NAB 2012 closed its doors two weeks ago, so it’s a good time to draw an appraisal on various themes concerning OTT issues, and especially premium OTT issues, that have been handled through industry technology offer during the tradeshow. Here we’ll go from production to distribution and examine the salient NAB facts and products, at least the ones which have a potential influence on OTT workflows evolution in the coming months (or years ?). 
RAMP’s MediaCloud is the Web’s first platform to leverage cloud computing to deliver a comprehensive solution for generating and managing all types of rich metadata. Considered the “currency” of content, metadata includes the speech transcripts, time-stamped tags, categories/topics, named entities, geo-location and tagged thumbnails that comprise the backbone of the interactive Web. Paper "Towards Peer-Assisted Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP" from the IEEE International Packet Video Workshop 2012 ![Harmonic Sets the Bar for High-Volume Multiscreen VOD Transcoding With New ProMedia Xpress [PR] | Video Breakthroughs | Scoop.it](http://img.scoop.it/E56uKmcgDkoSf92hmLEaADl72eJkfbmt4t8yenImKBVaiQDB_Rd1H6kmuBWtceBJ)
ProMedia Xpress uses Harmonic's market-leading H.264 codec technology to deliver excellent video quality without impeding transcoding speeds, thereby improving video workflows for content owners and service providers, enabling them to deliver a significant increase in content hours while adhering to processing timetables and video quality targets. Facilitating cost-effective, faster-than-real-time transcoding of broadcast-quality content for multiscreen VOD delivery to mobile devices, PCs, and connected TVs, ProMedia Xpress allows operators and media companies to launch new services efficiently without compromising on the quality of their offering.
ProMedia Xpress employs Harmonic's new MicroGrid parallel-computing technology to achieve a dramatic improvement in transcoding performance. MicroGrid's video-centric approach for exploiting multi-core computing environments eliminates the bottlenecks associated with traditional transcoding approaches. By employing all available processor core capacity, ProMedia Xpress can scale effectively to provide remarkable transcoding performance without the need for custom computing hardware. 
DASH is the new Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP standard from MPEG. This patch adds the support for DASH in GStreamer, through the new bin elementDASHBIN.
More in detail, the patch adds 3 new elements to the gst-plugins-bad-0.10.23plugin package: 1) mpdcommon: an helper library to browse and manage the DASH MPD manifestfiles; 2) mpdparse: the mpdparse plugin, that detects and parses the MPD manifestfiles; 3) dashbin: the DASH client, implemented as a src bin;
A simple usage example is:gst-launch \dashbin location=http://example.com/dash_manifest.mpd \! qtdemux ! queue ! ffdec_h264 ! xvimagesink One of the most compelling factors of a satisfying a rich user experience is the initial
Softel has launched MediaSphere Bridge, a revolutionary new solution for two-screen interactive television that enables seamless and dynamic experiences between first and second screens. Unlike ACR (Automated Content Recognition)-based systems, MediaSphere Bridge takes advantage of Softel’s extensive heritage in triggering technologies and uses in-broadcast triggers (Softel iMarks) to link the television and second screen experience and offers control back to the broadcaster and operator. In turn, the viewer is offered a truly enhanced dynamic viewing experience.
An ACR approach to the second screen usually requires battery-draining audio triggers to be listened for constantly on the second screen device, and regularly cuts the broadcaster out of the loop through fragmented OTT (Over The Top) services. MediaSphere Bridge places the broadcaster and operator firmly at the center of the enhanced viewer experience. Broadcasters are able to reliably link content on the television with tablets or smart phones, to drive seamless two-way interactions.
SEE PRODUCT PAGE : http://www.softelgroup.com/products/mediasphere-second-screen-products/ 
Content delivery network EdgeCast Networks has launched its OpenCDN federation platform, allowing network operators to cache customer content in markets and regions where they have no infrastructure.
The platform is an alternative to the traditional geoexpansion/network investment tradeoffs operators have struggled with.
EdgeCast also announced it has recently been granted several patents on techniques relating to CDN interconnection, broadening its intellectual property portfolio to include CDN federation.
Current participants in the EdgeCast federation include a large, tier-one North American operator as well as Pacnet, one of Asia's largest carriers.
Harmonic Inc. today announced Iris 2.0, the newest version of its video quality monitoring and analytics software suite. Featuring an enhanced graphical user interface and integration with several of the industry's leading monitoring solutions. 
As the dust has finally settled from NAB, I’d like to reflect on the key themes we saw from this year’s show : - multi-network, multi-screen video services have continued to serve as “must have” features - Multi-screen security was quite the hot topic - Standards MPEG-DASH, UltraViolet & HTML 5 have made great strides in simplifying life - Future-proofing your network has never been more important in a multi-DRM world. 
The MPEG-7 AudioVisual Description Profile (AVDP) has become a new ISO International Standard. The profile is specially designed for representing and exchanging metadata generated by automatic extraction tools, such as speech-to-text transcription engines and videoshot detection algorithms. 
Consumer electronics manufacturer Philips is taking its Smart TVs to the next level with Smart TV Premium, allowing viewers to stream content to iPhones and iPads.
Using the local Wi-Fi network, consumers can watch content from their regular TV set on their mobile devices. Philips Smart TVs already offer the possibility to control their TV set using their iOS device as the remote. 
The BBC is going to use companion screen apps to enhance the enjoyment of programmes but also introduce audiences to what can often be a wealth of programme related information and interactivity online. The broadcaster will launch its first companion screen app this September in the form of a play-along game for Antiques Roadshow, a gentle Sunday night affair where the public bring family treasures for experts to analyse and value. The BBC is harnessing the fact that most viewers already try to second-guess the experts with their own valuations. You will be able to play the game whether you are watching live or on-demand.
Victoria Jaye, Head of IPTV & TV Online Content at the BBC, used Connected TV Summit last week to make the announcement but also outline the general companion app strategy for the broadcaster. She views show-related companion activities on smartphones, tablets and even the PC as a way to explore new creative opportunities. She made it clear that ownership of the app, in terms of the content and viewer experience, will belong to the production teams and that this is considered crucial. The production department will drive the format, while the technology development team will realise their vision. |
SAMSUNG is set to launch OLED TVs in Australia in coming months capable of displaying two TV channels at once.
The technology, demonstrated in January at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, will allow two people sitting side-by-side to watch two different channels at the same time, in what is a variation of the current 3D technology.
Research firm DisplaySearch said Samsung and LG were set to do battle at the high-end of the Australian market when the OLED TV's finally reached Australia.
Samsung's technology, called "smart dual view" 'is set to overtake conventional 3D as TV's cool new feature.
Rival LG already had released a form of dual view on its Australian TVs for gaming which allows two people to see their aspect of the same game full-screen on the same display using modified 3D glasses. 
Hillcrest Labs today announced that it has released the source code for the award-winning Kylo Web browser to the open source community for the first time. Kylo is a free, Mozilla-based TV browser uniquely designed to view online content on TVs connected to the Internet.
Hillcrest will provide the Kylo source code under the Mozilla Public License (MPL) 2.0 to enable developers to create new and different versions that extend its features and enables new uses. As such, developers can copy, modify and redistribute the Kylo platform and source code without a separate commercial license, and without paying royalties or fees. Hillcrest will remain active in the future development and support of the Kylo browser for TV. The open source version of Kylo is available for free via download at GitHub and www.kylo.tv. 
In an opening day keynote to the Streaming Media East conference in New York City, Matt Frost, senior business product manager for Google Chrome, guided the audience through the past and the possible future of online video.
Google's approach to HTML5 solves many of the problems facing content owners today, Frost asserted, explaining how the Chrome team is devoted not only to making sure HTML5 video works well in Chrome, but also in other browsers. Its goal is to improve HTML5 video so that it can fulfill the same role that only Flash plays today.
Frost listed key areas where HTML5 needs improving: content protection, adaptive streaming, and captioning. The first two are especially important to premium content owners, he said, and Google is making progress on all three.
Skytide today announced the next generation of its CDN analytics and reporting solution. Skytide Insight for Content Delivery Networks 3.0 introduces real-time reporting, a completely redesigned user interface, technological advancements and integration capabilities. 
Out of all the companies with industry-standard video editing apps, only Avid has managed to release a Cloud-based version – and this only recently. How is it that Forbidden Technologies has been able to get so far ahead in this space?
Many companies have tried to use a readily available web video streaming technology, such as MPEG, to base their editing system on. The eight year lead Forbidden has in its frame accurate cloud post-production platform shows just what an obstacle it is to try to fit together pieces designed to solve the wrong problem. 
The Future of Broadcast Television Initiative gathered representatives at the NAB Show this week to begin its formidable quest to develop a worldwide broadcast TV standard. “The challenges of a global specification may seem daunting, but the benefits of achieving such a goal are enormous,” said Switzerland's Phil Laven. The new standard would replace a variety of incompatible digital standards now in use. The hope is the new specifications will let TV stations broadcast future services like ultra high-definition television and 3D as well as improve mobile recepton and integrate broadcasting fully with the Internet.
Whitepaper : SyncNow audio watermarking with Axon Synapse DAW77
Axon has worked in conjunction with Civolution to package the SyncNow watermark embedding technology into a Synapse form-factor module – the DAW77.
There are two methods of synchronizing the companion device application to the program material being transmitted : time related and event triggered. - Event Triggered applications have a different payload structure; it is made up of an extended ID without any time reference information. In this case each ID is sent when the broadcaster wants the companion device to change what it is displaying. 
Matt Frost of the Chrome Web Media Platform team will demonstrate how HTML5 can achieve feature parity with Flash.
It's less than one week until Streaming Media East begins, and HTML5 will again be a top topic for the two-day web video conference. Providing the opening-day keynote is Matt Frost, senior business product manager at Google Chrome. We spoke to Frost to get a preview of what attendees will learn during his address. For Frost and his team, building out HTML5 is a major priority. 
We’ve seen the future of television, and we want it now.
NDS, a company that develops DRM security and DVR technology for pay-TV providers like Cox and DirecTV, has developed a proof-of-concept called Surfaces that shows how television could become the center of a much more compelling, immersive living room experience.
The prototype jettisons the single, static screen that’s been a hardware mainstay since the golden age of television. In its place is a slick, highly customized room-sized desktop that hosts not only a traditional widescreen TV image, but also windows for a plethora of digital accoutrements.
It could be exactly what the TV industry needs to stay relevant.
Netview and CodeShop announce a joint solution combining their respective server and client SDKs with compatible and unified support of multiple formats, notably MPEG-DASH. 
A new social TV startup called Vidpresso launched a new product today that enables TV operations to easily display tweets and Facebook updates on the air. While the technology isn’t new, the price may catch the eye of cost-conscious TV stations: the product starts at $400 a month.
The interface is very simple. You start by adding social accounts into the system, and the tool displays the latest updates, @ mentions and Facebook comments in an integrated stream. Producers can quickly pick the updates and comments they want and click the “send to air” button. 
Tips for media players by CDN veterans: Make sure your client is streaming server and CDN compliant!
This blog article helps developers of Smart TVs, Smart Phones, Tablets, SetTopBoxes and Software video clients to better understand the dynamics of a Content Delivery Network so they can improve the way their client integrates with Content Delivery Networks. |
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