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re:fine at NAB 2011 in Las Vegas

Wednesday, May 4th, 2011

blog_april11_nab

Re:fine was out at the NAB 2011 show reviewing a number of emerging technologies. For us, NAB was mainly about three main themes:  the broadcast, cloud and streaming space. A lot of progress has been made with distribution of live video using 4G networks for cost effective coverage of live events. We experienced a great deal of interest in taking cloud computing concepts and applying them to media workloads such as transcoding, which enables OTT services. Similar to past years, 3D remained an important topic. However, this year the interest was more about how to solve issues resulting from 3D creation, editing and distribution as the technology and user experience matures. From our client perspective, a key issue we would like to highlight includes the integration of 2D and 3D workflows in order to drive content workflow efficiencies.

According to James Gibson, re:fine’s CTO, “one of the key issues at NAB 2011 was around standards’ battle between the Linear Tape File System (LTFS) versus Archive Exchange Format (AXF), with many of traditional IT-centric technology vendors pushing LTFS against the media-centric solution providers favouring AXF. Another important technology trend is the traditional signal monitoring and distribution vendors now offer excellent H.264 solutions for broadcast contribution feeds. Developments in H.264 various solutions are important because H.264 solution offers  the ability to contribute to satellite and cable platforms without the need for often expensive dedicated circuits.”

Re:fine also met and re-enforced our relationships with key partners on current opportunities and roadmaps for the next twelve months. We also met a number of companies promoting our new services in bulk ingest, deep archive, content hub and broadcast/linear playout services, and more announcements will come over the coming months. Stay tuned…

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CD/DVD set kicks off the iPhone app promotional campaign for Budweiser

Tuesday, May 3rd, 2011

blog_april11_budweiserThis month re:fine was commissioned by ADM Promotions to produce a promotional pack for Budweiser. It consisted of a DVD and CD packed into a custom made double cardwallet with modified thumbnail cuts that create an outline of a pint glass. Re:fine designed and created the packaging and branded interfaces for both the CD and DVD, with the brief to ensure ease of use while reinforcing the brand.

The promotion will be run in conjunction with retail outlets throughout Ireland, who will redeem e-vouchers that can be accessed through the Budweiser Ice Cold app when certain temperatures are reached. This innovative strategy is being used to cross-promote the brand across multiple medium, using iPhone apps to stimulate demand and sales.

Budweiser and other members of the extended family account for 25% of beers served in North America. An aggressive marketing campaign and TV commercials between 1995 and 2002 boosted the brand’s profile. The brand has placed an even greater emphasis on its American heritage since early 2009, describing itself as “The Great American Lager.”

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re:fine explores opportunities in China

Tuesday, May 3rd, 2011

newsletter_april11_chinaRe:fine senior executives travelled to China and Hong Kong to explore opportunities for content owners in one of the fastest growing global markets. They met with senior teams from the state broadcaster CCTV and other VOD and cable platforms.

They found that Chinese broadcasters and multichannel operators have a particular interest in acquiring movies, documentaries, natural history, science and animation – which have to be localised to be acceptable. There is great value placed on personal relationships so having a good Chinese partner to assist in dealing with the complexity of National, Regional and local officialdom is essential. They also caution that there can be a long gestation period before initial discussions turn into eventual sales.

Indicating that re:fine will further develop its services in line with its Asia Pacific market expansion strategies, Symon Roue, re:fine Chairman says, “Having recently established a partner in China this was the first opportunity to meet his broadcaster and platform clients and better understand this complex market. There is no doubt that his experience and connections will help us provide greater assistance for our content owners to access and exploit this incredible market. When you overlay a technology perspective, this is an exciting time for content owners seeking to access and exploit international TV markets.”

China has entered a new era in its multi-platform TV, adopting all three key elements of content distribution and across various platforms, with China Telecom being the first to launch their IPTV services in Shanghai. Having a virtual monopoly on broadband services within the city, the operator still controls the market using IPTV services to maintain its broadband customer base and increase ARPU. Since launching, IPTV is now available in 17 cities across China.  Looking at the global picture, 2011 is also a landmark year for Asia Pacific  as the region’s broadband is set to overtake Europe with China still dominating the rankings both for total subscribers and net additions. In 2010, the total number of IPTV subscribers in China had passed 10 million, and the country is expected to overtake the leading global IPTV market France which had 10.2 million subscribers at the end of 2010.

We expect re:fine efforts and current activities in China and Asia Pacific region to be met with great interest by UK content owners, broadcasters and  TV distributors, which will be looking to exploit new markets using our technology. Re:fine’s international journey will continue full speed over the coming months ahead.

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re:fine’s highlights of MIPTV 2011

Tuesday, May 3rd, 2011

newsletter_april11_miptvThe sun was shining in the south of France this past month as the crème de la crème of the world of TV business graced the legendary Croisette for MIPTV 2011. Outside the Palais Conference and Market venue it was more than pleasant compared to the busy market inside.

According to Reed MIDEM the organisers of the event, the 47th edition of MIPTV/MILIA 2011 was marked by the unprecedented participation of new media companies in the market. Certainly the conference program had its highlights and there was the ever increasing presence of digital players and telecom operators. Numerous deals and arrangements were signed, many involved both traditional multichannel but also emerging OTT platforms and independent content providers.  

Overall, MIPTV 2011 was characterized by a growing number of deals with emerging economies, coupled with aggressive international expansion of thematic channels. Among hundreds of deals announced during the conference, we highlight only a few which indicate the following two key trends in 2011:

  • The importance of increased international footprint. To illustrate, Germany’s ZDF Enterprises had a very strong performance, selling drama, documentary and kids shows to broadcasters across Europe and Asia. NBC International conquered 100 territories for period drama Downton Abbey, while CBS Studios International sold event mini-series The Borgias to more than 200+ territories. Entertainment One Television made a deal with Fox International Channels in Australia on the zombie series The Walking Dead. 
  • The strength of European multichannel acquisition power and multiplatform VOD deals. The Sundance Channel announced a major distribution deal with Spain’s Telefonica’s Imagenio, of which an important feature is the fact that it includes streaming content to mobile devices. Also, the Walt Disney German subsidiary used MIPTV to unveil a joint venture with Vodafone for the start of ABC TV On Demand, offering series such as Grey’s Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, Lost, Criminal Minds and Scrubs on-demand to German audiences.

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Ultraviolet looks like a winner for digital lockers

Tuesday, March 29th, 2011

Blog_ultraviolet-logoUltraViolet has emerged as the likely winner in the race to become the universal digital locker that provides a secure store for rights-protected content in the run up to its launch this summer. Like other digital lockers such as Disney’s alternative, called Key Chest, UltraViolet provides a secure repository for any content, which consumers can then stream or download to any device over all networks without requiring any additional hardware. At the same time, content owners can trust the digital locker to execute and preserve their rights and provide a convenient staging post to reach all their potential customers over emerging OTT networks. In effect, it is the ultimate place and time shifter.

Ultraviolet itself emerged from a variety of preceding attempts to develop an interoperable rights platform. The key to its success has been strong support from all the heavy hitters of the industry, including service providers like BT, Comcast, Cox Communications and Liberty Global. Other supporters are infrastructure providers like Adobe, Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco, HP, Huawei and IBM, CE (Consumer Equipment) makers like LG and Nokia, along with content providers such as Sony Pictures, Fox Entertainment and NBC Universal. These companies all belong to the industry body Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem (DECE), which is the custodian of UltraViolet.

“We believe UltraViolet is a sustainable model for industry,” said Tim Wright, VP for Worldwide New Media and Technology at Sony Pictures Europe and Co-Chair of UltraViolet Europe, a group of DECE member companies plotting the European launch scheduled for later this year after the worldwide debut in the US.

“The question now is not when it will happen but in what form,” Wright added, speaking at the IP&TV World Forum in London. This indicates there are still decisions to be made over the exact shape of UltraViolet deployment, even though broad details are clear, such as the fact that consumers will register just once to set up an UltraViolet account and then be able to download any content they have subscribed to or purchased to any device. Outlets for UltraViolet content will include physical ‘bricks and mortar’ retailers such as Tesco, online retailers like LOVEFiLM, Pay TV companies and content owners themselves.

A key motive for digital lockers lies in hopes of re-invigorating the market for outright purchase, or Electronic Sell Through (EST), rather than rental as with VOD, because this generates larger profit margins for operators as well as content providers. “EST is not taking off as well as we would like,” said Wright, adding that having a convenient place to store content and access it from any device might persuade consumers that purchase was worthwhile, if the extra cost was not too great.

read more at http://v-net.tv

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Japan’s earthquake impact on tape supply

Tuesday, March 29th, 2011

blog_Sony JapanThe horrific catastrophe Japan experienced from the devastating earthquake and tsunami has sent rippling problems throughout the world, including the global media industry. The most obvious impact on the broadcast industry is the closing one of Sony’s key factories in Sendai. Sendai is situated near the epicentre and had to close down due to extensive damage. As a result, Sony will be supplying professional HDCAM, HDCAM-SR, DVCam, BetaCam SP, Digital Betacam, and HDV on a rationing basis, with other plants being affected as well, resulting in possible global shortages.

This development is likely to have a negative impact on the remaining quantities of HDCAM, HDCAM-SR, DVCam, BetaCam SP, Digital Betacam, and HDV. Prices are expected to increase as alternative suppliers are increasingly under pressure to meet the global broadcast industry demand.  However, the XDCAM disc plant in South Korea is operational.

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Blu-ray Disc Association approves 100/128 GB BDXL Specifiations

Sunday, June 27th, 2010

The Blu-ray Disc Association has released the specifications for BDXL, the new multi-layer recordable Blu-ray Disc format with up to 128GB of capacity. With the completion and approval of the specification, manufacturers can now obtain licensing information and license applications needed to begin production of the high capacity write-once and rewritable discs and hardware .

Targeted primarily at commercial segments such as broadcasting, medical and document imaging enterprises with significant archiving needs, BDXL provides customers with triple layer 100GB RE (rewritable) and R (write-once) discs and quadruple layer 128GB R discs. Possible consumer applications include capture and playback of HD broadcast and satellite programming in markets where set-top recorders are prevalent, like Japan.

“The BDA worked diligently to create an extension of the Blu-ray Disc format that leverages the physical structure of the design of the disc to create even more storage capacity,” said Victor Matsuda, Blu-ray Disc Association Global Promotions Committee chair. “We expect further growth of the Blu-ray Disc market as the introduction of 100GB/128GB discs will expand the application of BDtechnologies.”

The BDXL specification was developed with specific market segments in mind, and newly-designed hardware addressing such markets will play back or record BDXL media. However, because the new media specifications are extensions of current Blu-ray Disc technologies, future BDXL-capable recorders can easily be designed to play back existing 25GB and 50GB Blu-ray discs, says the BDA Association

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Blu-ray 3D Quick Start Q & A

Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010

What is Blu-ray 3D ?bluray3d 2

Blu-ray 3D is the new movie format from the Blu-ray Disc Association, which allows for the playback of true stereoscopic high definition content in the home.  This should not be confused with the existing red / blue ‘anaglyph’ 3D blu-rays which have appeared over the past couple of years.  3D Blu-ray should offer a comparable 3D experience to that seen in a modern 3D D-cinema presentation, but in the comfort of your own home.

3D Blu-ray is based around a new profile for players, known as Profile 5

1.0 being the original players

1.1 entitled ‘Bonus View’ and offering Picture in Picture, and

2.0 entitle ‘BD Live’ offering network connectivity.

3d glassesWhat do I need to watch a 3D Blu-ray?

As a new format, you will need new equipment to experience 3D Blu-ray.

Route 1 – The Living Room

  • A 3D compatible display – LCD / Plasma flat panel.
  • 3D glasses compatible with your chosen display – passive or active.
  • A 3D Blu-ray set top player on sale May 2010– Playstation 3 to be firmware upgraded in Q3 / Q4 2010.

Route 2 – The Home PC

  • A 3D compatible desktop display.
  • 3D glasses compatible with your chosen display – passive or active.
  • A graphics card that supports MVC Decoding (Unless you have a very fast CPU).
  • A 3D Blu-ray software player, such as Cyberlink PowerDVD 10 Ultra.

What happens if I put 3D Blu-ray disc into a normal 2D player?

The good news is that 3D Blu-rays are designed to be backwardly compatible with current 2D Blu-ray players. This means that you can author a 3D disc and 2D Blu-ray  players will play it back in 2D.

Should we make separate 2D and a 3D Blu-ray skus?

Yes if you wish to take advantage of the potential premium price attached to 3D content.

It is perfectly possible to create a Blu-ray disc that displays 3D on 3D TVs and 2D on 2D TVs. Some of the advanced functionality of Blu-ray is lost on PS3s

What’s the deal with Playstation 3, can they be upgraded to 3D?

Yes, it is thought that the 3D Playstation games market is going to be a massive driver for 3D in the home, like it was for Blu-ray player numbers.

The games firmware upgrade was released June 2010, with the blu-ray 3d upgrade due         before the end of the year. The caveat is that Playstation 3 does not support all of the    advanced features of the 3D Blu-ray Spec and only HDMV Movie mode authoring is  supported. That means no BDJ or BD Live support.

How do the menus work?

Profile 5 players allow for 3D menus and subtitles, in both cases this is a depth set  above the video.  3D menus either position the menu pages at a distance above the video, or a more complex method by which the buttons are positioned floating above the menu page which is also above the video.

How is Blu-ray 3D different to Broadcast 3D?

As broadcasters showing 3D have to fit two eyes worth of information into an existing HD broadcast chain there have been some workarounds as follows:

  • “Side by Side “where the left and right images are squeezed horizontally into the frame, meaning they have a lower horizontal resolution (960×1080 as opposed to 1920×1080).
  • “Up and Under” where the left and right images are squeezed vertically into the frame, mean they have a lower vertical resolution (1920×540).
  • “Interlaced” where the frames have the same resolution as “Up and Under” but instead of being placed on the same frame, they are interleaved, alternating a line of each view.

Blu-ray 3D brings a new method to the table, which offers full HD resolution.  In this scenario, the frames are interleaved in their entirety, alternating between left and right eyes.

This is achieved by:

  • Increasing the maximum bitrate that 3D Blu-ray can be encoded at.
  • Doubling the read speed of the disc.
  • Using a new compression system, known as MVC (Multiview Video Codec) to squeeze the video down by only storing the differences between the main eye (base view) and the other eye (dependant view).

This method also means that 3D Blu-ray can offer backward compatibility for 2D Blu-ray as older players can only decode the base view, as they won’t understand the data in the dependent view.

What is the difference between Active vs Passive Glasses?   3dglasses

The two main ways two experience 3D is by wearing either Passive aka Polarised Glasses or by wearing Active aka Shutter Glasses.  Note that these are completely different ways of viewing 3D and you have to get glasses that match your display.

  • Passive / Polarised Glasses are the system currently used in D-Cinemas to show 3D, and are based on filtering different polarities of light

The lenses on polarised glasses are each designed to let through one orientation of light, so the clockwise spinning light from the right image can only pass through the right lens and the anti-clockwise spinning light from the left image can only pass through the left lens.

Pros – The glasses are cheaper to buy / manufacture,

Cons – The screens are more expensive.

  • Active / Shutter Glasses have liquid crystal lenses that either display or blank each eye. By “synchronising” with the display, via Infra Red for example, the glasses can cover the left eye when showing the right eye’s image and visa versa.

Pros – The screen are more economical

Cons – The glasses are more expensive & bulky

What do materials do I need to make a Blu-ray 3D?

The authoring process is very similar to 2D blu-ray authoring, so no real changes there.     When it comes to the video the easiest way to supply your content for 3D Blu-ray mastering is by supplying separate left eye and right eye HDCAM SR masters.

SPEC:

1920 x 1080p 24p (23.976fps)

Left eye HDCAM SR + Right eye HDCAM SR

or

Uncompressed L + R QuickTime/.AVI files

or

L + R D-Cinema DPX files

L +R Sync is really important!

Does re:fine author 3D Blu-rays?

Ahem… yes of course!

Contact Symon (dot) Roue @refine-group.com

www.refine-group.com

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