, RapidText, Cheetah, and many others. Xilex will be demonstrated at the 2008 National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) show in April in Las Vegas.