BCA Show Daily - Day 2 - 36

36

SUNTEC SINGAPORE

A part of

MARINA BAY SANDS * SUNTEC SINGAPORE

Think 4K Distribution Isn't
Viable Yet? Think Again.
The market penetration and affordability of UHD TV's is increasing
rapidly, says Fabio Murra - SVP, Product & Marketing at V-Nova...

T

oday's consumers want bigger, better and
ultimately to view content in glorious 4K.
Global online content providers, like Netflix,
are currently leading the way in delivering
such content, but where does that leave the
traditional broadcaster?
I have spoken to several broadcasters and
operators recently, and all are looking to either
distribute their first 4K channel or add more
channels to their existing network.
So, what is the main factor holding back 4K
streaming for broadcasters and operators?
The availability of 4K content continues to
be a challenge today; whilst 4K production
equipment costs are steadily falling, the
overriding limitation that is causing a slow
uptake in broadcasters and operators offering
4K content is the bandwidth required to
distribute it, whether it be over satellite,
digital terrestrial or OTT. Netflix can stream
good quality 4K VOD at just over 15Mbps,
but the processor-hungry HEVC codec must

A major sports tournament is
currently being streamed in 4K

cut corners during live encoding, resulting
in bitrates ranging from 20Mbps to 40Mbps
for good quality live content. In fact, there is
a major sports tournament currently being
streamed in 4K at bitrates within that range.

These bitrates make the distribution of
the service costly for operators and service
providers, and unattainable to consumers
at scale. Not many of us as consumers can
receive those bitrates, whatever our ISPs

TOT Completes Installation
of Phase II Actus System
I

ts history dates back to 1954 with fixed
line telephone; it evolved through mobile
telephony, and recently added multimedia
and content services. TOT is also a network
operator.
TOT's search for a multimedia monitoring
solution was initiated by a few incidents
that occurred around TOT's fibre optic link
while delivering live sport transmissions to
broadcasters.
There was a need for an affidavit system
to record and provide a proof of delivery
throughout the various phases of the
transmission.
Mr. Boonma KhamPoy, Director of the
Broadcasting Operations Sector of TOT, said:
"Actus' system was found to be the most
reliable during tests and, in the beginning of
2017, we installed our first Actus system for
video logging and monitoring of live signals.
"Following that installation, if any dispute
occurs today, we are able to provide proof of
performance by exporting the recorded clip to
our customers."

The Actus system included the View
module for recording and playing
content, the Alert-Center for real-time
alerts on issues in the feeds, and a light
Mosaic system for multi-viewer wall
monitoring.
The system was installed and
integrated by Advanced Digital Tech
(ADT), one of the leading broadcast
equipment distributors in Thailand and
distributor of Actus products. ADT also
provides maintenance and support to
guarantee a good working system.
At the end of 2017, TOT defined a
Phase II project to increase the number
of channels and to add recording from
IP and ASI feeds. Both phases are
now completed and integrated into
one centralised system using Actus
components.
Mr. Supat Sirithamrat, Managing
Director of Advanced Digital Tech Group
Co. Ltd, said: "TOT had requirements
regarding video logging and monitoring,

Clips can be re-edited on the Actus Clip Factory

Actus Clip Factory is designed for broadcast linear recording

Show Daily | Wednesday 27 June 2018

optimistically tell us.
Thankfully there is another (slightly less)
well-known option. PERSEUS Plus from
V-Nova uses a unique approach that works
with other industry-standard codecs to add
an additional layer of quality and efficiency,
typically enabling broadcasters to stream at a
higher resolution; for example, 2160p instead
of 1080p, at the same bitrates.
PERSEUS Plus H.264 content can be
played on all existing consumer devices
without reducing battery life, and plug-in free
in any browser. More importantly, for 4K, its
efficiency during encoding means that it can
run with the highest quality settings, in a live
encoding system with a similar processing
overhead (and therefore operational cost) to
native H.264. This all means it can achieve
comparably high quality live 4K at around
10Mbps. This can translate to a vast increase
in the addressable audience for services,
or a substantial increase in the number of
channels that can be carried over satellite,
IP, etc. And that's a game-changer for the
business viability of 4K distribution.
At stand 6K3-03 in Suntec, V-Nova is
demonstrating its PERSEUS Plus video
compression showing high-quality live 4K
streaming at under 10Mbps. V-Nova is also
demonstrating an end-to-end 4K primary
distribution workflow using PERSEUS Plus in
partnership with Measat at CommunicAsia.
www.softlab.tv
to which Actus complied with their solutions
such as Actus View, Clip Factory, Alert
Center, and especially taking into account
Actus' seamless scalability.
"TOT also found our Actus-based solution
to be the most cost effective. Following the
first phase installation at TOT, that included
6 x HD, 8 x SD, and 2 x IP channels, TOT
followed with a second phase this year
and had extended its capacity to 44
channels including ASI feeds.
"Actus supports scalability without
changing infrastructure and, to date,
TOT is satisfied with the system's
performance."
One of the largest broadcasting
equipment distributors in Thailand,
Advanced Digital Tech (ADT) Group Co.,
Ltd. is an importer of Video Server and
Broadcasting Equipment and distribute
to TV stations, Video Production Houses,
Education Institutes, and Governmental
Offices, was founded in February 2005.
TOT Public Company Limited is a
Thai state-owned telecommunications
company. Originally established in 1954
and incorporated in 2002. TOT's main
line of business is fixed line telephony,
although it has several other businesses,
including mobile telephony, networks and
multimedia. Visit us on stand: 4S3-01.
www.actusdigital.com
http://www.softlab.tv http://www.softlab.tv http://www.actusdigital.com http://www.actusdigital.com
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of BCA Show Daily - Day 2
