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Village Island Releases World-Wide the VICO-4, the "4K over Single 3G-SDI" Appliance Empowered by TICO
[March 21, 2017]

Village Island Releases World-Wide the VICO-4, the "4K over Single 3G-SDI" Appliance Empowered by TICO


Village Island, a video equipment supplier and integrator head-quartered in Japan, announces VICO-4 from the VICO series enabling UHD smart transport and powered by TICO, the revolutionary high-efficiency compression engine from intoPIX.

Using the new VICO-4 appliance, it is now possible to transport 4K base-band video over a single 3G-SDI, without losing any noticeable video quality and with zero-frame delay. VICO-4 takes in 4K as 4x 3G-SDI or 1x 12G-SDI and convert it into a single 3G-SDI. The unit can easily switch between Encoder and Decoder.

VICO is powered by TICO, the high-efficiency compression engine from intoPIX enabling 4:1 Visually Lossless compression with a total delay (encoder plus decoder) of only a few video lines (less than 1ms).

Why VICO?

  • As broadcasters move towards 4K, they desire to make a smart use of their current SDI facilities. The resulting 3G-SDI codestream signal can be interfaced with 3G-SDI uncompressed traditional devices such as Distribution Amplifiers, Storage/Playout system, Optical Transmitters, Matrix-Switchers and Routers,...
  • Because broadcasters operators have preference to ideally transport video as raw data (or equivalent to raw quality) and with near-to-zero delay.
  • To respond to the needs for SDI practical connection when IP is not an option or when the existing IP network is bringing inaequate constraints or complexity.
  • To offer a mission critical hardware that is simple to configure without requiring additional peripherals or software.
  • To offer ready-to-integrate appliance for OBVAN, studios and contribution system.
  • To resolve 4K-SDI cabling issues related to limitation of space and of distance between devices.



VICO handles 4K video as 4x 3G-SDI in both 2SI (2-Sample-Interleave) and SQD (Square-Division) modes, in Level A and B. It also supports 12G-SDI which makes it a unique gateway for new 12G-SDI devices.

SDI transport of TICO video data is done according to SMPTE RDD35 SDI specifications to enable interoperability with third-party vendors. Several interoperability testing have been conducted successfully. According to this spec, the resulting 3G-SDI codestream sees the SDI video active area replaced with the 4K compressed data. The complete ancillary data (ex: audio, time-codes, sub-titles, …) is transported as is.


TICO compression enables to preserve the original quality without any artefact detectable by the human eye. Encoding and decoding is achieved within a few video lines delay. Therefore VICO enables 4K transport over single 3G-SDI with lossless quality coupled with Ultra-Low Delay. VICO is available as OEM and ODM as well.

About Village Island
Village Island, with headquarters in Japan and subsidiary offices in Singapore and Malaysia, is a well-known supplier of audio-visual hardware and solutions for the broadcast industry. Village Island is an IABM member and a TICO Alliance member.

About intoPIX
intoPIX is an innovative provider of compression technology to audiovisual equipment manufacturers. It includes silicon IP-cores and software tools that enable leading-edge TICO and JPEG2000 compression, video over IP and hardware enforcement.


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