The Big Guide To OTT: Part 1 - Back To The Beginning

Part 1 of The Big Guide To OTT is a set of three articles which take us back to the foundations of OTT and streaming services; defining the basic principles of the OTT ecosystem, describing the main infrastructure components and the terminology used.


About The Big Guide to OTT

The Big Guide To OTT is an eleven part series of Themed Content Collections that will publish during 2023. Each part tackles a different aspect of OTT. There are multiple articles per part delivered in a free PDF download.

As OTT delivery grows, driven by both consumer demand and content provider strategy, there are many adjustments to manage. They include new production approaches, scaling content distribution, personalising, protecting, and monetising content, and assuring audience QoE.

Content providers are delivering a mix of live, linear, and on-demand content. Business models are blending - subscription with advertising and direct-to-consumer with service aggregation. The internet-enabled OTT delivery model is driving the media industry through a giant transformation.

The Broadcast Bridge has been covering OTT since it began. The Big Guide To OTT re-visits and updates our extensive coverage of the subject.

Details of all eleven parts of The Big Guide To OTT can be found HERE.  


About Part 1 - Back To The Beginning

Part 1 is a free PDF download which contains three original articles:

Article 1 : The Principles & Terminology Of The OTT Ecosystem
A description of the OTT Ecosystem from transmission to consumption, with discussion of the differences between push and pull systems, video distribution methods and the terminology of Live, Linear and Video On Demand TV.

Article 2 : The Main Components Of The OTT Ecosystem
We describe the various elements of OTT systems including; intelligent ingest, ABR conversion, DRM & DAI, Packagers, Edge Processing, ISP’s & Internet Exchange Providers, QoE monitoring and client applications.

Article 3 : The OTT Lexicon
The world of streaming is defined by acronyms like SVOD, AVOD, FAST, OTT and more. But this leaves gaps and confusion in what is included in our OTT services... so here we review how we describe ourselves in the streaming industry.

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Microphones: Part 10 - Mid-Side (M-S) Recording And Processing

M-S techniques provide useful sound-field positioning and a convenient way to check mono compatibility. We explain the hard science behind this often misunderstood technique.

Microphones: Part 9 - The Science Of Stereo Capture & Reproduction

Here we look at the science of using a matched pair of microphones positioned as a coincident pair to capture stereo sound images.

Microphones: Part 8 - Audio Vectorscopes

The audio vectorscope is an excellent tool for assuring quality in stereo sound production, because it makes the virtual sound image visible in the same way that a television vectorscope allows the color signals to be seen.

Microphones: Part 7 - Microphones For Stereophony

Once the basic requirements for reproducing sound were in place, the most significant next step was to reproduce to some extent the spatial attributes of sound. Stereophony, using two channels, was the first successful system.

Microphones: Part 5 - The Variable Directivity Microphone

The variable directivity microphone is very popular for studio work. What goes on inside is very clever and not widely appreciated.