IPTV: The Marriage of Broadcast and Broadband
Join the Q&A
Service providers are looking for ways to join in on the accelerating IPTV trend in all market sectors: cable, terrestrial and satellite. However, creating solutions quickly takes some unique development on both the hardware and software side.
Join us for this free webinar – brought to you by telecoms.com in association with Sigma Designs and Oregan – as James Middleton, Managing Editor at Telecoms.com sets the scene by outlining the business opportunity presented to service providers as IPTV services are set to double over the next 5 years.
During this webinar hear about Sigma Design’s long-time leadership in IPTV and how they can facilitate service providers getting to market quickly by partnering with the strong middleware providers such as Oregan’s Onyx browser. Learn how TV service providers and manufacturers can be empowered with the tools to create service differentiation and new revenue models – through innovative apps and increased viewer engagement.
Key areas to be addressed during this webinar will include:
- Changes in chip architecture to support hybrid implementation
- How software for broadcast differs from broadband
- Addressing the media processor challenges: Container support, Browser support, User Interface and User Experience
- Integrating web video channels and aps for service providers
- Full toolkit for operators to pick and choose from
- How to take OTT and blend seamlessly with broadcast content
Thank you for your questions. This Q&S is now closed.
who is really picking up the tab for OTT services? operators? device OEMs?
This is becoming very much the responsibility of the Silicon provider and some our software partners like Oregan. We invest time in several long lead OTT applications like Netflix and Vudu because we intgrate these into our SDKs as reference implementations so that once certified all our customers can take advantage of them. This is the main reason for our large investment in developing the HTML5 and Flash frameworks.
Sir Vikram, concerning the hybrid STB, would there be a possibility of creating a DLNA app in the phone to control it? or are you going to use another technology for multi-screening? would this be a capability of the STB mainly-multi screen?
We already have this capability through multiple implementations. One via a custom application, one via a DLNA application alligned with Skifta and also a seamless Android phone application working seamlessly with our reference Android STB.
we are an small cable tv operator establish in Mexico, I am concern about our future, because we are no leader in the city we cover but soon we are going to have many competitors offering OTT services, what do you recommend us to focus on?
I would recommend focussing on an OTT service with catch up TV and Movie rental. Please send me an email and I can put you in touch with our BiZ Dev person that handles operators in Mexico.
How does the recently launched Connect TV service for Freeview HD impact the fate of YouView in the UK?
The Connected TV specification from DTG aims to harmonise the requirements of OTT and Interactive service delivery platforms, including HbbTV and YouView. The specification allows applications to be created in multiple runtimes including HTML and MHEG5, however Oregan sees a consistent and rapid move towards HTML5 due to its open standards nature and powerful capabilities.
How does the stack deliver quality of experience?
We believe that there are at least 3 levels on which Oregan’s CPE stack helps optimize subscriber’s quality of experience:
There is the ease of use aspect, determined by the logical flow of the UI and quality and crispness of displayed graphics. The application will go through multiple iterations before the final implementation – a scenario to which a browser-based approach to UI design yields itself very well.
Secondly, platform resource utilization by software and code efficiency, as highlighted earlier in the presentation. A robust STB software implementation will make the most of hardware acceleration for graphics rendering, audio and video decode functions, as well as DRM.
And finally, the ability to adjust the quality of delivered video to the real network conditions.
Providing a means of uninterrupted video delivery remains the key consideration for telco system architects, especially in the countries where the broadband infrastructure build-out is not complete or of a consistently high quality.
Oregan has built a high level of competence in integrating adaptive streaming mechanisms for Pay TV and free services. Today, ABR is a standard part of our offering on Sigma Designs’ family of chipsets. The current implementation follows the HLS standard, with a roadmap to release an MPEG-DASH compliant version as part of Oregan’s next generation media browser.
Importantly, the HLS implementation is tightly integrated with Oregan’s SSL client certificate authentication and AES content decryption leveraging secure hardware decryption technology.
Can software be upgraded in the field?
Devices powered by Oregan’s media browser can be upgraded in the field in a modular manner: updating, adding or removing functionality as required. Oregan also has experience of performing complete bootloader replacements for transitioning legacy CPE.
The upgrade facility is integrated and can be used in conjunction with Oregan’s overall CPE management server-sidesolution, incorporating compliance with Broadband Forum’s TR – 069 and TR – 135 specifications for CPE WAN Management and Data Model.
Using The Oregan Networks’ CPE WAN Management Protocol (CWMP) Client, Operators can configure new installations from operation centers and access up to date device diagnostics from call centers.
Yes, the upgrades can be performed via IP or broadcast trickle down. There are security mechanisms in place to prevent unauthorized updates.
Yes, Sigma Designs has a very strong Integration team that does custom HW reference designs for many of our customers including some tier1 OEMs that meet their form factor requirements.
Yes, it does. We support that using USB WLAN solutions or MII based reference cards.
Yes, WLAN is support via USB dongles or MII reference cards. Several STB makers build the USB dongle internal to the STB as well.
HEVC is a few years away. We might need a market event to accelerate that. In 2003, it took the Blu-Ray and HD-DVD rivalry to get closure on the H.264 specification.
This will require a specific application on the 2nd screen in sync or aware of the content on a given broadcast channel.
HbbTV was a lot easier to develop for and support within our SDK. We have one single SDK for HBBTV and MHEG-5. However, it is the decision of the STB maker to include Webkit components that enable HbbTV along with the MHEG-5 stack.
vikram_shrivastava@sigmadesigns.com
There is no clear winner here. We see both stacks from OTT operators. There is more inquiry and exploration on the HTML5 side.
Our broadcast stack and SDK is independent of broadcast standard. There is a layer of abstraction that allows the hardware changes for tuners/demodulators to happen only impact using a new device driver integrated into the linux kernel.
We expect Hybrid STBs to be provided by operators, retail outlets operated by operators as well as traditional CE retailers.