Posted by Derrick on August 5, 2010 under Video Streaming and Compression | 
Sorenson Media announced that the Sorenson Spark Software Developers Kit (SDK) has been licensed by Marvell Technology to incorporate the Sorenson Spark decoder in Marvell products. Sorenson Spark will be included in the company’s platform solutions designed to scale with set-top boxes, media players, e-readers, netbooks, smart phones, high-performance tablets and other advanced mobile devices.
Sorenson Spark is the industry’s most ubiquitous video codec and was the first codec used in Macromedia Flash, now Adobe Flash. The decoder exclusively enables the playback of hundreds of millions of videos on the Internet, including those on YouTube, the single largest online video destination today. The Sorenson Spark SDK allows developers to integrate the Sorenson Spark decoder into a wide array of programmable chipsets and semiconductors. The kit is designed to provide Sorenson Spark decoding on any platform, including custom silicon.
Marvell is a leading fabless semiconductor company with expertise in microprocessor architecture. Marvell’s multiple platforms included networked Blu-ray players, set-top boxes, media players, mobile and wireless, and high volume storage solutions. These are used to power the complete value chain of mobile and wireless devices.
“Marvell is a technology leader, driving highly efficient and scalable platform solutions for consumers worldwide,” said Douglas Cebik, director of business development of Sorenson Media. “Now, the company’s high performance mobile platforms will be able to play Internet video using the industry’s most common codec and consumers will enjoy more complete access to the full world of online video.”
Tags: Adobe Flash, codec, flash, media, media players, Mobile Devices & Technology, online, online video, sdk, smart phones, Sorenson, Sorenson Media, Sorenson Spark decoder, Video, video codec, videos on the Internet
Posted by Derrick on April 28, 2010 under Video Streaming and Compression |
ViewCast Corporation, a developer of industry-leading solutions for the transformation, management and delivery of digital media over IP and mobile networks, announced the release of Niagara SCX 6.2 – an enhanced version of the company’s powerful streaming media management software that now supports HTTP-based adaptive streaming to Apple iPhone, iPad and iTouch mobile devices. New features include integrated segmenting, adaptive bit-rate encoding, support for CDN authentication protocols, and built-in AES-128 encryption. Niagara SCX software supports all of the most popular media formats, including Adobe Flash Dynamic Streaming, Windows Media, RealVideo, 3GPP and others.
“The adaptive and dynamic capabilities that we’ve brought to Niagara SCX 6.2 will markedly improve the live streaming delivery experience for both broadcasters and iPhone users,” said Dave Stoner, President and CEO of ViewCast. “By eliminating the need for an external stream segmenter, we have also simplified encoding workflows and reduced overall system costs. Adaptive HTTP streaming for Apple iPhone mobile devices is the first of many extended features that we have planned for Niagara SCX v6 software in 2010.”
Tags: 3GPP, adaptive, Adobe Flash, Apple, bit rate, Corporation, devices, Dynamic, encoding, HTTP-based, iPad, iPhone, iTouch, live, management, media, mobile, Niagara, RealVideo, SCX, streaming, ViewCast, windows media, workflows
Posted by Derrick on March 11, 2010 under Video Streaming and Compression |
Digital Rapids — the leading provider of tools and solutions for bringing television, film and web content to wider audiences – unveiled the new StreamZHD Live ABR encoder, the industry’s highest-performance Adaptive Bit Rate streaming system. The latest model in the StreamZ Live family, StreamZHD Live ABR encodes and streams live HD and SD content at unparalleled quality for delivery through the latest generation of adaptive streaming technologies.
StreamZHD Live ABR supports the Dynamic Streaming capabilities of Adobe® Flash Media Server®; adaptive HTTP streaming to Apple® iPhone® mobile devices, and Microsoft® Internet Information Services (IIS) Smooth Streaming to Microsoft® Silverlight® powered viewing experiences. StreamZHD Live ABR is also easily extensible to support additional adaptive delivery technologies, such as Adobe’s upcoming HTTP Dynamic Streaming (announced as Project Zeri).
Adaptive bit rate streaming enables higher-quality viewing experiences with television-like continuity and reliability on the Web and mobile devices. StreamZHD Live ABR creates multiple output streams at varying bit rates and resolutions from the input source. As the content is delivered to each viewer, the chosen adaptive delivery technology automatically switches between these streams to deliver the best possible quality based on the viewer’s current network and local system conditions. The results are consistent, uninterrupted viewing experiences up to HD quality even under dramatically changing network connectivity and playback conditions.
Building on Digital Rapids’ long-standing ability to output multiple formats, resolutions and bit rates simultaneously in real time, StreamZHD Live ABR provides superior encoding performance for adaptive delivery. Combinations of up to seven HD and SD streams can be output simultaneously in real time from a single StreamZHD Live ABR unit. StreamZHD Live ABR can output streams up to full 1920×1080 at 30fps in the H.264 compression format — including simultaneous 1080p and 720p outputs — and up to 720p with VC-1 compression. Multiple StreamZHD Live ABR systems can be synchronized to encode the same source for adaptive streaming applications requiring a greater number of simultaneous streams. A single StreamZHD Live ABR unit can also create outputs for multiple platforms — such as the Web and iPhone — concurrently.
Adaptive bit rate technologies also minimize the initial viewing delay typical with earlier streaming methods, providing fast start-up times approaching the immediacy of traditional television. The historical approach of content providers offering streams in two or three tiered bit rates for the viewer to select between — often with poor results under changing conditions or if viewers over-estimate their capabilities — is also no longer necessary. Viewers simply start viewing from a single engagement point, with the adaptive technologies managing the bit rate dynamically.
StreamZHD Live ABR combines all of these benefits with the proven advantages of Digital Rapids’ StreamZ Live encoder family, forming the ideal adaptive streaming platform. Advanced video pre-processing features including motion adaptive de-interlacing with pixel-level analysis and video noise reduction deliver superior visual quality with the most efficient use of bandwidth in the compressed result. Video adjustments and graphic overlay enable refinement of incoming sources and the addition of branding to output streams. Multiple StreamZHD Live ABR encoders can be combined with the scalable Digital Rapids Broadcast Manager software for enterprise-class management, automation, scheduling, multi-channel monitoring and failover.
“Our live encoding and streaming solutions have long been regarded as the quality leaders, but even with the best encoding quality, the viewing experience can be constrained by delivery challenges such as varying network bandwidth. StreamZHD Live ABR combines our superior quality and robust, enterprise-class features with advanced delivery mechanisms to significantly improve the viewer experience,” said Darren Gallipeau, Product Manager at Digital Rapids. “Higher quality and consistent reliability lead to longer viewer engagement times, which in turn offer greater monetization opportunities to content owners. Meanwhile, the exceptional performance of StreamZHD Live ABR lowers the cost of encoding for adaptive streaming by producing all of the outputs within a single unit.”
The new StreamZHD Live ABR model is now shipping. Full adaptive streaming capabilities are also available in Digital Rapids’ versatile StreamZHD multi-format, live and on-demand studio encoders.
StreamZHD Live ABR and other Digital Rapids solutions will be showcased in booth number SL6010 at the 2010 NAB Show, April 12-15 in Las Vegas. For more information about Digital Rapids, please visit http://www.digital-rapids.com/.
Posted by Derrick on February 23, 2010 under Video Streaming and Compression |
Onstream Media Corporation, a leading online service provider of live and on-demand internet video, corporate web communications and content management applications, announced the official launch of its high quality, live mobile video streaming service enabled for iPhone and BlackBerry users.
The new mobile video streaming service was developed with Onstream Media’s leading Digital Media Services Platform (DMSP) technology which services clients in the Global 2000, Media and Entertainment, and Business-to-Business community. The service is device agnostic, enabling adaptive and segmented streaming to popular mobile devices using Akamai’s Content Delivery Network. Onstream Media’s new mobile video streaming service, along with their digital subscription storefront, was recently implemented by Ocean20 Technologies Group LLC, a customer that specializes in wireless applications and systems architecture. The service enables subscribers to receive live and/or on-demand mobile wireless-based video including concerts and other live entertainment on their mobile “smartphones” including Blackberries and iPhones. Ocean20 recently webcasted the rock band Creed live and will soon provide live mobile wireless streaming for additional rock groups, directly to these smart phones.
“Going with Onstream Media was a logical decision for us,” said Joseph McGowan of Ocean20 Technologies Group, LLC. “Not only is Onstream Media a proven, high quality and reliable service provider of video streaming live and on-demand events for the Media and Entertainment industry, but they also have great, cost-effective and easy-to-use solutions to help monetize our online business, including integrated pay-per-view, subscription and ad streaming technology. Onstream Media enables our customers to expand their audience for streaming rock concerts beyond PCs to hundreds of thousands of smartphones.”
“There’s no denying that mobile computing represents tremendous potential to engage and interact with an incredibly vast, global population of users,” said Randy Selman, President and CEO of Onstream Media. “Onstream Media prides itself on our innovative and entrepreneurial spirit which continues to drive new advancements to help our clients attract, interact and grow an online community of loyal followers – all without large technology investments, IT know-how or costly resources.”
Onstream’s live mobile video streaming service automatically monitors incoming video signals before and during a live stream and automatically detects the type of video to insure best possible results. In addition, Onstream’s mobile video streaming service is integrated with the Akamai Content Delivery Network to deliver video in all the popular formats including Adobe Flash, H.264, VP6 and Windows Media/VC-1. The solution also leverages Akamai’s HD Network which enables content providers to deliver more HD content than previously possible due to its globally-distributed EdgePlatform of more than 50,000 servers, wide-scale distribution in 70 countries and increased throughputs in more than 900 networks.
Tags: Adobe Flash, BlackBerry, content, devices, h.264, internet, iPhone, live, mobile, on-demand, service, Smartphones, streaming, VC-1, Video, vp6, windows media
Posted by Derrick on February 20, 2010 under Video Streaming and Compression |
Sorenson Media announced that Samsung has licensed the Sorenson Spark video codec to offer their mobile device customers broader access to the largest selection of videos on the Internet right from their mobile handsets. Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., a leading mobile phone provider, will integrate the Sorenson Spark decoder into its mobile phones sold in South Korea and China.
With the Sorenson Spark decoder, Samsung will be able to give mobile consumers access to the widest and deepest base of online video content, including hundreds of millions of videos inaccessible through any other codec.
Sorenson Spark is the industry’s most ubiquitous video codec and was the first codec used in Macromedia Flash, now Adobe Flash. Sorenson Spark enables mobile devices and other consumer products to playback the largest selection of videos on the Internet, including those on YouTube, the single largest online video destination site today.
“Samsung has established itself as a global leader in mobile communications and we are thrilled to partner with them to use Sorenson Spark to bring greater capacity to their mobile video technology offering,” said Douglas Cebik, director of business development for Sorenson Media. “Mobile device users want to view all online video content and cannot do it without Sorenson Spark.”
