Posted by Derrick on May 22, 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 support of the WebM open web media project and the open sourcing of the VP8 video codec. Starting the third quarter of this year, Niagara SCX will enable users to capture and stream video utilizing VP8 – the high performance, open-source video codec that contributes to the WebM project under a royalty free license.
WebM gives developers the ability to innovate with and deploy high-quality video compression technology without the constraints of title-based royalty fees or other license fees. Device manufacturers can also integrate successive generations of video technology without additional royalties. End users will enjoy high-quality video and smooth video playback on all their web video devices, including low-power devices, such as netbooks and mobile phones. Mozilla, Opera, Google, YouTube, and many major software and hardware manufacturers have already expressed plans to support VP8 and WebM.
“Web-based video is the fastest-growing contributor to data usage over IP networks, and we applaud the introduction of a high-quality, open source video format option,” said ViewCast President and CEO Dave Stoner. “ViewCast always strives to enable our customers to achieve the best possible video experience on the Web. By offering support for both H.264 and WebM streaming formats, we reinforce our commitment to leverage new video technologies as they emerge, and keep pace with developments as the web continues to evolve.”
“A key factor in the web’s success is that its core technologies are open and freely implementable. Video is fundamental to the web experience, and developers and content publishers need an open video format option,” said Mike Jazayeri, Group Product Manager at Google. “We are excited ViewCast is joining a broad coalition of industry leaders supporting the WebM project to bring a new era of open innovation in web video.”
Niagara SCX software comes pre-installed on the Niagara Pro II, Niagara GoStream SURF and Niagara 7500 streaming media appliances. All ViewCast streaming media appliances are designed to deliver the quality, features and ease-of-use convenience that professional broadcasters demand. They are pre-configured, plug-and-play solutions that enable users to quickly capture and broadcast premium quality audio and video in multiple formats and at multiple bit rates – all simultaneously.
Tags: codec, h.264, media, Niagara SCX, open source, Project, software, streaming, Video, video compression, ViewCast, VP8, Web-based video, WebM
Posted by Derrick on May 21, 2010 under Video Streaming and Compression |
Envivio Inc. announced that StarHub has installed the Envivio Mobile TV head-end featuring the 4Caster C4 Three Screens encoder/transcoder, from Envivio, to extend the reach of the “StarHub TV on Mobile” service to more 3G mobile customers, including those using the iPhone. The encoding solution has also enabled StarHub to further enhance the efficiency of network resources in delivering its mobile TV service, which offers 25 premium branded channels of news, lifestyle, documentary and entertainment programs.
“To support hundreds of different 3G handsets for the streaming of 25 cable TV channels on mobile, it is important for us to make TV-viewing on mobile devices as seamless as that on television for customers,” said Ms Yeong Mun Ling, Vice President, Business Development and Integrated Applications, StarHub Ltd. “After deploying Envivio’s 4Caster C4 encoder, we are able to greatly reduce the complexity at our headend, using a single platform to encode signals for both 3G and HTTP content streaming. In addition, the H.264 Extreme Compression from Envivio ensures high picture quality, so our customers can enjoy the best mobile TV viewing experience even on the most sophisticated playback devices such as the iPhone.”
The 4Caster C4 encoder/transcoder encodes and protects the content in multiple profiles to enable Apple’s http live streaming technology. The adaptive live streaming combined with Envivio’s H.264 Extreme codec enables the delivery of the best picture quality regardless of fluctuations in network bandwidth.
At the same time as it is encoding for iPhone users, the 4Caster C4 system also streams the same content directly to other 3G handsets. Advanced features such as network-aware rate control and video display aspect ratio management help to ensure the best quality of experience for customers. StarHub subscribers with a 3G device access the mobile TV channels via StarHub’s mobile TV client installed on their phone or through a designated portal in their phone.
“StarHub is setting a compelling example for service providers operating in competitive markets,” said Envivio CEO Julien Signès. “The fact that they have chosen the 4Caster C4 attests to the value service providers place on the flexibility our solutions offer. StarHub is able to immediately satisfy its existing 3G customer base with a high quality TV service and at the same time provide a top quality service for its iPhone customers.”
The 4Caster C4 convergence encoding platform provides video compression for all Three Screens of consumer video – TVs, PCs and mobile devices – from a single platform. Designed to enable fixed line and mobile network operators to deliver content simultaneously across the full range of consumer devices, the 4Caster C4 is able to take multiple channels of content and encode them simultaneously to deliver multiple mobile TV profiles, multiple Internet TV profiles, or SD and HD IPTV profiles.
Posted by Derrick on November 4, 2009 under Video Streaming and Compression |
Wowza Media Systems, the media server software company, announced that more than 1,000 beta customers are using a preview release of its Wowza Media Server 2 Advanced software, including numerous customers who have already deployed Wowza Media Server 2 Advanced servers in production networks.
Among the first production deployments was global CDN Mirror Image Internet, which launched a Wowza-powered multi-protocol video delivery service for Flash, iPhone™ and other desktop and mobile clients. In addition to content delivery networks like Mirror Image, Wowza has seen a surge in adoption of its new server from online TV platforms and television broadcasters.
Early adopter Livestation, an online destination for global TV and radio news, is using Wowza Media Server 2 Advanced to offer live broadcasts from international channels like BBC World News, C-SPAN, Deutsche Welle, euronews and others to viewers on multiple screens – the iPhone, desktop and other devices.
“Wowza is changing the way the business of online video content delivery is conducted and is doing so in a way that generates value across the entire content delivery chain,” said Matteo Berlucchi, CEO, Livestation. “Whether you are an online TV platform like us or a content creator, the power and flexibility of the Wowza Media Server 2 Advanced cannot be ignored. And at the end of the day, that enables us to bring quality content to the everyday consumer on any device – a strong value proposition for our customers as well as our viewers.”
Spanish national broadcast channel laSexta and a UK-based TVCatchup, an online TV platform delivering over 30 channels from broadcaster like BBC, Sky and Virgin, have deployed Wowza Media Server 2 Advanced for concurrent Flash and iPhone streaming.
“Wowza gave us a unified streaming platform that greatly simplified our infrastructure and gave us tremendous competitive and cost advantage,” commented Guillermo Revuelta “The combination of these capabilities along with Wowza’s incredible customer support is what makes all the difference. I can’t think of television streaming without it going forward.”
“The Wowza unified workflow architecture is a real breakthrough,” said Nick Parr, co-founder, TVCatchup. “The ability to serve multiple client technologies from one streaming platform has greatly improved our market reach. As demand for our service continues to soar, Wowza remains our first and indeed the only choice for media servers.”
Wowza Media Server 2 Advanced is the world’s first multi-protocol unified media streaming platform to provide media properties, service providers, enterprises and other organizations the ability to deliver video to the three most popular digital screens – computer, mobile phone, and IPTV set-top boxes – without the need for costly investments in separate client-specific technologies for the encoding, storage and delivery.
“Wowza Media Server 2 Advanced provides a dramatic shift towards a democratization of video that is focused on the needs of all involved in the content delivery value chain, from creators to consumers. Instead of locking the industry into special-interest media platforms, protocols and players, Wowza 2 Advanced provides a unified platform for content delivery to multiple players” said Dave Stubenvoll, CEO and co-founder, Wowza Media Systems. “Built on the proven Wowza Media Server platform currently deployed by more than 30,000 licensees worldwide, Wowza 2 Advanced is the first media server software to truly unify streaming capabilities in a simple delivery workflow.” The Wowza Media Server 2 Advanced has been named a finalist in the category of Best Streaming Innovation by the readers of Streaming Media magazine. The winner will be announced on November 19 at the Readers’ Choice Awards reception at the Streaming Media West/Online Video Platform event in San Jose, CA. A live demonstration of Wowza Media Server 2 Advanced will be conducted at Wowza Media booth number 527.
Posted by Derrick on September 14, 2009 under Video Streaming and Compression |
Digital Rapids – the leading provider of tools and solutions for bringing television, film and web content to wider audiences — is bringing more than just advanced technology to this year’s IBC Conference and Exhibition, September 11-15 in Amsterdam. In addition to the IBC debuts of new and enhanced solutions in stand # 7.G41, Digital Rapids will be sharing its expertise with attendees both at the stand and in free sessions in the IBC Training Zone. Digital Rapids systems have also been chosen to power the encoding of content for the IBC TV News website and mobile delivery for the sixth consecutive year. For first time, IBC TV News will feature live streaming of news updates on the Web, complementing their on-demand news clips.
Digital Rapids’ award-winning TouchStream portable live streaming appliance will also be featured alongside the Datpresenter rich media webcasting service and software from Datmedia in stand IP511 in the IBC IPTV Zone.
“We believe it’s important to offer IBC attendees more than just the chance to experience our technology and products. Robust, versatile and efficient solutions are as important as ever with customers’ shrinking budgets and increasing audience expectations, but technology is just part of what media organisations need to meet these challenges. Customers are looking to us for expertise, guidance, and the flexibility to meet their unique needs,” said Clive Vickery, Managing Director, EMEA and Asia at Digital Rapids. “With a range of activities to share our solutions and knowledge both in and beyond our stand, we can help attendees learn how to maximise new revenue opportunities with the flexibility, efficiency and cost-effectiveness they need to come out of the economic storm stronger than ever. “
Posted by Derrick on August 11, 2009 under Video Streaming and Compression |
On2 Technologies, Inc. and Google Inc. jointly announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Google will acquire On2, a leading developer of video compression technology. Under the terms of the agreement, each outstanding share of On2 common stock will be converted into $0.60 worth of Google class A common stock in a stock-for-stock transaction. The transaction is valued at approximately $106.5 million.
“Today video is an essential part of the web experience, and we believe high-quality video compression technology should be a part of the web platform,” said Sundar Pichai, Vice President, Product Management, Google. “We are committed to innovation in video quality on the web, and we believe that On2’s team and technology will help us further that goal.”
“We’re thrilled that On2 is joining one of the world’s most innovative companies,” said Matt Frost, interim CEO of On2. “After intensive review of On2 products, Google confirmed our long-held beliefs as to the quality of our video technologies. This transaction is a testament to the hard work of every On2 employee and the strongest possible endorsement of our products and people. On2 will continue to improve, support and sell our products throughout the transition. We believe that Google shares our ambitions and know that our products and expertise, combined with Google’s globally recognized brand, ingenuity and resources, will create an incredible team.”
