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BT moves application
performance
management to the cloud
The UK’s BT Group has launched BT Connect
Intelligence InfoVista-as-a-Service, a new
application performance management
solution delivered from the cloud. The
new solution adds a scalable “as-a-service”
flexible pricing model to BT’s applications
performance management portfolio,
BT Connect Intelligence. It delivers
InfoVista’s Ipanema technology via
BT’s cloud infrastructure, integrating all
the capabilities organisations need to
orchestrate the performance of business
applications running across their network,
said BT.
Osprey Video integrates
with NewTek NDI
technology
Osprey Video has entered into a technology
collaboration with NewTek, whereby all
of Osprey’s capture cards will support
Network Device Interface (NDI). NDI
is a NewTek technology that enables
interconnected, software-driven production
workflows and is compatible with SDI
and IP-based technologies and standards.
The integration means all Osprey cards
will be recognisable as a source by other
NDI-enabled applications and devices
connected to a standard Ethernet local
area network. As a result, broadcasters and
production companies using Osprey cards
and NDI video production software on their
networks can start producing video-over-IP
immediately, said the companies.
Next Month @ X-Platform
Social and Interactive TV
PANELLISTS
Mock Pak Lum
CTO
StarHub
Michael Cronk
Chairman,
Alliance for IP Media
Solutions (AIMS)
Peter Bithos
CEO, HOOQ
July 2017
HEVC ready to take
video compression
The proliferating number of videos being streamed over multiple
connected devices is continuing to put a strain on broadband networks.
Can HEVC/H.265 solve this conundrum, as well as improve the video
quality delivered to the end-user? Shawn Liew finds some answers.
2
017, in all likelihood, will be a monumen-
tal year for Apple, as the iconic iPhone
celebrates its 10th anniversary.
While details about the much-antici-
pated iPhone 8 remains ambiguous, it will
almost certainly be powered by iOS11, the
latest version of Apple’s mobile operating
system. iOS11, in turn, is spearheading
Apple’s support for the High Efficiency
Video Coding (HEVC)/H.265 video
compression standard across all of the
company’s devices.
With Android already supporting
HEVC, Apple jumping on the HEVC
bandwagon is “significant”, says Dan
Sanders, vice-president, video engineer-
ing, Verizon Digital Media Services.
“Apple’s announcement likely solidi-
fies HEVC as the format for HD video on
the world’s most popular devices,” he tells
APB.
What about 4K/Ultra HD (UHD),
which has been most closely associated
with HEVC? “Although 4K/UHD content
is widely discussed and demonstrated
at trade shows, it is not yet delivered to
many devices,” Sanders says. “In fact, the
amount of 4K/UHD content available
is not extensive and studios have only
recently begun to shoot and save content
in 4K/UHD.”
HEVC is being widely promoted as
the key enabler for 4K/UHD to address
the increased bitrate demands over HD.
When true native 4K/UHD transmis-
sion commences, HEVC will be given
considerable impetus, suggests Ian Trow,
senior director, emerging technology and
strategy, Harmonic. “However, while the
industry decides on high dynamic range
As content creators future-proof
their commissions, 4K/UHD is
increasingly being considered
as a potential playout format.
This also provides the additional
benefit of acting as a mezzanine
for other multi-screen formats.
In this respect, HEVC has a key
role to play in widening the area
of application.
Apple has announced its support for HEVC across all of its devices, beginning with the
launch of iOS 11 later this year. Will this herald the coming of HEVC as the de facto video
compression standard?
(HDR) implementation specifics,
HEVC is on hold for that application.
“This is not to say that all is lost for
HEVC — it is a broad standard that
extends further up the workflow than
previous MPEG standards.”
As content creators future-proof
their commissions, 4K/UHD is in-
creasingly being considered as a poten-
tial playout format. This also provides
the additional benefit of acting as a
mezzanine for other multi-screen
formats, Troy says.
In this respect, HEVC has a key
role to play in widening the area of
application, he adds, and suggests that
while the efficiency improvements of
HEVC have been most prominent in
4K/UHD application