Telairity Introduces Multi-Channel Encoder Capable of Supporting Both SD and HD

With the resolutions war raging in full earnest and new devices hitting the market every month, encoding has turned into a complicated issue. Telairity has ruled the H.264/AVC video processing domain for quite some time now, and our latest product, the multichannel BE8700 distribution encoder only strengthens our claim to be the best in the business.

What is the BE8700?

The BE8700 is a 1 to 4 channel encoder offering state-of-the-art 4:2:0 H.264/AVC (MPEG-4) video compression for all HD and SD television formats. In its 4-channel configuration, it can accept different HD and SD feeds on every channel, auto-configuring by input type from 4 HD and 0 SD all the way to 0 HD and 4 SD channels, including any 3/1, 2/2, or 1/3 HD/SD combination in between. Or, it can take in a single HD or SD feed, and simultaneously provide 4 different primary encodes of that feed at different bitrates and resolutions. Based on the latest generation of Telairity’s distinctive TVP technology, it is a forward-looking product, capable of accommodating emerging HEVC and UHD specifications.

Completing the New Next-Generation Encoding Family from Telairity

The multi-channel BE8700 distribution encoder is the final member of a complete next-generation family of H.264/AVC encoders from Telairity, all based on new TVP technology. The other members of this family are the BE8600 single-channel contribution encoder, supporting both 4:2:2 and 4:2:0 formats in a convenient half-width “go anywhere” package, and the blade-based SES3200, with provides up to 32 HD/SD channels in a telco-grade ATCA chassis designed for non-stop reliability with automatic fail-over, multiple power supplies, extensive monitoring and alarm functions, and hot-swap upgradeability.

The Right Solution for Tumultuous Times

The new BE8700 together with the other members of Telairity’s next-generation encoding family are expressly designed to provide an oasis of calm in a tumultuous video processing market. Based on new TVP technology, the BE8700, the BE8600, and the SES3200 provide the breadth of capabilities needed to address any current HD and/or SD real-time encoding need at the highest possible level, while at the same time providing the headroom needed to tackle the still more demanding requirements of a video future bright with the promise of higher resolutions, higher bandwidths, new types of displays, more devices, and an increasingly mobile audience.

If you would like to know more about what the BE8700 or any of Telairity’s other next-generation encoders can accomplish for you, please get in touch with us at sales@telairity.com. 

Telairity Assists with Live Video Feeds

Quality low-latency video feeds are very important for TV networks around the world who regularly want to interview people of topical interest, or who can speak authoritatively on a newsworthy subject, live on-location from places like Silicon Valley. As technology continues to improve, news- bureau-for-hire studios are forming to economically service this emerging market, providing the equipment and facilities need to generate high quality live on- camera feeds for interviews.
 
To assist these remote live streaming studios,  Telairity offers its new BE8600 H.264/AVC contribution encoder, designed to provide the sort of seamless transmission needed for real-time remote on-air interviews.  One news-bureau-for-hire that finds the BE8600 a perfect fit for the job is A2P Studios out of Oakland, California.  Not only is the BE8600 a reliable professional low-latency broadcast quality encoder, its small size and quiet operation made it easy to accommodate within the confines of the A2P studio, while Telairity’s knowledgeable support staff was able to help A2P with the set-up and configuration required to get on-air quickly.

News bureau for hire operations are popping up all around the country now as the market for live video feed-outs expands.  Many of these studios believe that the future of video production is the sort of independent remote live streaming capability they provide. Viewers want the same quality productions from internet video that they would get from traditional broadcast productions.  Telairity has the solutions needed to make this sort of professional live streaming facility a reality, with affordable, low-maintenance encoders and related equipment, backed by the knowledgeable, personal service able to help content providers get up and running quickly,providing broadcast-quality live video over the internet.

Streaming Content and Video on Demand: are they Really Pushing Broadcast by Schedule to the Back Burner?

Just think for a minute. How did your grandparents consume content on their television sets? They structured their commitments around the schedule of the broadcasting companies for the privilege of enjoying their favorite shows. 

Then came the era of live telecasts and the element of anticipation was added to the mix. From sports championships to beauty pageants, millions of eyeballs greedily took in events and results, as they happened in real time and were as knowledgeable and savvy as the newspaper editors. 

At the turn of the new millennium though a trend burst onto screens, literally, and it was that of personalized, streaming content. It allowed viewers to watch what they wanted to when they wanted to and at their own terms of frequency and ‘pauses.' And the concept of non-linear visual entertainment was born. 

But is traditional television going the land-phone way? Will it soon be an object of nostalgia for times simpler?

If the advertisement numbers for linear entertainment are to be considered, conventional ‘TV’ is still a powerhouse and will continue to be so for a very long time to come. 

WHAT DO THE EXPERTS SAY? 

Those with industry experience and objectivity feel that content personalization on streaming platforms, like Netflix and Hulu, make for an enjoyable experience. But some disadvantages and problems will slowly but surely manifest themselves, disillusioning enthusiastic adopters.

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•   First and foremost, with choices come the penalty of potential user interface complications. People need to jump from one platform to another to enjoy features that they like. Yes, broadcasts provided next to nothing regarding interactivity and convenience when compared to the streaming and VOD options of today but Millennials think differently, and they want the best of all that is available to them. Thus with engagement (that stems from tailoring hands-on what one can watch) comes the fatigue of navigating different applications which can get tedious after a while. And the broadcast system can be supplanted only when the alternative is just as easy a habit to slip into.   
•  Analysis Paralysis is also a likely problem. With so much going on, leisure time is wasted in ‘deciding what to watch’ instead of actually watching it. Busy Millennials can get exasperated by the growing number of options presented to their overstretched minds, and this might cause friction where non-linear viewing is concerned. The world may as well return to the comfort of the couch and allow someone else – the broadcasters - to take decisions on their behalf for the majority of their entertainment needs 
•  Last but not the least, fragmentation may actually bump up prices. Personalized content promises to be cheaper than channel bundles because you only pay for what you wish to enjoy. But a closer evaluation of this business model shows that in the search for a ‘complete’ viewer experience that can justify the shift from good old television broadcasts people often end up subscribing to more streaming content platforms and channel modules than they realistically need to. A la carte sounds lucrative and cost-effective but rarely is so.

SO THE FUTURE IS…

Linear entertainment is not going to retire anytime soon. It is simply going to evolve. It will stick to its broadcast model and its simplicity but will offer a roster of personalization features for the people who would like to take advantage of them. Recording programs, the ability to play and ‘pause’ live television, movies on demand are just a few examples. More is on the horizon – especially with the popularity of smart television sets that can access the internet. 

Streaming services will continue to play second fiddle and provide content that is completely in control of the audience for when it is in the mood to diligently choose its entertainment.

So hold on to your flat screens and your Direct-to-Home cable guy. The revolution is still far away. 

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.