Broadcast Beat Magazine 2018 NAB Show Edition | Page 63
Commodity Internet:
the Future of Live Streaming
By jonathan solomon,
strategic initiatives engineer,
streaming technology, Aspera
Live streaming presents an opportunity for media
organizations to not only satisfy viewer demand
for content anywhere, anytime, and on any device,
it can also offer a cost-effective alternative to tra-
ditional video contribution methods.
Live video over commodity internet
Commodity internet, on the other hand, is per-
vasive. It’s available everywhere, even at short
notice. It’s inexpensive compared to dedicated
circuits. And it’s “always on”, meaning customers
To successfully live stream
broadcast-quality video con-
tent over IP networks with
low start-up delays and no
glitching, media organizations
need a solution that can sup-
port three key elements: high-
quality bit rate, high reliability
with near-zero delay, and rea-
sonable cost. However, no live
streaming solution to date has
been able to offer all three.
Today’s solutions all require
tradeoffs, with customers able
to achieve only two of the
three at best.
Traditional distribution sys-
tems require expensive and specially provisioned
infrastructure to avoid degrading play-out quality,
such as dedicated terrestrial fiber networks with
high quality of service to ensure low latency and
low packet loss, or more costly satellite feeds.
These solutions often aren’t available on demand
and can require large capital investments and
long lead times. In addition, the linear feed format
is difficult to customize and integrate with mod-
ern file- and cloud-based workflows.
have 24/7 access—no permissions or check-ins
required. It’s also inherently bidirectional, which
makes it easy to send a return feed in addition to
the primary feed.
However, IP-based video transport solutions –
such as those that use forward error correction
(FEC), peer-to-peer distribution, and “inverse”
CDNs – have failed to provide the same universal
quality and near-zero delay experience of dedi-
Broadcast Beat Magazine • www.broadcastbeat.com • 63