This week at IBC Canopus previews the Canopus HQ+ codec, the third software codec option in the company?s codec collection for EDIUS Pro 3. The Canopus HQ+ codec is scalable up to 1920 x 1080i resolution and is specifically aimed at quality-critical applications, such as compositing and 3D animation .

The Canopus HQ+ codec uses 4:2:2 color sampling to attain 1920 luma samples and 960 chroma samples per line for a full 1920 x 1080 interlaced frame and is claimed to provide quality comparable to uncompressed HD, but at about one-fifth the data size. HQ+ codec also maintains picture sharpness by not scaling the image.

"The unique way the Canopus HQ+ codec processes HD video provides users with picture quality that compares to uncompressed HD, yet requires considerably less bandwidth," said Hiro Yamada, founder and chairman of the board of Canopus . "This savings in disk space makes HD production more efficient and stable."