Telairity Dives Deep into 4K Technology – Part 1

The world of resolutions is multifaceted, and confusing, to say the least! Just when we thought
that so-called “Full HD” resolution (or “2K”) was the absolute cutting edge, “Ultra-High
Definition” (UHD or “4K”) made an appearance and changed the equation. Actually UHD/4K
technology has been in the news since 2010, but 2015 saw a steep drop in the prices of
devices supporting UHD and, judging by the latest adoption figures, the market has warmed
considerably to the new resolution standard.

What is 4K Technology?

In the old analog world of CRT display screens, screens were measured by the number of scan
linesthey supported. A standard SD screen had either 480 or 540 visible scan lines(depending
on which standard, NTSC or PAL, was used in your region). The shift to HD, with its much
higher resolutions, precipitated a shift in the underlying technology, from analog to digital.

In the new digital world of TV technology, display screens are no longer measured by the
number of scan lines they support, but rather by the number of pixels they display. Digitally
speaking, the highest resolution SD screens are now pixel arrays 720 wide x 480 or 540 high.
Full HD screens are pixel arrays 1920 wide x 1080 high. Rounded off, HD resolution is about
2000 x 1000, which gets shortened to “2K” in digital-speak. UHD or 4K simply doubles each of
these HD (2K) dimensions, to about 4000 x 2000 (or, more precisely, to exactly 3840 x 2160).
In round numbers, then, HD is about 2 million pixels/screen, while UHD is about 8 million
pixels/screen, or 4X the resolution of HD.

Pixels Not the Only Issue

It is easy to get confused here, because pixel number is only one aspect of the technology
used to manufacture displays. Another critical aspect is the technology used to render pixels
(whatever their number). This is where you encounter terms like LCD (Liquid Crystal Display),
LED (Light Emitting Diode), OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode), etc. Rendering technology
controls the maximum darkness and lightness of a screen (its contrast ratio), as well as how
bright and vivid colors appear. Yet another issue has to do with screen shape (curved or flat),
and the effect this has on the viewing experience.

Obviously, if you change multiple aspects of a display at once, the impact of a new display can
be far greater than the impact that would be produced by any one change in isolation. No
doubt, shifting from a flat LCD HD display to a curved OLED UHD display will dramatically
transform one’s viewing experience. But what part of this transformation is specifically
contributed by the change in pixel count, i.e., the shift from HD to UHD? And what by the
other new technologies for displays now coming into commercial use? We will continue this
discussion in the next part of this series.

Telairity has made a name for itself as one of the industry’s leading providers of video encoding solutions. Please write in to us at sales@telairity.com to learn more about our products and to collaborate with our team.

Telairity is Celebrating 15 years Serving the Broadcast Industry

In 2016, Telairity is celebrating its 15^th anniversary as a market leader in the broadcast industry.  Since 2001, we have been designing, manufacturing and marketing video processing solutions for broadcast and professional video applications.  We produce next generation encoding solutions made in Silicon Valley, USA, and used around the world.  Our experience and history of providing solutions for video processing over these last 15 years is a big part of the advantage that we bring to each new project.

The broadcast industry has undergone massive changes over the last 15 years, moving from analog to all-digital technology, from SD to HD and UHD, from 2D to 3D, from CRT displays to flat panel displays, from time-bound to on-demand viewing, from large fixed screens in living rooms and bedrooms to small on-the-go mobile screens—to name just some of the more notable shifts. Telairity has continually produced innovative products and solutions to meet broadcaster’s demands within rapidly changing technologies.  The advanced video compression systems we provide uniquely fast start-up times and combine low latency with low bitrates during operation.  This makes them an ideal choice for both remote and field broadcast applications, which require top-of-the-line real-time performance, and for IPTV and other applications, that require the lowest achievable bitrates.

Today, Telairity systems are deployed in over 50 countries around the world for tasks that include electronic news gathering, in-stadium replay, remote learning, outreach programs, event streaming, and more—wherever video must be moved reliably, economically, and efficiently in real time.  As one of the few companies that controls all its key technologies, from video processor development through system enclosure design, Telairity is also uniquely able to customize systems to meet specific needs.  Whether it’s simply a new combination of existing capabilities, or a requirement for capabilities not yet offered on any standard product, we will work with you to find the right solution to your encoding needs.

Over our 15 years, Telairity has designed and manufactured numerous products that have met the new technology needs of the broadcasting industry.  Due to our investment in technology, we offer encoding platforms that are powerful, fast and reliable and are always working to meet the latest demands of the industry.  It has been a pleasure to serve our customers over the last 15 years, and we look forward to providing next-generation encoding solutions for our customers for years to come.

Acquisitions Help the Industry Grow

Business acquisitions happen every day. But every so often, one happens that makes an industry sit up and notice. With the purchase of Elemental Technologies, Amazon has done just this. Once merely a helpful website for last-minute holiday shopping from the comfort of your living room, Amazon is now the leading lifestyle website. On top of what they started with, they have diversified into mobile phones, e-readers, content programming, and much more. With this latest purchase, Amazon is extending itself even further.

What Does Elemental Technologies Bring to the Table?

Elemental is a company that specializes in processing and delivering video feed, for customers ranging from broadcast television, to Major League Baseball, to ESPN, and even NASA. It is not solely concentrated on broadcasting though, and has been a pioneer in developing software for multi-screen content delivery. This includes:

•  Multi-format content that works on televisions, tablets, smartphones, and other formats.
•  App-delivered video offerings.
•  4K TV service
•  Internet device support partner for the 2012 Summer Olympics

Elemental has regularly been named amongst the best technology companies year in and year out and is also known for being innovative, always on the cutting edge of digital media.

How Does This Affect Us at Telairity?

As the leading providers of SD and HD Broadcast Encoders, acquisitions such as this give us hope for continuing growth in the industry, which equates to continuing growth for us as a business. While Elemental brings the software to the multi-screen world, both Amazon and Elemental need hardware providers to handle the demanding up-front task of real-time encoding. This is where Telairity looks to come in, by using our expertise in providing real-time hardware encoding solutions to capitalize in this growing field. After all, if Amazon is looking to invest in the multi-screen field, there are sure to be others not too far behind.

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.

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. 

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.