Hitachi GST AVSM Software Into Sezmi HD Media Recorder

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies announced that Sezmi, a company redefining the television experience, has integrated Hitachi’s Audio Visual Storage Manager (AVSM) software into its latest HD Media Recorder. The first-of-its-kind personal TV service, Sezmi seamlessly integrates live television, on-demand movies, television shows and web videos in an easily self-installed system that automatically records, recommends and organizes the favorite shows of each individual member of the family.

AVSM Advantage: Multi-Stream Optimization
Simultaneously recording and playing entertainment content, through downloads and streaming digital media from the Internet, places huge demands on the hard disk drive (HDD) and conventional PC file systems used by most digital media recorders.

Many widely used digital video recorders (DVR) file systems, such as ext3 and FAT32, have no inherent ability to distinguish between a streaming application, such as playing a movie or viewing content from the Internet. In streaming applications, video frames or audio data must be delivered to the device in a predictable, uninterrupted way. So when conventional file systems are used in heavily loaded streaming environments, at some point, the deadlines for time-critical streaming tasks cannot be consistently met. As a consequence, frames are dropped, drives are overworked, operating temperatures rise, and quality of service (QoS) begins to diminish. Over time, as these files systems age, heavily fragmented disks can lead to chronic performance degradation and sometimes failure. Many of the quality and reliability problems normally attributed to HDDs can be mitigated by a different approach to streaming file management.

Supporting standard 3.5-inch drive, and new slim or small form factor 2.5-inch drive STBs/DVRs, Hitachi AVSM technology can seamlessly manage the mix of high-definition audio/video (A/V) streaming and best-effort file operations, such as electronic program guides or background IPTV downloads present in today’s most demanding STB and media server applications. Without sacrificing performance, AVSM can easily manage up to 4-6 HDTV (19.3Mb/s) streams from one 2.5-inch HDD and many more from a 3.5-inch HDD, while optimizing hard drive workload, performance and quality. Through ‘smart’ hard drive management, AVSM reduces disk drive duty cycle by up to 60 percent and eliminates file system fragmentation, ultimately helping to extend the life of the hard drive and host system, and improve the user experience. AVSM has a small system footprint on the host, and no additional hardware resources are required on the set-top-box, enabling seamless integration into virtually any multifunctional STB/DVR in the market today.

“As consumer television viewing habits evolve, we are constantly seeking new ways to enhance the viewing experience and connect people with programming they care about,” said Buno Pati, co-founder and chief executive officer of Sezmi. “From top to bottom our products are on the leading edge of television innovation. After working closely with Hitachi through the entire AVSM design process, we are confident that our consumers will now enjoy a more seamless and smooth viewing experience.”

“Sezmi is breaking new ground with their hybrid broadcast-broadband product and services,” said John Osterhout, director of marketing, Hitachi GST. “As a leading global provider of consumer electronics hard drives, we understand the unique requirements of this specialized market. Their product/service offering is a perfect example as to why we developed AVSM. We look forward to growing our relationship with Sezmi and watching their offering accelerate in new markets around the U.S.”