Amazon Web Services has head in the cloud at IBC 2018

The maturation and convergence of cloud technologies across the whole content value chain will be the primary theme for Amazon Web Services (AWS) at IBC 2018.

This in turn will underpin AWS promotion of robust cloud services as the enabler for flexible multiscreen video services within the reach of smaller operators who can benefit from pay-as-you-go pricing without need for significant up-front capital investment.

Demonstrations feature cloud-based media services that support content creation, content distribution, and access to a rich media supply chain. These will be based on a variety of technologies for content production and distribution designed to improve video quality, minimizing bandwidth and storage capacity while optimizing the viewing experience. It will include on-premise as well as cloud products designed to streamline ingest, production, processing, delivery, and networking, as well as help with content production through AWS Thinkbox.

AWS is also talking up the role of AI in its content aware ad insertion where adverts are matched to content through image, object and scene detection.

In fact, most aspects of the video chain feature somewhere on the company's agenda for IBC, with other topics including quality-defined variable bitrate control (QVBR) that automatically adjusts to the complexity of source content, maintaining high-quality video while reducing storage and distribution costs. This sounds like yet another term for content aware encoding otherwise referred to as context adaptive compression.

Also showing is CMAF (Common Media Application Format) for OTT Distribution, which allows operators to achieve video quality improvements, with better compression efficiency and simpler content creation as well as storage. There will also be presentations of High Dynamic Range (HDR) with conversion of any combination of HLG, HDR10, and SDR sources for playout as HDR10 and HLG channels at any resolution. This enables broadcasters to bring HDR channels to market with a mix of existing SDR and HDR content.

Then on the production side AWS will feature Automated Sports Highlights and Graphics Creation. Here Amazon Rekognition and its Media Services division enable automatic creation of highlight clips and on-screen graphics for live sports without user intervention.

The stand will host multiple vendors of the Amazon Partner Network, highliging cloud-enabled packages for content creation, content rights management, digital asset management, metadata creation, transcription and workflow automation. T

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