20
iflix now available across
Vewd-enabled devices
Vewd and iflix have estab-
lished a strategic partner-
ship to enable the latter’s
over-the-top (OTT) platform
available across Vewd-
enabled devices. iflix worked
with the Vewd team to
certify the iflix app for the Vewd ecosystem.
With this certification, Vewd said, the iflix app
can be deployed across connected TVs and
set-top boxes without challenging technical
integration. Aneesh Rajaram, CEO of Vewd,
added: “Having iflix to join the connected TV
ecosystem underscores our commitment to
providing the richest catalogue of key apps
on connected TV devices. Now more than
ever, Vewd can provide the industry’s most
comprehensive content offering for smart TV
manufacturers and pay-TV operators.”
Ultravision launches IPTV
service with solutions
from Broadpeak
Ultravision, a Mexican pay-TV operator, has
selected Broadpeak’s solutions to power its
new IPTV multi-screen service. The company
will rely on Broadpeak’s BkM100 video
delivery manager, BkS400 HTTP video cache
servers and BkS350 origin packager. By
monitoring live and on-demand content, as
well as capturing popular content based on
usage patterns, Broadpeak said its solutions
are able to reduce Ultravision’s content
delivery costs while providing quality of
experience (QoE) to subscribers on every
screen.
Next Month @ X-Platform
Workflow Virtualisation and
Software-defined Networking
PANELLISTS
Chong Siew Loong
CTO
StarHub
Michael Cronk
Chairman,
Alliance for IP Media
Solutions (AIMS)
Peter Bithos
CEO, HOOQ
November 2018
Content goes
even more mobile
in the 5G universe
5G is theoretically faster than current Internet speeds, and is poised to
power the Internet of Things (IoT) world. But, how transformative can 5G
be for the broadcast space? Josephine Tan finds some answers.
5
G has the potential to radically improve
the outside broadcast (OB) landscape
by providing a cost-effective and flex-
ible alternative to satellite uplinks for the
delivery of 4K/Ultra HD (UHD) content,
declares Arun Bhikshesveran, CMO of
MediaKind.
Live content, Bhikshesveran tells APB,
requires everything to work “flawlessly”
in real time so 5G, as a complement to
existing mechanisms, can help solve some
of the challenges while empowering en-
hanced content creation, distribution and
consumption behaviours.
For instance, at the 118th golf
US Open Championship in June this
year, MediaKind, formerly known as
Ericsson Media Solutions, alongside part-
ners such as Intel and AT&T, collaborated
with Fox Sports and Fox Innovation Lab
for the streaming of the golf tournament in
4K/UHD over 5G to viewers nationwide.
The 5G wireless technology transmit-
ted 4K/UHD high dynamic range (HDR)
images from two Fox Sports cameras
positioned on the par-3 seventh hole at
the Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in New
York through the Fox Sports production
trucks to viewers at home. The offering
was part of the “Featured Hole” enhance-
ment, which was available on the US Golf
Association’s website, DirecTV and the
Fox Sports App.
For this project, Ericsson provided
the 5G radios, baseband, simulated net-
work core, and 4K/UHD video encoder
and decoder. Bhikshesveran says: “This
demonstration showed that the technol-
ogy worked in an actual live environment.
The most significant takeaway from the
trial was that all the technology elements
worked as expected with extremely low
latency and no packet loss.
“This included challenging tasks such
as real-time conversion between 4K/
UHD Hybrid Log-Gamma (HLG) and
HEVC/H.265 formats. The success of
this test also highlighted the new viewing
experiences that 5G and 4K/UHD can
deliver when paired together.”
In a joint statement, the companies
point out that 5G technology has the
❝ The wireless streaming
of live 4K/UHD HDR
contribution video at
sports events is helping
to drive a revolution in
how video is created,
distributed and
consumed. ❞
— Arun Bhikshesveran,
CMO, MediaKind
potential to provide “disruptive abili-
ties” to broadcasters and consumers
alike, and this wireless technology will
eventually enable multi-gigabit speeds
with ultra-low latency.
Melissa Arnoldi, president of AT&T
Technology and Operations, adds: “The
high-speed and low-latency delivered
by this trial allow the cameras to move
without being restricted by cables and
create a unique filming environment.
We believe live sports will eventually
be transformed by 5G — whether it’s
virtual and augmented realities for
those watching from afar, or how
connected sensors could help analyse
golf swings, wind conditions, even the
speed of greens for the golfer in future
US Opens.”
Key characteristics of 5G — such as
the enhanced bandwidth, low latency
and inherent multicast capabilities —
will be extremely beneficial to broad-
casters, according to Bhikshesveran.
“The benefits accrue on both sides of
the equation: creation and consump-
tion.”
Suggesting that 5G represents a
revolution in how sports and media
entertainment is created, he points out
that the technology enables the posi-
tioning of cameras in locations without
the burden of wired or satellite connec-
tions in a new capability. For instance,
such cameras can be leveraged to film
footages that were able to be captured
previously due to the tethered location
of cameras. These captured content can
then be used in addition to the tradi
tional capture mechanism to produce
engaging and immersive experiences.
Bhikshesveran explains: “It is
possible to imagine a sports field or
arena equipped with 4K/UHD and 5G-
enabled broadcast cameras, or smaller
flypacks, which will allow broadcasters
to deploy more capture angles and
positions for electronic newsgathering
(ENG) and sports without the need for
on-site infrastructure.
“By removing the limitations of
satellite connectivity, broadcasters can
start to experiment with new media
experiences and ways of delivering
content. The wireless streaming of live
4K/UHD HDR contribution video
at sports events is helping to drive a
revolution in how video is created,
Key characteristics of 5G — such as the enhanced
bandwidth, low latency and inherent multicast
capabilities — will be extremely beneficial to
broadcasters.