The Broadcast Knowledge

Video: Understanding Video Performance: QoE is not QoS

Posted on 16th May 2019 by Russell Trafford-Jones

Mux’s Justin Sanford explains the difference between Quality of Service and Quality of Experience; the latter being about the entire viewer experience. Justin looks at ‘Startup time’ showing that it’s a combination of an number of factors which can include loading a web page showing the dependence of your player on the whole ecosystem.

Justin discusses rebuffering and what ‘quality’ is when we talk about streaming. Quality is a combination of encoding quality, resolution but also whether the playback judders.

“Not every optimisation is a tradeoff, however startup time vs. rebuffering is a canonical tradeoff.”
Justin Sanford, Mux

Finally we look at ways of dealing with this, including gathering analytics, standards for measuring quality of experience, and understanding the types of issues your viewers care most about.

From San Francisco Video Tech.

Watch now!

Speaker

Justin Sanford
Product Manager,
Mux

Video: Building a Large OB Truck Using SMPTE ST 2110

Posted on 15th May 2019 by Adam K

OB vans have been notable early adopters of Video over IP, both in the form of SMPTE ST 2110 and ST 2022-6. The reasons are simple, all new vans are ‘green field’ sites, weight and space are at a premium and many need more weekly flexibility than SDI has been giving them.

In this case study, Hartmut Opfermann discusses design considerations for all IP large OB trucks dedicated for sports, music and entertainment production and explores the decisions that have been made for ORF’s new FU22 OB tuck including the drivers behind switching to IP technology and SMPTE ST 2110 for media transport.

Interesting to note is the proportion of SDI Vs IP in new IP installations. BBC Cardiff, for instance, has a minimum quota for IP-enabled endpoints but isn’t assuming it can reach 100%. There are few IP installations which are 100% IP.

In ORF’s truck we also see that, although the truck is fully based on IP technology, SDI-IP gateways have been provided to keep compatibility with existing baseband infrastructure. Keeping all internal processing in the IP domain simplifies cabling, reduces cable weight but, importantly, enables the use of flexible FPGA based processing platforms – functionality thus depends on software and can be changed on fly.

The broadcast control system provides a single point of control over complex infrastructure of the truck and provides a seamless experience for operators who used to work in the SDI domain. However, configuration and troubleshooting of IP systems requires a very different skillset, so training had to be provided to ORF engineering team.

Some other points discussed in this video are audio channel management, failover of PTP and B&B synchronisation and IP address management using the JT-NM’s TR 1001-1, which has been covered here on The Broadcast Knowledge before.

Watch now!

Speaker

Hartmut Opfermann
Head of Division Broadcast IT,
BFE Studio und Medien Systeme GmbH

Video: Breaking Barriers – How can the TV industry encourage more women into technology jobs?

Posted on 14th May 2019 by Russell Trafford-Jones

To mark the launch, today, of a new section of The Broadcast Knowledge highlighting what the industry is doing to promote a better gender balance in the broadcast industry, we have a panel discussion from the RTS about that very topic.

I’ve said it before, and again I implore everyone to take it upon yourself to do just one thing to improve diversity in gender, little or small. The numbers are clear that in technology, there is a large imbalance and, according to Rise director Carrie Wootten, Research shows that “having a more gender balanced structure leads to additional ideas, creativity, business development and crucially income generation.”

With experienced voices, from UK TV, TeenTech, Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock, NEP Sound engineer Anna Patching and the deputy chair of Women in Film and Television, we hear questions and answers about how companies can find female candidates, and how individuals can advance their careers.

The message is that there are things people throughout a company can do to address gender balance, so watch to find out more.

Watch now!

Speakers

	Chair: Maggie Philbin CEO, Teen Tech
	Sinead Greenaway Chief Technology and Operations Officer, UKTV
	Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock, Space Scientist, Science Educator & Presenter
	Anna Patching Sound Engineer & STEM ambassador NEP
	Sara Putt Deputy Chair, Women in Film & Television (UK)

Webinar: Talking to the TV: Transforming the viewing experience with voice control

Posted on 13th May 2019 by Russell Trafford-Jones

Thursday 16th May 2019, 16:00 BST / 11am EDT / 8am PDT

Controlling services by voice is on the rise. Recently we have seen Google move all their Nest hardware control into Google Assistant and the abilities of Alexa and Siri continue to grow. All of these smart speakers and voice-controlled AI assistants have seen rapid adoption in homes, the UK being the biggest adopter with voice assistant devices now used in more than a quarter of all households.

With a shift away from the on-screen EPG and clunky remote controls to a world where any content is a voice command away, who owns the voice interface with the consumer and the vast amount of valuable data it creates? Does this put more power in the hands of the Silicon Valley tech giants as their voice assistants and AI algorithms become a new gatekeeper? And how should content owners respond?

This webinar explores the value of voice control for content, and finds the best strategies for broadcasters and platform operators to develop voice interfaces and maintain control of the user experience.

Register now!

Speakers

	Patrick Byrden Senior Director of Customer Solutions, TiVo
	Ashley Grossman Senior Manager, Personalisation & Discovery, Liberty Global
	Morvarid Kashanipour Head of Product Design, Com Hem

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