The MediaTech
Vantage account needs to be created. Please contact the administrator
Articles
Thought leadership articles by IABM and our members Articles taken from IABM's journal and at show papers To submit your article email marketing@theiabm.org
Bonneville identified the need to automate and centralize their billing and payments procedures.
They wanted a solution to streamline payments including cash-in advance transactions and to centralize client-specific activity for improved communication regarding receivables.
After implementing a well-known collections management software package, Bonneville realized that there were needs specific to the media industry that could not be addressed with this industry-agnostic solution.
Furthermore, their advertiser clients found the payment portal complicated which led to virtually full abandonment and extended delays. Bonneville had zero visibility into the “buy” side of the portal, so customer service also diminished. Bonneville was forced to revert to processing all payments manually.
As every IT professional knows, regular data backups are a critical part of any business continuity plan. Here are a few tips and best-practices to help ensure your organization’s WideOrbit systems are adequately backed up so you’re prepared in the event of a server failure or data corruption.
Our Professional Services team offers consulting services to help guide you through developing and implementing your backup strategy. For assistance with any of the best practices that follow, please contact Support for more information.
Fifty years ago, back when my father built our cabin off-grid by hand, sustainability was called environmentalism and considered hippy, not hip. In that time global energy consumption has increased 173%, in an ever-upward trend – until COVID-19. As of the 28th of April, 54% of the global population was in some form of lockdown. Global energy demand declined 3.8% in Q1 2020, with full-lockdown countries experiencing an average 25% decline in energy demand per week, and those in partial lockdown 18%.
Paul Massara, former CEO of npower and fellow Board Advisor to iSIZE, who deliver machine learning bitrate and energy reduction and perceptual quality enhancement for video, notes that, “At the same time, global carbon use has reduced around 5% as economies have slowed and airplanes have remained grounded. And yet if we are to hit our net zero targets and keep global temperature rises to less than 2%, we require a 7% year on year reduction in carbon, year in year out. The challenge is to achieve such carbon reductions without a crashing of the world economy.”
This blog is based on a presentation made by Dr Yiannis Andreopoulos of iSIZE, as part of the Stanford Compression Workshop 2021. The complete presentation can be seen in the video below:
Video now makes up the vast bulk of internet traffic, in terms of bandwidth. Consequently, in the continuing search for efficiency and capacity, there is much interest in the perceptual optimization of video: the processing of digital video streams such that they deliver the quality users expect at the minimum bandwidth.
Digital video relies on compression, which is a processor-intensive process. Inevitably, to increase the efficiency of a codec, to deliver high quality content while reducing the bandwidth requirements, one must use codecs of higher sophistication – of much higher complexity. However, Moore’s Law and cloud-based scaling have both hit a wall. Even if more GPUs and CPUs are made available to encode video content, www.isize.coinfo@isize.co there is so much content being produced and watched that it very quickly outstrips the compute cycles available.
Our approach is to reduce the bandwidth needed for high-quality video streaming through a process that uses machine learning to reduce the bits required for elements of the image that perceptual metrics tell us are not important to human viewers. It is clear that finding trade-offs between the various metrics, between bitrate and perception, and managing processing and encoding complexity is a challenge.
The iSIZE proposal is a server-side enhancement that is cross-codec applicable. By placing our technology before the encoder, we ensure it does not depend on a specific codec, and it optimizes both for low-level metrics like SSIM (structural similarity index metric), as well as for higher-level (and more perceptually-oriented) metrics like VMAF. Because it does not break coding standards, it can be used in existing distribution chains and with existing client devices.
We call our pre-processing a deep perceptual optimizer (DPO) because it uses single frames and applies a deep neural network that is optimizing perceptual quality of the subsequent encoding.
DPO is trained offline with large volumes of content and a virtualized model of an encoder that incorporates the effects of inter- or intra-frame prediction, transform and quantization, and entropy encoding in learnable functions. This emulation of a practical encoder means that we can ‘teach’ the pre-processing network how typical encoders will distort the incoming pixel stream at typical encoding bitrates. At the same time, we can get a rate estimate for a range of quality levels. This trains DPO to minimize the expected bitrate of an encoder when encoding the DPO-processed content, while at the same time maximize the encoder’s perceptual quality.
We estimate perceptual quality via a number of perceptual models that are based on established metrics that compare original and compressed frames. Using reference-based metrics ensures our pre-processing will not deviate from the source aesthetics. It also helps us understand where perceptual quality metrics activate, so we can develop our own updates to the metric methodology, thereby improving the system even further.
In a practical deployment, DPO sits just before a standard encoder with no change in the workflow of encoding, bitstream packaging, transport, decoding and playback on client devices. Importantly, there is no need for DPO to have access to (or change) the settings of the encoder, or even know what encoding standard is being used.
The single-pass nature and decoupling from specific coding standards allows for easy deployment on custom hardware or high-performance CPU/GPU clusters. For instance, DPO runs in real time (for 1080p/60 content) on mainstream CPUs in use within data centers, such as the Intel Xeon Platinum 8259ci with 12 cores under Intel’s OpenVINO framework. Alternatively, realtime operation can be obtained on NVIDIA Tesla T4 GPUs with OpenCV cuDNN.
What does the DPO achieve? It delivers significant savings in two directions. First, it reduces the bitrate required from a standard codec to deliver a certain quality level. Second, and perhaps more significant, it reduces the complexity – the number of processor cycles – of the encoder to deliver that quality.
Overall, DPO improves on multiple state-of-the-art quality metrics, and across multiple video encoding standards. We believe we can go further since our approach offers compounded gains to any encoder-specific perceptual quality optimization: a real, measurable, significant saving in bitrate without impacting visual quality.
Streaming high-resolution video typically comes with an inevitable trade-off between available bandwidth and quality of experience for the end user. Delivering uncompromising video quality typically requires excessively high bitrates, which can result in slow starts, video buffering and high content delivery network (CDN) and storage costs. As the percentage of IP traffic attributed to video increases (estimated to already surpass 82%), these problems are only exacerbated, driving greater urgency for new innovations to address these challenges.
Traditional solutions that attempt to minimize bandwidth without compromising quality are centered around the development of more intelligent video encoders; either by replacing rate control, quantization and prediction strategies within them, or the entirety of a standard video coding pipeline. The latter, however, is a particularly risky proposition for video encoding services, since it requires the creation of bespoke transport mechanisms and decoders across multiple client device types. Likewise, improvements generated by a standards-based codec remain severely constrained by its inherent compliance needs.
We are joined by the newly appointed Group Managing Director of Boxer Systems, Marc Risby to discuss his new role within the company.
We also hear how with 30 years’ experience in the broadcast and ProAV industries, Marc has seen a number of challenges and changes so discuss what the biggest challenges we currently face as an industry are and what Boxer Systems are doing to help their customers overcome these.
Finally, we talk to Marc about the future and what we and their customers can expect to see from Boxer Systems in the coming months.
MOG has provided with its partner Tera Adria an automated production solution for RTCG Montenegro, which consisted of a smooth HD-SDI 6 channel recording and card ingest, with playback and quality control, directly integrated with AVID’s Interplay check-in and Nexis. The workflow required an additional layer of central management and automation, fully boosted by MAM4PRO. Read the Full Case Study below.
Radio and Television of Montenegro is a public service broadcaster of Montenegro. A state-owned company with its headquarters in Podgorica, it is made up of Radio Montenegro (RCG – Radio Crne Gore) and Montenegro Television (TVCG – Televizija Crne Gore). In July 2001, RTCG became a joint member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), and became a full member of the EBU upon the declaration of Montenegrin independence in 2006. RTCG has three TV channels: two terrestrial, one international; it also has a radio station, with two radio channels.
The Partner
Tera Adria Technology was founded in Jun 2016 in Belgrade. Its main goal is to bring to broadcast market of Adria region new ideas and solutions in the field of TV and Radio production. Tera Adria’s focus is in field of integration of IT business solutions for modern needs of media business. Its engineering team have more than 20 years of experience in a field of IT based production. Experience gained while working on the biggest public service of the region, while working on a position of leading experts, bringing technology available to everyone.
MOG give us some flexibility and options to use one solution for many purposes. We have here, loop recording, ENG card based ingest, delayed playback, ingest for production system well as for program play-out …. All this managed through same UI and within one system!
Nenad Cukalovic, CTO – Tera Adria Tehnology
The Challenge
As a public broadcaster, RTCG Montenegro is quite accustomed in working with multiple projects at a time, thus needing a flexible solution to keep up with the demand, without significantly increasing production costs and physical space for production equipment.
It was requested a unified solution able to record multiple channels simultaneously with proxy generation, delayed playback, and card ingest, to be directly delivered to AVID’s Interplay and Nexis for post-production.
It was also essential to have the capability to playout the media in the same system, and, finally, be able to control all those operations from the same GUI, in collaboration with remote users.
The Solution
In order to answer the customer’s requirements, MOG, with the help of Tera Adria, has installed on RTCG premises tree mediaREC servers with Loop Recording, able to perform two recording operations each, resulting in the acquisition of six HD-SDI Input/Output channels. TwomediaMOVE servers were also acquired to ingest media from cards in XDCAM HD, and tree mediaPLAY servers were also integrated into the system, to ensure a smooth delayed playback and quality control of the entire operation.
All of those sources were directly delivered to AVID’s Interplay check-in, while supporting the generation of simultaneous HI-Res and Low-Res formats, giving AVID users immediate access to the media, either for management (PAM) or editing (edit-while-ingest). Additionally, the media was also automatically stored in AVID Nexis, for further workflow continuity.
Another useful addition to RTCG production workflow was MAM4PRO’s management system, deployed on an Xpress server, with additional automatic scheduling capabilities boosted by mediaSCHEDULER.
The result was a unified system, able to record, transcode, ingest, playback and schedule from a single User Interface, accessible from a browser, that facilitates the control and management of the entire operation.
The pandemic saw swathes of the global population confined to their homes leading to an unprecedented spike in content consumption that has accelerated the future of Over-The-Top (OTT) streaming services and Connected TV as we know it.
With OTT and Connected TV users hungrier for content than ever before, brands have been fiercely competing within the increasingly competitive market to deliver more for users, with 2020 being the year that reshaped the future of OTT and CTV for good.
Innovation: Giving users what they want
In recent years, the OTT and Connected TV space has grown rapidly, more recently accelerated by the impact of COVID-19. With the acceleration of the market, the demand for quality content and feature-rich applications is increasing, meaning brands need to innovate to keep their users coming back for more.
To combat this, brands must take into consideration the fact that they must be unique within this market and set themselves apart from the rest, and this can be done through innovation. Subscription businesses that want to see success in the coming years need to remember that they will be fighting for priority. This means the more unique or needs-based a subscription service is, the more likely it will be to make it onto consumers’ shortlists in the future.
Due to the OTT and Connected TV space becoming more competitive, brands are having to introduce new features to not only attract new users but also retain existing users. Recently, BT Sport introduced their new ‘Watch Together’ feature, which allows customers using the award-winning BT Sport app on mobile devices to watch, see and chat with friends in a split-screen view while streaming BT Sport channels. This is a great example of giving people more and staying ahead of the game, allowing BT Sport to stand out from other big players in the market through their new in-app feature.
When considering the future of OTT and Connected TV, as well as giving people more, it’s also important to note that the overall UI (User Interface) and UX (User Experience) of a Connected TV app will play an important part within this space in years to come, as users are more inclined to get rid of the apps that don’t satisfy their needs, making the look, feel and features of a TV application of paramount importance when trying to attract and retain users. We will no doubt see more and more users opting for OTT platforms that satisfy their needs in terms of overall UX through a compelling and engaging UI, and getting rid of those that don’t.
With the number of ‘cord-cutters’ rising year-on-year, the demise of cable TV has certainly accelerated and will continue to do so in the coming years, meaning we could soon see the majority of households cutting the cord for good, resulting in big players like Sky TV and Virgin Media TV losing their footing in the market.
The NFL has already harnessed the power of D2C with their global Gamepass App allowing them to further monetise their content in a branded NFL app alongside broadcasting through traditional platforms. In the UK, the English Football League currently broadcasts games on a PPV basis through their ifollow platform, might we see the Premier League go the same way?
In the future, we can also expect to see many smaller brands take advantage of the OTT and Connected TV space which was once ruled by “tier one” media and entertainment brands, as new, innovative solutions continue to make the TV landscape less fragmented, making developing a TV app more affordable for smaller brands to break into the market and serve more niche interests.
Mobile vs Connected TV: Who will win in the end?
One of the many benefits of OTT is that users can access content from all sorts of devices such as mobiles, tablets, laptops, Smart TVs, Set-Top Boxes and gaming consoles and this is something that a large proportion of subscribers take advantage of when on the go.
However, as the pandemic struck and users retreated to their homes, we have undoubtedly been reminded of the demand for Connected TV and providing users with TV applications via the “10-foot experience” is an integral part of any OTT strategy.
Looking towards the future, not only is a multi-device strategy essential to competing with other brands in this space, but it’s also a key factor in retaining those all-important users. Therefore, OTT providers must deliver consistent experiences across a wide range of devices, and this is something we are already seeing from the likes of Netflix and Amazon Prime for example.
With the rise of 5g, it is apparent that this network will play a huge role in enhancing the mobile experience for users as it becomes even easier to consume content on the go. The bigger picture means that demand for both Mobile and Connected TV is here to stay. Both short-form, which tends to be enjoyed more on mobile, and long-form content generally consumed through Connected TV, could become complementary as opposed to mutually exclusive, as apps that have a multi-device strategy and deploy across both can integrate seamlessly for a pleasurable user experience (UX).
The last 12 months has accelerated an already growing industry, seeing more of us cut the cord than ever before and this could signal big changes in the future of both traditional and digital broadcasting. However, as the market becomes more crowded, brands will see an increase in competition with more companies attempting to break into the OTT and CTV space, enticed by lower barriers to entry and the promise of big rewards.
Within this new TV revolution, brands must stay ahead of the game in the years to come as users are demanding more and more, and this is something which brands must deliver on to ensure they are retaining their existing users and providing them with an experience that trumps the rest.
Discover the benefits of OTT and CTV for brands, advertisers and consumers in an industry in the phase of unprecedented growth.
OTT (Over The Top) and CTV (Connected TV) are currently in a phase of unprecedented growth, and with the impact of COVID-19, viewing habits have changed dramatically. OTT and CTV are the future and there has never been a more exciting time for brands, advertisers and consumers to reap the benefits of what this burgeoning landscape has to offer. In the following blog, we look at the difference between both OTT and CTV and delve deeper into the benefits of these technologies.
OTT vs CTV: What’s the difference?
OTT generally refers to content and is defined as a streaming media service offered directly to viewers over the internet. OTT devices are essentially any device that delivers media over the internet by connecting to a TV. Examples of OTT streaming services include Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, and Disney+.
CTV is a particular form of OTT TV, which generally refers to specific internet-enabled devices that have access to content beyond traditional broadcasting. CTV also includes set-top boxes such as Amazon Fire and Roku and gaming consoles such as Playstation and Xbox.
Benefits for brands
OTT and CTV allow brands the opportunity to tap into a growing market that is expected to reach $86.80 billion by 2026. As technology and consumer habits continue to change, brands must look towards OTT and CTV services as a means of widening their reach.
Developing OTT apps allows viewers to instantly stream their favourite content via the internet on their connected device of choice, meaning brands can deliver content in new ways.
Ability to monetise content
Brands can take advantage of OTT monetisation through subscription or advertising. Take Netflix for example. This is defined as SVOD (Subscription Video on Demand) where consumers can also consume content uninterrupted by ads. Equally, brands could create an AVOD service (Advertising Video on Demand) which can generate ad revenue. Examples of AVOD include All4 and YouTube.
OTT & CTV not only provide major benefits for brands looking to reach new audiences but also offer a plethora of benefits to consumers as well. In Q4 of 2020, the UK on average watched 88 hours of OTT content per month, showing how steep the rise in popularity is of OTT platforms due to their many benefits.
Benefits of OTT platforms include:
Connectivity
OTT platforms are extremely easy to use as they only require an internet connection.
Convenience
OTT platforms are becoming increasingly popular due to the convenience factor as these platforms allow you to access your favourite media content any time you like, wherever in the world you may be, provided you have an internet connection.
Content variety
Through VOD (Video On Demand – similar to OTT only if the OTT platform isn’t purely for live streaming) services, users can access thousands of TV programmes and films at the click of a button.
It is evident that OTT & CTV is the future of media, and with the impact of COVID-19, media consumption has sky-rocketed. Traditional cable TV continues to lose viewers and with the global OTT market set to double by 2023, brands have an unprecedented opportunity to reach new audiences. There has never been a better time to get involved in the OTT space and join the Connected TV revolution.
Connected TV is in one of its most exciting phases of growth, with more content choice than ever at our fingertips. It is apparent that televisions are still staples within homes, and with Smart TVs and set-top boxes like Roku and Apple TV changing the face of television as we know it, users have never had so much choice of OTT content. This is why the User Experience (UX) and User Interface (UI) is of paramount importance when trying to attract users to your TV application.
It is key to note that designing for Connected TV requires a unique set of considerations in comparison to designing for web and mobile as it is still a relatively new area, and the following blog will delve deeper into the fundamentals of designing for TV that you should consider.
Remote control interactions
With TV, the user is generally limited with their actions on a remote control, with the primary navigation being through the directional pad (D-pad). This pad limits movement to up, down, left, and right with a select button that selects an item focused on-screen.
When designing your Connected TV app, it is extremely important to test constantly with the remote control to ensure the app is easy to navigate for the user as the D-pad is often less intuitive than a touch screen.
It is useful to note that D-pads, touch remotes, gestures, or voice-enabled TV remotes can take the place of pointing and clicking or tapping.
The two main questions to consider when testing are:
Can users easily navigate to all objects on each screen?
Is movement between objects straightforward and predictable?
Some platforms – like Amazon Fire TV – are experimenting with voice input allowing users to control their CTV experience with their voice. Others, for example, like the new Apple TV, also use touch input, and these innovations are allowing for easier navigation for users.
White space is an incredibly important part to consider in the design process as it is key that you avoid overloading users with content. If too much content is presented to the user at one time, they often face something called ‘decision paralysis’, meaning that the user is overwhelmed and has a complete lack of ability to decide. By applying white space when designing for TV, you are providing visual breathing room for a user’s eyes to help them decide on the content they wish to consume.
The interface must provide users with a balance between both content and space as it helps them through the decision-making process, which in turn can increase content legibility and interactions. This is achieved by reducing the number of distractions preventing a user from making a decision.
“White space creates clear separations that focus a user’s eyes on the content you want them to look at.”
Including white space within the design of your app is a crucial part of the design process. It’s modern, sleek, visually stimulating, and proven to help users decide what content to watch.
Good examples of white space
Good balance and hierarchy between elements (Photo credit: Toptal)
Hulu use white space effectively within their app (Photo credit: Toptal)
TV Screens
The TV experience occurs across varying amounts of space and must be legible from ten feet away, and this is often referred to as the 10-foot experience. This is because the typical user views the screen from ten feet away, or sometimes more. Although the screen itself can be large, the perceived screen resolution is lower, and distance from the screen results in a smaller angle of view.
Within the design phase, a clean, simple design is required as it allows users to process information much easier, so ensure that the number of design elements or UI components are limited and ensure that the important elements (menus, buttons, images) are large enough and far apart enough to clearly read from a distance. As users don’t read much text on TV screens, be mindful of the amount of text you include.
When testing the TV app, ensure you are keeping ten feet of distance to check the legibility of the UI.
Safe Areas
TVs have what’s called an ‘overscan’ which is where part of the input picture is shown outside of the visible bounds of the screen.
To avoid overscan when designing, it is important to note that content should not reach the edge of the screen. Any content that is placed at the edge of a screen could be inaccessible to users with smaller TVs. It is important to avoid any critical information being shown too close to the edge of the screen to avoid it being clipped.
A typical bleed for TV application design would be 60px top and bottom, and 90px left and right.
Google and Amazon Fire TV guidelines suggest you keep the 5% margin into your TV screen designs to account for the overscan area. On a 1920 x 1080 screen, this margin should be a minimum of 27 pixels from the top and bottom edges and a minimum of 48 pixels from the right and left edges of the picture.
Apple tvOS suggests keeping an area spanning 60 pixels from the top and bottom of the screen, and 90 pixels from the sides.
Ambience
Another important factor to consider when designing for TV is the ambience and lighting, as different ambient lighting conditions can impact viewing alongside TV placement causing issues with glare depending on certain times of the day.
Both contrast and legibility are key factors to a TV UI. Whilst designing, it is key to always test the legibility of the fonts and colour contrast.
When testing in ambient lighting conditions, you should consider something called ‘Scan Lines’. It is useful to note that the image on a television screen is composed of odd and even scan lines. The television renders these lines in phases alternating rapidly between odd and even scan lines. Any single pixel (or line of pixels) falling onto a single scan line will flicker. In order to avoid flickering of your items on the screen, you should always keep your lines to even numbers and no thinner than 2 pixels.
To overcome the issue of glare and natural light reflecting on the TV screen when testing, try changing the position of the TV during different times of the day as well as opening and closing blinds to either allow or block sunlight into the room whilst testing. By doing this, you can then validate the contrast and legibility of your design according to the sunlight exposure.
When testing with different lighting conditions, the general rule is to avoid sharp edges between highly contrasting colours (especially bright colours next to dark colours) and to avoid “hot” colours such as very saturated reds and yellows. These will bleed more easily than less saturated colours or cooler colours such as blues and greens. These can be very difficult to read with glare and reflections on the screen. If possible, preview your app on multiple TVs because colours can vary dramatically between television models. Simply attach the HDMI cable from your TV set and test it out.
Accessibility
In recent years, TV has become more accessible than ever, and with improvements in TV hardware and software constantly evolving, the industry is making great strides to ensure content is accessible to everyone.
It’s key to note that user interfaces (UIs) should be less dense and design elements should be larger so they can be read from across a room. Relate this to the “10-foot experiences” previously mentioned. Thin, small text on your monitor display will no doubt look clean and crisp on your monitor display, but once tested on a TV, it could become unreadable, so the key to good typography on TV is to test constantly. If in doubt, increase both the size and weight of the font.
For users that are partially sighted, it’s worth considering including options within your app to increase the text size on the screen, change font styles, change colour contrasts and magnify the screen.
For those users with total sight loss, an in-built screen reader will speak out everything text-based, such as programme guides and menus.
The other critical element in TV UIs to help with accessibility is the ‘Focus State’. Without the ability to touch the screen or use a mouse, users must navigate to the element they want to select. As the user navigates within the app, different UI elements should be highlighted indicating that a navigation element is in focus. This helps users to recognise their current on-screen location and eases navigation, helping the users to understand where they currently are and where they can move to next.
In turn, each of these elements combined can help with the consumption of your app’s content and increase the size of your audience base by making it accessible to all.
Yellow highlight indicating that the navigation element is in focus (Photo credit: Toptal)
Conclusion: Make your TV App stand out
With more TV content at our disposal than ever before, there has never been a more exciting time to break into the TV space. Smart TVs are quickly becoming flooded with applications from content providers of all shapes and sizes as the opportunities presented from building a TV app are extremely promising.
When designing a TV app, the fundamentals to consider that we have covered can allow you to maximise the engagement with your audience and build an experience that trumps your competitors, as this is a market that is growing at an extremely rapid rate, and the ability to stand out through your app is vital.
