In Broadcast - February 2018 - 28

28

www.inbroadcast.com | Vol: 8 - Issue 2 | February 2018

InMedia

OTT Trends - Part II
In the second part of InBroadcast's look at OTT, Contributing Editor
Adrian Pennington explores the latest technologies in HEVC encoding
and the potential of blockchain in media...

N

obody likes to see a low-quality
stream, but thanks to years of
development in the live streaming
ecosystem and advancements in
internet connection speeds, we're
at a point where live video quality is
acceptable for the average viewer.
Where a few years ago live video was
mostly spotty and low quality 480p,
now it's common to see 720p Facebook
videos and 1080p YouTube videos
in live formats. Pushing 3-5 Mbps
is now possible on smartphone 4G/
LTE networks, with WiFi and Ethernet
bitrates able to achieve
via HDMI, connect an Internet
even higher.
source (Ethernet, WiFi, 4G
Furthermore, not only
USB modem) and choose a
do content producers have
destination to start streaming.
more bandwidth to stream
Once it's up on the Internet,
the video, but viewers
social media will do the rest.
have more bandwidth and
With shipments of 4K HDR
CPU to decode them on
TV sets are expected to exceed
their devices. Every new
30 million by 2020, according
generation of handsets
to IHS Markit, more and more
like Apple's iPhone X and
operators are turning to
Boundary pushing
Google's Pixel 2, as well as
HEVC (H.265) compression to
mobiles -
Apple iPhone X
new generations of cellular
deliver UHD efficiently. HEVC
networks like 4G/LTE, are pushing the also supports 8K Ultra-High Definition
boundaries on what video consumers video and resolutions up to 8192x4320
can access. What this means for live pixels.
stream producers is that delivering
The ViBE CP9000 contribution
a HD stream is pretty easy now, and encoder from Harmonic addresses
getting viewers who can watch it is the call for preserving video quality at
even easier.
the front of the broadcast chain with
the ability to process uncompressed
Steaming Rise
UHD signals at eight times the bitrate
According to the Global Web of current HD sources, up to 160 Mbps.
Index, viewing of live streams has The platform encodes content in a
risen 8% since 2016 on Facebook, single slice in real time via HEVC. Up to
Instagram and Twitter, totalling 28% two UHD or eight HD video channels,
of social media users who've seen and 16 audio channels, can be encoded
live video before. In addition, we've on the 1-RU chassis.
seen countless organisations of all
Harmonic targets the ViBE CP9000
sizes opting for Facebook Live over at DSNG vehicles, teleports and
traditional broadcasting avenues such flyaway packages. It is also compatible
as CNN, NASA, HBO, The Verge and with the Hybrid Log-Gamma (HLG) and
much more. This is because they know SMPTE ST 2084 (PQ) HDR formats,
live stream viewers will watch longer, ready for the next phases of UHD
comment and share videos, resulting content delivery.
in huge viewer turnouts.
Enterprise video and streaming
With encoders like the Teradek technology provider Haivision offers
VidiU Pro or Cube 705, all you have the Makito X HEVC video encoder.
to do is connect a video camera to it The system, which is designed for

Harmonic ViBE 4K UltraHD Encoder

Blockchain promises media payment
and security solutions

low latency video backhaul and
transmission applications, expands the
Makito X H.264 capabilities with dualchannel HEVC encoding and increases
the quality of IP video streaming.
The Makito X HEVC has all the core
features of the Makito X, including
dual 3G-SDI inputs, support for
up to 1080p60 HD video,
multi bit rate streaming,
KLV metadata support and
networking capabilities like
traffic shaping and optimised
bandwidth performance. The
new encoder also comes with
Haivision's Secure Reliable
Transport (SRT) technology
for video delivery over public internet
and firewall traversal. The unit is
compatible with HEVC broadcast
decoders, set-top boxes, soft players,
Haivision HEVC/H.264 transcoders,
and the Haivision Media Gateway.
Available as a firmware upgrade
for any Makito X encoder, Network
Adaptive Encoding dynamically adjusts
the video bitrate when available
bandwidth fluctuates. Leveraging
Haivision's SRT low latency streaming
protocol, changes in the network
capacity are detected and relayed to
the encoding engine. If the bandwidth
drops below levels that can support
the preset output bandwidth, the
bitrate is reduced to levels that will
assure the best video is transmitted.
If the SRT protocol detects that
bandwidth capacity is restored, the
encoding engine will increase the video
bitrate to maximise video quality.
Peter Maag, Chief Marketing Officer
of Haivision explains, "With Network
Adaptive Encoding, if your bandwidth

chokes, your stream keeps going. It
helps you plan for the best because we
have already prepared for the worst."
It's worth noting that over 70
companies have announced support
for SRT since Haivision made it open
source. Members who view SRT as an
alternative to RTMP, include Kaltura,
Harmonic, Limelight and Brightcove
along with Microsoft Studios.
"The adoption of SRT and the
excitement in the industry about the
technology and the alliance has been
overwhelming," says Sylvio Jelovcich,
VP of Global Alliances at Haivision. "As
they say, there is power in numbers.
The SRT Alliance has grown more than
80% since IBC2017 and we are well on
our way to making SRT a standard."
Beamr Imaging's Beamr 5 HEVC
software encoder is claimed to achieve
real-time 4K 10-bit HDR support
that is compatible with Dolby Vision,
HDR10 and HLG. The software has
been demonstrated running on the
high density 2U SYMKLOUD MS2910
platform.

Benefits: Beamr 5 HEVC software encoder

"Beamr's ground breaking HEVC
encoder running on SYMKLOUD is an
ideal enabler for video services looking
to move their channels over the top to
meet the consumer demand for video
anytime, anywhere," says Beamr VP,
Marketing, Mark Donnigan. "Industry
leaders looking for cost effective
HEVC solutions will find the Beamr
5 + Kontron MS2910 combination
extremely appealing and an enabler to
new distribution business models and
system architectures such as just in
time encoding."
VITEC's MGW Ace Encoder firmware
v2.0 is the next generation of the
company's hardware-based HEVC
encoder. Powered by the new HEVC
GEN2 codec, the MGW Ace Encoder
provides video quality of up to
4:2:2 10-bits HEVC encoding and is
claimed to surpass the second-best
competitor by 20% to meet the quality
requirements of demanding broadcast
applications.
http://www.inbroadcast.com https://www.blockchain.com/ https://www.apple.com/uk/iphone-x/ https://beamr.com/vanguard-by-beamr-content-adaptive-hevc-codec-sdk https://www.harmonicinc.com/products/product-detail/vibe-cp9000/
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