What Surprised me at IBC
Having only moved into my current role looking at the broader media sector in the UK within the last 6 months, I hadn’t previously had an opportunity to attend IBC in Amsterdam. So I went, somewhat unsure exactly what to expect, however having just spent two days there it is clear that next year I will need to set aside more time (and a more comfortable pair of shoes, given all the walking involved around the huge venue!). With some of the biggest names in the broadcast industry making up the 55,000+ people in attendance, it is fair to say IBC is a must go to place for the movers and shakers within the industry.
What initially surprised me when I started my new role was the opportunity that was still around the adoption of IP. While some will argue that TV in particular has long since adopted digital strategy, from glass to glass (camera capture to TV consumption) the reality is there are still a lot of exciting opportunities to transform the industry. A simple example would be with SDI (Serial Digital Interfaces) which is a standard for digital video transmission over coaxial cable. Although speeds of up to 540 Mbps are theoretically possible, the most common data speed is 270 Mbps. The challenge is that SDI cannot handle the volume of data required by Ultra-HDTV, which, in its 4K incarnation, is at least four times greater than that used in HDTV. Transporting this data along a single gigabit Ethernet cable using IP is a lot more efficient than routing it through four parallel SDI cables. The cost advantage of IP is not limited to the price of cabling. Instead of ripping out and replacing equipment every time there’s a demand for new formats, an IP infrastructure can scale to accommodate leaps in frame rate or resolution, to ultra-HDTV 8K for example.
Not surprising, given the amount of transformation going on within the industry, Cisco had a very large and visible presence at IBC.
During IBC Cisco unveiled its new ‘Infinite’ suite of cloud-powered video solutions. With the goal of helping services providers, broadcasters and media companies around the globe deliver outstanding TV experiences to multiple screens, utilizing one cloud, on any access network, within the home and on the move.
As part of that launch, Cisco announced Infinite Home and Infinite Video. Both offering full featured linear, on-demand and cloud DVR (cDVR) video experiences. Infinite Home is a new software solution for the pay TV market. It enables the delivery of video experience over two-way cable and IP networks within and beyond the home. While Infinite Video delivers live and on-demand TV and video content to multiple unmanaged devices. Utilizing over-the-top (OTT) connectivity, or service providers own network to stream video.
Both solutions leverage Cisco’s cloud and virtualization solutions to transform how video works, enabling service providers to cut the time it takes to perform standard business operation, thereby increasing their competitiveness and reducing their costs. Unsurprisingly cloud was a huge, ever present theme across a number of the exhibitors present at IBC this year.
Of real interest to the industry is the possibility to launch a new video service in just 90 days, leveraging the Cisco As-A-Service deployment model and scalable cloud infrastructure. This enables service providers to take minutes instead of months to activate service enhancements, by moving functionality from device to the cloud, where the powerful Cisco orchestration software automates and simplifies configuration and activation. As a result, it is possible to get regular software updates and feature enhancements enabled by the use open-source components and open APIs to allow faster integration and customization.
Whether deployed as software-as-a-service (SaaS) or private cloud, Infinite is based on the same software components, so video operators initially choosing one solution and deployment mode can easily migrate to others as needs evolve.
However the announcements and innovation didn’t stop there. Also announced at IBC was the revised Mobility IQ. This is a highly secure, cloud-based solution that visually combines network, user, and business intelligence across your mobile network to realize business outcomes. Again taking advantage of Cisco Cloud Services’ global footprint to provide the reach and scale service providers need.
Finally, there was a joint demonstration with EVS showcasing IP networking for remote video production of multi-feed live uncompressed video using Cisco standard IP switches and software defined networking (SDN).
So as you can read, it was a very busy couple of days at IBC and an experience I am looking forward to repeating again next year. Excitingly, we will start to see a lot of this technology making its way into homes and screens around the globe between now and then. Providing us, as consumers, with a richer, more flexible and ultimately more rewarding viewing experience.
To learn more about simplifying operations, I recommend you read these papers:
http://www.cisco.com/web/offers/sp04/simplifying-operations/index.html?KeyCode=000829511
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