In this whitepaper you’ll learn: results of an industry-wide content acceleration technology “bake-off”; the benefits of middle-mile optimization on content acceleration technologies; the testing methodologies and approach we used when comparing providers; and independent third-party corroboration of the test results. This whitepaper is a detailed look into the methods and results of a performance comparison test carried out during a 38-hour period and covered in the published whitepaper by the Enterprise Strategy Group, “Limelight Orchestrate Performance: Accelerating the Delivery of Dynamic Content Across the Middle-Mile.” Throughout this paper, we will explain the testing purpose, methodologies, and results in an effort to expose how middle-mile optimization within content delivery networks leads to better overall content delivery performance. For a third-party validation of these tests and a business understanding of the importance of performance, please read the published whitepaper referenced above. You can also visit Appendix A of this paper to see independent, third party corroboration of our conclusions.
Satellite uplink facilities must deliver reliable, uninterrupted service continuity. Broadcasters derive revenue from advertisers that is dependent upon reliable distribution of content. Any interruption in the distribution process results in loss of revenue and market share. Therefore, facility designs include several layers of redundancy; including redundant satellites, backup sites, and backup hardware at each site.
TV 2 Norway airs the program Sommertid (Summer time)as a key part of the summer schedule. This live 1-hour program runs 4 days a week for 9 weeks during the summer months. Traditionally the TV 2 Sommertid program was shot on the roof of the TV 2 facility house. For 2014, TV 2 decided it would be more dramatic and exciting if the backdrop were the bustling Oslo harbour, marine docks and restaurant area of Oslo. To facilitate this, the production set is situated on a floating pier on which local and international talent are interviewed and interweaved with live musical segments.Normally this would necessitate using an OB truck. However, OB trucks are relatively expensive and the floating- pier location meant that the OB truck would have to be at least 300 meters from the cameras, adding a great deal of cabling leading to higher complexity and set-up and running costs. Norwia were able to provide a fiber solution to connect the remote at Oslo harbor with the studio 5km away at TV2 TV centre.
Integrating optical and copper transport of A/V and IP signals. Optical transport has been a mainstay in the broadcast and production industry for decades. The introduction of optical transport made a huge difference sending content over long distances. It solved the challenge of moving content within boundaries of cities, venues and facilities. For field production it solved the issue of degradation over long cable runs. It has reduced the need for amplifiers and maintained signal integrity on long haul delivery. It has become one of the core layers in facility and venue infrastructure.
Envision this future headline: “Public Outcry as Final Minutes of World Cup Soccer Lost Due to Wireless Interference”. While this may seem impossible in today’s world, it could very well become a reality if the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-15) favors the reallocation of some C-band spectrum rights to mobile providers.
Part 1 of this article covered multiple aspects of compression technology: macroblocks, DCT, quantization, and lossless compression. Part 2 will focus on motion estimation for P- and B-frames—after a review of lossless data compacting. Part 3 (next month) will detail the critical role of Predicted frames and Difference frames in maintaining image quality.
Improving accessibility of content through Video Description. The accessibility of media to partially sighted audiences may be enhanced by provision of additional information in the form of audio narrative track. An audio description of the video content is called “audio description” or “video description” in country-dependent nomenclature. Traditionally, a trained ‘describer’ identifies appropriate points in the audio timeline where a description is needed (and can be placed) and produces a script. This process has much in common with captioning, but perhaps for historical reasons is almost always done separately. Typically, the ‘describer’ will also record the individual voiced segments, although sometimes the description is performed by a separate ‘voice talent’.
This paper gives an overview of the transcoding basics you’ll need to know in order to make informed decisions about implementing transcoding in your workflow. That involves explaining the elements of the various types of digital media files used for different purposes, how transcoding works upon those elements, what challenges might arise in moving from one format to another, and what workflows might be most effective for transcoding in various common situations
