Jim Duval, Telestream’s director of new products and strategy, explains how application-specific transcoding technologies work within a single production workflow
Centralised transcoding services reduce costs and improve operational efficiency for many media companies. Merging the specific requirements of traditional on- demand content for on-air, broadband, mobile, cable, IPTV with Over-the-Top (OTT) applications can be disruptive to that effort.
This dynamic change is generating substantial demand for adaptive bit-rate media format production that in many ways is incompatible with the workflow systems that are currently support broadcast and cable TV workflows. Carefully constructed content transcoding workflow systems strain to support the very different technical requirements of four very clearly defined
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distribution targets. It is clear that a one-size-fits-all single transcoding technology cannot reasonably meet the wide ranging requirements of media broadcast TV, cable/IPTV, broadband/mobile and OTT content transcoding. Media companies are responding by building separate but parallel application specific transcoding workflows.
These systems are often
internally developed and constructed of a combination of open source and commercially available components. While they get the job done, hard won operational efficiency gains are
being sacrificed. Media technology executives are actively seeking solutions that specifically deploy application specific transcoding technologies within a single managed workflow system. Such a system comprises four vital elements: • Application-specific transcoders. The specific video format and transcoding needs of the four application areas are addressed by three important technologies. Content is frequently shot at
progressive 23.98 HD, and converted to interlaced SD or HD for broadcast. On-air interlaced content is often the source for progressive web and mobile formats. Processing in 16-bits, and applying motion estimation and compensation to
Jim Duval: ‘Hard won operational efficiency is being sacrificed’
deinterlacing, frame rate conversion and resizing algorithms is critical for maintaining image quality. GPU and multithreaded CPU parallel processing accelerates motion compensated video processing algorithms and h.264 transcoding. Acceleration makes software processing faster than baseband hardware and allows for the flexibility and reliability of a redundant, networked system. A transcoder that is specifically designed to simultaneously produce the multiple bit-rate, frame-rate and resolution variants needed for adaptive-bit-rate transcoding, • Format and system integration points. Efficient
transcoding workflows require format and interface compatibility with various broadcast, cable, DAM/MAM, and distribution networks. A lack of compatibility requires the creation of specific mezzanine formats as a separate process step, not unlike going to baseband to integrate hardware. • Flexible and intelligent workflow design. A unified system consisting of application specific transcodersis far more efficient the system dynamically detects source content and output characteristics and makes appropriate workflow choices. The alternative is a statically configured system with multiple watch folders that are selected by externally developed applications that provide the detection and submission logic. • Unified System control and visibility. Operational efficiency is recovered when all of the solutions are integrated within one management structure that provides dynamic control and status of all of the workflow steps from submission to distribution. Telestream offers application specific transcoding technology solutions within a unified system. Please come and see the benefits for yourself. 7.D16