In Broadcast - October 2014 - 72

I N T E R N A T I O N A L

WWW.INBROADCAST.COM | ISSUE 36 - OCTOBER 2014

N E W S

InFILE

Broadcasting Online Content
Just how are manufacturers meeting the increasing needs of broadcasting online content...

By Philip Stevens
Contributing Editor

E

72

arlier this year, a survey by
Strategy Analytics disclosed
that the global installed base of
Connected TV devices (Smart TVs,
Games Consoles, Blu-ray Players,
Digital Media Adapters and SetTop Boxes) will exceed two billion
units by 2018. And that creates an
ongoing need for developments
that meet the demands of those
offering 'alternative' viewing habits.
So, just what are manufacturers
doing to accommodate the evolving
requirements?
A n d y S a l o , V P P ro d u c t
Management, RGB Networks
says the company is offering
scalable, unified solutions for
multiscreen video delivery to any
device. "There is no doubt the
IPTV industry is finally seeing
the beneﬁts of cloud computing
- with our CloudXtream solution
representing a major transition.
The time period associated with
network provisioning, cabling and
conﬁguration required for specialised
hardware deployment and upgrades
can be reduced to almost nil, thanks
to cloud deployment models. Also,
given the cloud's innate ability to
scale to meet ﬂuctuations to support
peak demands, it is the ideal space
for services like targeted ad insertion
and nDVR to be deployed."
Salo believes another area of
innovation is the development of the
technology 'Docker'. Essentially, this
does the same work as OpenStack
and other cloud technologies that
operate at the virtual machine (VM)
level, but at the application stage.
This will provide a 'virtual container'
for apps that can sit either on a
VM or an actual hardware server,
maximising flexibility for video
service providers.

Flexible Tool
The Cloud is also a major
consideration for Latvia based,
Veset. It has developed a playout
solution, called Nimbus Cloud
Playout, which takes full advantage
of cloud-based resources.
"By the nature of the architecture,
it is very synergetic with OTT
and IPTV distribution channels,"
explains Chief Commercial Ofﬁcer,
Fraser Jardine. "We've seen that
many industry players do not yet
immediately recognise the difference

between streaming and cloudbased playout. What we deliver is
a very ﬂexible tool that allows for
the creation of new channels. Our
approach is agnostic in terms of
distribution and our playout delivers
linear channels to satellite head end
or cable, OTT and IPTV."

Double Offering
Accenture is a provider of software,
Accenture Video Solution (AVS),
and a Systems Integrator and
operator for multi-faceted solutions.
"AVS is a modular software
platform that enables linear, ondemand and interactive digital
video services over any broadband
IP network to any media device,"
explains Sef Tuma, Accenture
Digital Video Global Offering and
Strategy Lead. "It can integrate
linear programming, available
through cable, satellite or terrestrial
broadcasting to offer a hybrid
broadcast and broadband solution."
Tuma adds "Given our pedigree
in Systems Integration, we can
break apart and re-combine our
solutions to fit the needs of a
client's business model - whether
the commercialisation of video
across various transaction types, the
combination of an OTT offering with
an existing IPTV or cable solution,
using video as a marketing channel,
or a highly ﬂexible supply chain to a
number of distribution points."

Unified Interface
Modular is also the concept behind
Appear T V's approach. "Our
XC5000 Series Signal and Video
Processing platform provides
users with a complete, in-the-box
integrated platform with a uniﬁed
open standard user interface
that can support all broadcast
processes for delivery across
multiple carriers to any device
from a single compact modular
HW frame," explains CEO, Carl
Walter Holst.
He says that the unique modular
nature of the video processing
platform allows broadcast, cable,
satellite and telecom providers to
select from the different Appear
TV modules to create a solution
custom-tailored to their needs. "It
offers modules designed to support
video and signal processing all

Aspera's on-demand cloud solutions eliminate the bottlenecks of conventional
ﬁle transfer technologies

through the broadcast chain
including decoding, decryption,
descrambling, transcoding
and encoding to all screens
simultaneously with the capability
to adapt, edit and process the PSI/
SI data and provide modulation and
high-end IP functionality for a wide
range of network types."

Multiple Uses
Wowza Media Systems also
provides both OTT and IPTV
services using its Streaming Engine
software to power the delivery of
traditional and ABR streaming to
any IP-connected screen.
Chris Knowlton, VP & Streaming
Industry Evangelist, says:
"Streaming Engine software is
typically used to ingest incoming
linear channel streams from a
traditional broadcast encoder,
transmux - or 'repackage' - each
channel in real-time into multiple
streaming formats and then publish
those streams to content delivery
networks or directly to end-user
devices. If needed, the Engine can
be used with the optional Wowza
Transcoder AddOn software to
transcode the incoming streams
into H.264 video and AAC audio,
as well as to transrate the content
into multiple quality levels for
ABR streaming."

Education Need
According to Matthias Greve,
CEO of ABOX42 GmbH, the
biggest challenge for operators
is understanding the difference
between IPTV and OTT solutions,
and how to achieve their target
solution in a most effective way in
the shortest time.
"ABOX42 was one of the first
companies to introduce a H.265/4K
IP Set Top Box platform in 2014.
We see the request for more

efﬁcient streaming technologies -
especially in OTT, having a greater
demand than 4K capabilities
today. This will change over time
when more 4K content is available
from broadcasters and Hollywood
studios. So today H.265 offers an
immediate beneﬁt for operators,
whereas 4K seems still to be a
marketing feature, which is getting
more important and which at some
point will reach mainstream, as well."

Looking At 4K
And talking of 4K, Robert Rowe,
Snell's Managing Director of Live TV
says a key challenge in the move to
4K is ensuring a seamless transition
and integration into an existing
infrastructure.
"We're helping our customers
make the transition to 4K by putting
it at the centre of our products,
including the Sirius 800 routing
switchers, and the Kahuna 360
multi-format production switcher,
which can do full 4K wipes plus
animated transitions all from the
internal clipstore.

Matthias Greve,
ABOX42

"...The biggest
challenge for
operators is
understanding the
difference between
new IPTV and OTT
solutions

"

CONTINUED ON PAGE 73
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