Archive of the Streaming Media Category

Next time you watch a newsfeed of a reporter out at a really remote location (like really remote), you may notice that the picture quality is better than you previously remembered. If so, it may be because Inmarsat just boosted the bitrate of their BGAN (broadband global area nework) X-Stream service from 256 kbps to a minimum of 384 kbps, with the potential for streaming up to 450 kbps. At these rates, according to Frank August, Inmarsat’s Director of Business Development for the Americas, quality is sufficient for wide shots and real action, not just jerky postage stamp talking heads.

Don’t know much about satellite delivery? I didn’t either; here’s the Cliff Notes version I got from August. Inmarsat is the world’s leading provider of global mobile satellite communications. When I say mobile, I mean a dish that’s smaller than a 17” notebook. Obviously, if you can get a satellite truck involved, with a huge dish, you get much higher speeds, but such dishes tend to be tough to check on a plane, or for roving reporters to carry. more

Kulabyte caught my attention as a brash startup several years ago, with an oversized NAB booth and bold claims of the fastest VP6 encoder available. Though I frequently asked for review copies, the software never materialized, and the company seemingly went into stealth mode.

I just met with the president, Peter Forman, in a considerably smaller booth on the show floor. Over the last two years, Kulabyte focused on the live event streaming market, with some impressive results, including contracts with the US government for gear deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. In addition, Kulabyte was MySpace’s technology partner for the 2008 “Operation MySpace” live concert webcast from Kuwait, which was streamed at 720p at less than 1.5 megabits per second. more

From Mix’s Kevin Becka

Dolby Pulse is the newest solution from Dolby for online, mobile, and broadcast markets. It lets broadcasters deliver stereo and 5.1-channel audio at the lowest bandwidth rates while maintaining high audio quality. Continue reading at MixBlog.

More coverage from MixBlog

According to my tests, MainConcept has the highest quality H.264 codec, with a number of well heeled licensees, like Adobe, Rhozet, and Sorenson. So it was pretty natural that I would chat with the Germany-based company about their plans for H.264 SVC, for Scalable Video Coding. What’s that, you ask?

Let’s start with the problem. As a streaming producer, you want to customize your streams for the connection speed and playback capabilities of your viewer, as well as changing line conditions. There are a number of proprietary technologies for doing this, including Multiple Bit Rate video (MBR) and Smooth Streaming from Microsoft, Dynamic Streaming from Adobe and Adaptive Streaming from Move Networks. H.264 Scalable Video Coding is an extension of the H.264 standard that does the same thing, but is a couple of years behind in development and deployment. You can read all about it here. more

Reel-Exchange Community Manager Craig Erpelding talked with Jon Robbins of Rhozet about transcoding at NAB 2009.

According to Telestream VP of Marketing Barbara Dehart, in the workflow automation market, which includes ingest/encoding/distribution, the company’s FlipFactory product has a greater share than “all the other competitors combined.” Now Telestream isn’t public, so Ms. Dehart can stretch the truth without fear of the SEC (not, of course, that they’ve done anything lately—can you say Bernie Madoff?), but I tend to believe her.

This raises the question, if FlipFactory is so successful, why haven’t I reviewed it? Not sure, but we’re going to fix that with version 7, which is schedule to ship by end of summer, 2009. By way of background, according to product manager John Pallet, what’s distinguished prior versions from other tools is fast, high quality encoding (which all product managers say, of course), and integration with editing tools for ingest and video servers for distribution (which most product managers can’t). more

I always feel like a kid in a candy store when I visit the Digital Rapids booth because there are so many products that look so yummy. Top on my list this year is the TouchStream live video streaming appliance that’s as simple to operate as an ATM but dispenses live streams rather than cash.

The unit is about 16 inches long, 6 inches tall and 5 inches wide. Inputs vary by configuration, but can include composite and component analog video with XLR or RCA audio inputs, and SDI inputs up to full rez 1080p. Outputs include VP6, H.264 for both QuickTime and Flash and VC-1/Windows Media. You control operation via a touch-screen interface with integrated live video monitoring and VU meters. Designed for live events like concerts, sporting events and news, the new unit looks like a great alterative to notebook or computer driven streaming products. more

Inlet Armada automates the digital media workflow process, from analysis to encode to post-encode. Announced at last year’s NAB for shipment in late 2008, the product is now available.

Armada has three processing nodes: Analysis ($6,500), Transcoding ($7,500), and Post Encoding ($12,000) controlled by the Management Server ($14,000). The system is modular, so you can buy a component at a time, and even integrate third-party encoding systems into the workflow. more

Press Release

Wegener, a leading provider of equipment for television, audio, and data distribution networks worldwide, announced it will introduce the Wegener iPump 525 IP media player at the NAB Show 2009 in Las Vegas, April 20-23 at booth #SU7913. Read on at The Briefing Room

More 2009 NAB Show news from The Briefing Room

Back from the show. I like taking a day or so after my last postings to look through everything I’ve collected, selecting some last items to include in a final wrapup. While that’s not a lot of time for deep reflection, I am at least far enough away from the hype of the moment to enable a bit of perspective.

At the NAB press office earlier this week I overheard an NAB official talk to the editor of one of the leading trade mags. He was asked about what he thought would be among the most exciting developments of the show. Instead, he begged off answering, stating that as far as he was concerned it was all just a rehash. He could find nothing new or interesting worth commenting on. more