Telairity Clients Now Include Sri Lanka

Telairity Inc. is proud to expand its global reach by providing encoding technology in Sri Lanka.  In a partnership with systems integrator Mitter International Pvt. Ltd.; Telairity has sold 9000 series SD encoders and 5000 series IRDs as the compression/decompression engines for an IPTV video network that is being installed across Sri Lanka.  This new live IPTV broadcasting system is being installed by Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT), on behalf of one of their major clients, and will initially link together locations in Colombo, Depanama, Mount Olephant, and Union Place.

SLT is Sri Lanka’s leading broadband and backbone infrastructure service provider, with over 6 million customers, including small and large corporations, public sector clients, and retail businesses.  With this new installation, Sri Lanka joins a list of Telairity clients that now includes nearly every country in Asia Pacific, as the region continues its transition from traditional analog to digital television services. 

Whether providers need to add new video services, like SLT, or expanding existing operations, like China Telecom, Telairity’s line of affordable, quality products and solutions for remote and field live broadcasting, live streaming, IPTV, transcoding, and more—including auto-switching low-latency or high-compression HD and SD H.264/AVC encoders, and a line of full-featured professional IRDs to fit every need and budget—have made it a leading brand for encoders and IRDs for companies all across Asia Pacific. Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn for company updates and industry news. 

Telairity Unveils New Products at NAB Show

As we mentioned in our last blog post, in addition to attending CABSAT, we will also be exhibiting new products at the NAB Show located in Las Vegas, NV in April. The entire show runs from April 11-16, 2015 with the exhibits opening on April 13^th. The event is hosted by the National Association of Broadcasters and brings together broadcasting professionals from all over the United States as well as many other countries around the world. Attendees will also be able to attend conferences, workshops, and hear speakers such as John McAfee, Norman Pattiz, and Adam Carolla.

Telairity will be located at booth SU7516 in the Upper South Hall where we will be showcasing our next generation encoding technology, based on our brand new video processor, the TVP840. New TVP (Telairity Video Processor) technology, in conjunction with a complete redesign of our direct-execution AVClairity H.264/AVC (MPEG-4) encoding firmware (to maximize the efficiency of our new hardware), enables us to create a whole new generation of real-time encoders that are smaller, lighter, and far more powerful than any previous generation. Attendees can stop by our booth to see all our new products and speak with our team.

To view all our products, visit our website. We also actively post more broadcasting news on our Twitter and LinkedIn pages.

Meet Telairity at CABSAT

Telairity will once again be exhibiting at CABSAT this March at stand 218 in Hall 2. The trade show runs from March 10-12^th at the Dubai World Trade Centre and is one of the biggest broadcasting, satellite, and digital media events for the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia region. The event brings together some of the world’s leading content producers and connects them other industry professionals involved in capturing, exchanging, managing, distributing, and monetizing content.

In addition to seeing all the latest product developments in the exhibit halls, attendees also have the opportunity to attend a variety of conferences discussing the latest trends in broadcasting, such as the Middle East Post Production Training Conference, the GVF Satellite Hub Summit conference, the Content Delivery Hub seminar, and The CABSAT & NABSHOW Collaborative Conference. Attendees of the last mentioned conference will have the opportunity to see Telairity again during April 13-16, at the USA NAB show (held annually in Las Vegas, NV), at booth SU7516 in the Upper South Hall.

At CABSAT, Telairity will be unveiling for the first time anywhere systems using its next-generation encoding technology, based on a brand new generation of the Telairity Video Processor, the TVP840. Our new video processor, in combination with completely redesigned Telairity AVClairityä H.264/AVC (MPEG-4) encoding firmware, enables a whole new generation of encoders that are smaller, lighter, less power-hungry, and far more versatile than anything previously possible. To see the products we will be showcasing, be sure to visit our booth during the show, or contact us in advance for an appointment to secure a private visit with the Telairity team. We will also be tweeting about the show, so be sure to follow us on Twitter. 

Wither HEVC Part 3

In our previous blog, we raised the problem of the relative rates of:

1. bitrate reduction, due to new generations of compression technology

vs.

2. bitrate proliferation, due to the introduction of higher-resolution broadcast standards

We can easily quantify this problem with a little simple math. Let’s start in 1994, with the introduction of MPEG-2, the original digital compression standard developed for broadcast technology. Let’s set 1994 MPEG-2 compression technology to 1 and, likewise, set 1994 720 x 480 SD resolution formats at 1. For present purposes, we can assume these two forces are roughly balanced: that is to say, MPEG-2 compression technology successfully reduces the bits generated by digital 720 x 480 SD formats to manageable levels for practical purposes of transmission and storage.

Given this 1 to 1 parity between SD formats and MPEG-2 compression, as long as SD formats continued to dominate TV broadcasting, there was no great practical urgency about developing better encoding technology. And, in fact, although better H.264/AVC (MPEG-4) compression technology became available as early as 2003, there was little interest among broadcasters in the new technology over the next several years – despite its ability to cut SD bitrates in half.

Widespread interest in better H.264/MPEG-4 compression technology only began to develop among broadcasters after 2007, when the replacement of 720 x 480 SD formats by 6X larger 1920 x 1080 HD formats first become common. But, while the flood of bits generated by HD formats made the inefficiency of older MPEG-2 compression patently obvious, even after broadcasters switched to next-generation H.264 compression, the bottom line was not a return to the old 1 to 1 (SD to MPEG-2) parity of 1994. Instead, with a 6X increase in bits due to new HD formats, balanced by a 2X reduction in bitrates from H.264 compression, the new HD to MPEG-4 parity level was reestablished at 3 to 1.

The industry now faces the prospect of a second transition to a new 2X better level of compression technology with H.265/HEVC (MPEG-5).  Although adoption of MPEG-5 for HD formats would practically restore the old 1994 parity level (1.5 to 1 vs 1 to 1), just as adoption of MPEG-4 technology waited on the spread of new, higher resolution HD picture formats, significant take-up of MPEG-5 compression is likely to wait on widespread adoption of the new 4X larger 3940 x 2160 4K picture format. With 4K formats, the bottom line will not be something closer to 1994 parity levels, but rather something substantially worse than current levels, with a 6 to 1 ratio of 4K bits to MPEG-5 compression capabilities.

Future developments seem more likely to continue this progressively worsening trend than to succeed in reversing or even slowing it. Projecting forward to a new 2X better level of compression technology with a future H.266/MPEG-6 step, this advance in bitrate reduction seems certain to be more than offset by a yet another 4X larger resolution step: the 7880 x 4320 8K picture format.   In the 2020s, then, the bottom line is likely to be a 12 to 1 ratio of bits to compression capabilities, measured by 1994 standards.

Is this decade-by-decade slide in bit ratio, from 1 to 1 in the 1990s, to 3 to 1 in the 2000s, to 6 to 1 in the 2010s, to 12 to 1 in the 2020s, a worry? And if it is not something we should worry about, then why not? That will be the subject of our next blog.

Wither HVEC Continued: Adoption of New Encoding Technology

In the USA, the transition from MPEG-2 to H.264/AVC encoding was further encouraged by the 2009 official switchover from analog to digital television (DTV). Worldwide, however, the DTV switchover has yet to happen in many countries (e.g., Brazil, China, and Russia are not scheduled to switchover until 2018), and the final country on the current schedule (Cuba) will not join the DTV “revolution” until 2024. In pre-DTV countries, both SD television and MPEG-2 encoding technology retain strong holds.

If we apply this lesson about the adoption of new, 2X more powerful, but also more costly and less proven encoding technology to the new H.265/HEVC encoders that are now starting to appear commercially, following 2013 finalization of the new 3^rd generation MPEG encoding standard, it seems probable that any significant uptake by broadcasters of new H.265 systems will be slow to materialize. Just as inexpensive MPEG-2 technology remains in widespread use today for SD television, despite a 2X bitrate advantage for H.264/AVC technology, less expensive and better established H.264/AVC technology is likely to remain the popular choice for use with HD television, despite its 2X bitrate disadvantage compared to the latest H.265/HEVC encoders.

Judging by the historical lesson of the MPEG-2 to H.264/AVC transition, the driver for H.265/HEVC technology will not be any mere technical advantage in bitrate reduction over the decade-older H.264/AVC technology, but rather the widespread adoption of a new, higher-resolution TV format that multiplies picture data by a significant number. Fortunately for the new standard, higher resolution TV formats are already starting to appear.

Relatively inexpensive 4K UHDTV sets, featuring a 3840 x 2160 resolution that multiplies 1920 x 1080 HD formats by a factor of 4, are already available for purchase, with even larger 8K formats of  7680 x 4320, that multiply HD formats by an enormous factor of 16, waiting in the wings. When the spread of UHDTV sets to households reaches critical mass in another few years, followed by the transition to UHDTV programming over the next few years on the part of broadcasters, adoption of better encoding technology to cope with the rising tide of bits generated by UHDTV will become essential. But the transition to UHDTV will not be quick, let alone immediate. As a result, widespread use of H.265/HEVC is far more likely to occur towards the end of the current decade than near its middle.

Although the multiplication of video data due to the rise of 4K programming will make H.265/HEVC encoding technology essential before the end of the present decade, this latest encoding standard, able to halve the number of bits needed to generate a picture (compared to H.264/AVC technology), is obviously not sufficient in itself to cope with a 4X multiplication of bits. Even postulating another 50% reduction in bits from the introduction of still-to-be-developed H.266/MPEG-6 technology in 2023 will not help—assuming another 4X increase in bits during the 2020 decade from a move to 8K programming.

To the contrary, 21 years after the introduction of the first MPEG-2 standard for broadcast encoding, we appear to be locked into a losing race, where our best efforts to push encoding technology forward to new generations increasingly fall behind a growing flood of bits generated by the market’s appetite for higher and higher resolution pictures. We will consider this problem in our next blog.

To learn more about Telarity and our video compressors, visit our website. We are also active on Twitter and LinkedIn publishing company updates and industry news.

Distribution vs. Contribution Encoding: Part 1

As television technology continues to improve, broadcasters want to ensure that viewers are getting a crisp, clear image. This is where special contribution encoders come into play, as distinct from the normal sort of distribution encoder, used to render images for end-user viewing.

The main difference between the two is how color, the essential attribute of a digital picture element or “pixel” is treated. There are two separate issues here. One issue is the number of bits used to denote the color of a pixel, generally referred to as “8-bit” color, “10-bit” color, and so on.

The other issue is the number of pixels that are retained in an encoded picture. The terminology used here is a bit more obscure. 4:4:4 encoding means that 4 out of every 4 (i.e., all) pixels are retained in the encoded image.  As a rule, encoders do not support this mode, since the essential function of an encoder is to reduce the number of pixels needed to reproduce an image. 4:2:2 means that 2 out of every 4 pixels are retained in the encoded image. As a rule, this mode is only supported by source encoders. Distribution encoders instead support 4:2:0 mode, in which only 1 pixel is retained out of every 4.

Perhaps surprisingly, retaining just a quarter of the pixels in an image is sufficient to allow the image to very accurately reconstructed during the decoding process; indeed, few people can detect any difference between a 4:4:4 image, a 4:2:2 image, and a 4:2:0 image. As a consequence, for purposes of viewing, the extra pixels retained in 4:4:4 and 4:2:0 can be regarded as simple overhead, better dispensed with in a distribution encoder, since the fewer the bits that need to be transmitted or stored, the lower the cost of digital video.

Source encoders, however, are not designed merely for viewing pictures, and so the rules for them are different than the rules for distribution encoders. In our next blog, we will consider this issue in more depth, along with the issue of “8-bit” vs. “10-bit” color.

Meet Telairity at the NAB Show

This week we’ll be exhibiting at the NAB Show at the Las Vegas Convention Center and showcasing our new line of products. The NAB Show is the world’s largest electronic media show with over 93,000 attendees and over 1,550 exhibitors, covering everything from filmed entertainment as well as the development, management and delivery of content. In addition to the exhibits, the show offers an array of sessions, including workshops, speakers, and conference series.

Telairity will be located at booth SU11306 where we’ll be featuring our video processing solutions for the broadcasting, backhaul, mobile, government, and related markets. We offer a full range of H.264/AVC encoding solutions, the newest built on the next generation of our exclusive TVP video processor and direct-execution AVClairity compression software. We’ll also debut a new “Pegasus” product line of portable encoders at the show, so be sure to stop by our booth to catch up on all the latest developments.

For additional information about Telairity, visit our website and be sure to follow us on Twitter for updates on all the latest media industry news.

How High Can Resolution Climb and Still Be Cost-Effective?

In a few, quick years - years that feel more like quantum leaps than years, at least in our industry - we have witnessed the transformation of SD picture quality into ever higher levels of resolution. Even the much-touted HDTV – with its 16.8 million approximate primary color variations (more gradations than the human eye is capable of detecting) – has begun to feel outdated in the face of new technology coming down the pipeline. As I write these words, there are 16-bit visual display platforms developed that can articulate upwards of 280 trillion possible shades of primary color, a number dwarfing what only a few years ago seemed like a pioneering achievement. We are a far, indiscernible cry away from the days of the SD pictorial quality we all grew up with watching on television. Given the current rate at which ever more sharp resolutions are being adapted for the market, we can only assume that the “resolution revolution” still has a ways to go before manufacturers and technicians realize that there is no need to proceed beyond the very high standards already set.

Simply put, the bit rate transmissions to sustain that level of resolution for broadband applications would cost ludicrous amounts of money. We’re still living in an age of transition, where encoding technology is desperately striving to keep pace with the platforms which it is expected to provide functionality to. While new and higher resolution video technologies will doubtless continue playing a key part in the ongoing digital revolution, encoding technology needs to sharpen its performance level to match the already-overtaxed needs of the system as it stands. Simply ladling more pixels into an already high-resolution visual framework may prove to be a case of “gilding the lily,” adding unnecessary resolution at a price not worth paying. After all, a higher pixel count equals a higher cost.

Not only is Telairity a thought-leader and advocator for encoding technology to “catch up” with the network systems already in place, but we’ve actually made good on our word by the products we’ve developed. We are neck-and-neck with current digital technology as it stands, and customers around the globe – from Silicon Valley to Sydney to Beijing to Dubai – are well aware of this. We will continue overcoming all future technological hurdles placed in our path.