As a result of this partnership, Imerge will add GD3 cover art and metadata layering with other licensed databases, thus delivering the most comprehensive metadata and cover art recognition system currently available. Users of Imerge’s media server hardware around the world will benefit from an exceptional online repository of images and information, downloaded and displayed automatically to accompany virtually any movie or piece of music that the end-user chooses to add to his or her media library.

In addition to greatly enhanced cover art and metadata coverage, Imerge’s partnership with GD3 Data also delivers higher quality, hi-res cover images, while a specially developed ‘tool’ gives customers – both authorised dealers and end-users the ability to submit cover art and metadata for music and movies that are not currently represented within the database.

For example, if an Imerge user buys a brand-new DVD in Hong Kong and finds that related cover art and content information is not yet available on either the databases, he can use the submission tool to make the relevant additions himself. These are then uploaded to a special Imerge-GD3 database, the content of which can be accessed by Imerge users around the world.

Commenting on Imerge’s partnership with GD3 Data, Charlie Mertz, Imerge’s Business Development Manager, said:

"Imerge is committed to providing the most complete media server experience available, and for that reason we are partnering with GD3 Data to add cover art and metadata layering alongside the AMG database. The combination of these two market leading partners significantly improves the metadata hit rate across the world, enhancing coverage, giving access to higher quality cover art and allowing customers to add images and information for media that does not currently ‘look up’.”

“This GD3-Imerge partnership represents a significant turning point in the market where the server manufacturer is now taking an active role in metadata creation and correction,” said Doug Strachota, co-Founder and CEO of GD3 Data, LLC. “GD3’s been continuing to invest in tools and processes to allow provide our customers with more control and ownership the one key element of their interface where traditionally they had little or no input.”

Imerge Partners with GD3 Data: Key Benefits

• Improved WW coverage through GD3/AMG layering, creating the most comprehensive metadata and cover art recognition
system currently available
• Improved high-resolution cover art – enjoy Imerge’s new MediaServer MS1 GUI (Graphical User Interface) with hi-res cover images
• Ability to submit missing data to the Imerge-GD3 database

• Once data is submitted, it is immediately available to all Imerge media servers
• Erroneous entries can be corrected (proposed changes will be reviewed before being accepted to the database)

• Ability to add regionally specific metadata and cover art to the database (Chinese, Russian, Greek etc.) – this can be achieved through a range of search methods integrated into the submission tool, making the addition of metadata very easy.
• Search tools include UPC (barcode), text search, actors search for specific movies and so on
• Submission tool also can connect to range of digital scanners to scan and upload cover art

Imerge’s partnership with GD3 Data is effective immediately. End-users will benefit from access to cover art and metadata on the GD3 database from August onwards. The Imerge-GD3 submission tool is also available from GD3 Data or Imerge this month.

About iMerge: Based in Cambridge, England, Imerge is a global leader in hard disk media server technology. The company was formed in 1997 with the specific intention to revolutionise the way we store and use entertainment media; two years later it launched the first-ever dedicated audio server. The company’s current product range includes the world’s best-selling music server, the S3000, together with the MS1 MediaServer and XiVASafe ultra-secure storage system – the most advanced management and archiving solution for high-definition music and movies currently available. In addition to its own server range, the company’s pioneering development of Internet-enabled media management software under its XiVA brand has cemented its status as the leading supplier of OEM server technology to the custom installation and premium AV industry worldwide. Imerge is part of the Nortek Group of Companies.

Founded in 2004, GD3 Data is a market leader in CD/DVD encoding software and metadata. GD3 Data’s Encode Center software is a comprehensive suite of tools for automated encoding and server loading. The GD3 database is the choice of server-loading professionals worldwide and provides high-resolution cover images and extended metadata fields that no other data service can provide. With over two million CD and over 500,000 DVD titles, GD3 has unmatched accuracy, coverage, and high-resolution cover art demanded for high-end systems. GD3 Data delivers comprehensive coverage of the classical music genre, which has been largely overlooked by other data services and provides Orchestra, Composer, Conductor, Soloist(s), Instrument, Period and Style fields for every classical CD within its comprehensive database.