Ott Technology News

Understanding IPTV And OTT Video Streaming Services

Published

8 months ago

July 21, 2022

IPTV and OTT have been together in a debate for a long time and still, there are many who are not aware of the difference between these two. Both the terms are quite commonly used in the video streaming arena. These are common ways of using the content for the end users. However, both the terms are different and people get confused about the meaning of the term. This can also be a major point of concern for organizations looking for video streaming needs.

For an organization, it is confusing to choose which way to use to deliver the content to the end-users. With this blog, we will try to understand what these terms mean, how they both work, what is difference between these two and which is suitable for your video streaming needs.

IPTV And OTT

What Is IPTV?

IPTV stands for “Internet Protocol Television” which delivers video and audio content over an Internet Protocol. It delivers video content over privately managed networks including a private local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), or other managed networks. In short, these are digital television systems that are used for delivering live and on-demand video content via the internet in a controlled way. Popular IPTV Player include U-Verse (AT&T), Prism TV (CenturyLink), Verizon Fios TV, etc.

IPTV video streaming stores the video content over the servers and distribute copies to viewers at anytime the viewer plays a TV channel or the on-demand content. The stored videos are sent to the viewers using a multicast method. It means the content to a number of destinations simultaneously instead of delivering content to each user.

What Is OTT?

OTT refers to “Over-the-Top” that delivers content over the internet. The platform delivers the video content to any device including smartphones, laptops, tablets, or video consoles over a publicly accessible internet connection. It has overpowered the traditional broadcast and cable TV providers because of its ability to stream content anytime and anywhere. Anyone can access the content on any device with an internet connection. Some of the popular OTT players are Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, HBO Max, etc.

OTT platforms provide content on request and deliver content on a unicast basis. It means these are one-to-one transmissions that serve content to a single connected device. In these platforms, ISPs do not have control over streaming and viewing. It only provides infra to deliver the content directly to the users. It is a more affordable option than IPTV since it has reduced the cost of infrastructure management.

IPTV And OTT: Which One To Choose

Choosing over IPTV and OTT is traditionally dependent on the content, targeted audience, and the resources available in the company beforehand. OTT is a cost-effective choice and is suitable for those who want to deliver their content to a large audience yet not that expensive. It is best suitable for those who want to give their audience a personalized experience since it delivers content one-to-one to the viewers. Yet it comes with several challenges which are based on network.

A poor network connection can degrade the quality of the video, making a poor user experience. It is a good option for businesses that require lower investment in setting up the services. That is the core reason for its development and acceptance in a larger sphere.

While on the other hand, IPTV provides a higher streaming quality experience to the viewers with easier monitoring and management of the services. All that makes it different from the OTTs is its higher operational cost. This method uses higher costs in installment and management of the infrastructure. It is the appropriate choice for those who want to provide a superior service in terms of image and sound quality and enhanced network security.

In a nutshell, choosing the service of delivering the content is all depended on the type of experience you want to give to the end-users. Choose wisely from IPTV and OTT according to the needs and the target you want to achieve through streaming the video content.

Ott Technology News

Google Releases Lyra V2: A New Audio Codec

Published

5 months ago

October 12, 2022

Harshita

Google has recently released a new codec named Lyra V2, a better, faster, and more versatile speech Codec. The architecture of the new Lyra V2 brings scalable bitrate capabilities, provides better performance, provides wider platform support and generates a higher audio quality. With the release of Lyra V2, Google is trying to evolve with the community.

The Architecture Of Lyra V2

The latest release of the Lyra V2 is based on SoundStream, an end-to-end neutral audio codec. The architecture of the latest audio codec includes a residual vector quantizer Or RVQ which is present before and after the channel of transmission. RVQ quantizes the encoded content into a bit stream and thereafter reconstructs it at the decoder side.

This integration of RVQ into the codec infrastructure allows changing the bitrate of Lyra V2 at any time just by selecting the number of quantizers to use. To generate higher-quality audio more quantizers are used. This codec uses three different bitrates which include 3.2 kbps, 6 kbps, and 9.2 kbps which enables the developers to choose bitrates suitable for network conditions and other requirements. With this new architecture, the delay in the audio delivery is reduced from 100 ms from the previous version. It is most comparable to the most used codec Opus which has an approximate delay of 26.5 ms, 46.5 ms, and 66.5 ms.

This latest audio codec released by Google has the ability to encode and decode audio by 5x than the previous version. Apart from the speed and performance, the quality of the audio generated by this new audio codec has also improved. This model of V2 is exported in TensorFlow Lite. All this makes V2 a great alternative to other state-of-the-art audio codecs. It has the ability to be connected with more devices in bandwidth-constrained environments, making it an appropriate choice for higher audio quality requirements.

Ott Technology News

UniqCast IPTV/OTT/DVB Platform is now available in the Cloud

Published

6 months ago

September 9, 2022

Harshita

UniqCast, the market leader in providing end-to-end IPTV/OTT/DVB solutions has announced its availability on Cloud. The brand provides solutions for OTT providers, ISPs, Telcos, DVB, Mobile, broadcasters, and content owners. With its cloud offerings, UniqCast allows content providers and operators (specifically in EMEA, LATAM, and APAC regions) to launch their video streaming services quickly without any up-front costs. UniqCast provides its services in the PaaS model which includes content management, CDN, transcoding, subscriber, and client applications. It has brought equally mature technology as the solution widely used around the world by operators.

The core benefits of UniqCast include premium UX for applications, the option of configuring UI, cloud or private CDN and an advanced business model. The central goal of this is to make the technology more accessible for every operator and content provider and to provide a premium user experience to all the viewers.

UniqCast cloud includes streaming and CDN capabilities which allows streaming from the cloud or other hybrid cloud models. The key differentiator of UniqCast from others is its licensing which allows operators to get lower bandwidth costs. The solution is designed to provide the minimum TCO (total cost of ownership) for service providers.

Top highlights of UniqCast Cloud include:

No upfront cost
Launch in days
Lower bandwidth cost
Multiscreen app with quality user experience
Anti-churn feature
Flexible monetization option
Live and cloud transcoding from cloud/on-site
Multi DRM protection for content
Option of configuring the premium UX
Support for IPTV, DVB and OTT services
Streaming option from the cloud or hybrid private CDN

With this step, UniqCast is trying to make the deployment of new services or replacement of the existing ones quickly with the least investment and no risk. The availability to launch multi-screen applications in a day with a robust backend and anti-churn quality will be helpful for video streaming services to decrease churn and increase subscribers instantly, says Darko Robič, CEO at UniqCast.

Ott Technology News

Apple iPhone 14 launch event: Place, Time and Expectations

Published

7 months ago

September 6, 2022

Harshita

The wait for the latest Apple iPhone 14 is almost over. The Apple ‘Far Out’ event is going to be held tomorrow (September 7). The main highlight of the event will be the Apple iPhone 14 but it will probably not end there. Apple is expected to introduce a range of products in its upcoming event which includes the next-generation Apple Watch- Series 8, 8 Pro, and Apple Watch SE 2.

About the event

Apple is going to launch a series of products where the main focus and highlight will be the Apple iPhone 14 series. The event will be held tomorrow at 10:00 AM PT (10.30 pm IST). The event will be held at Apple Park, Cupertino. It will be the first in-person event after the pandemic. The ‘Far Out’ event will be live streamed on selected platforms which include Apple’s official website, companies official YouTube channel, and the Apple TV app. As an option available on the company’s website, users can add the event to their calendars as well. To proceed further, you can visit the official website: https://www.apple.com/

What to expect

The event is going to be highlighted with the Apple iPhone 14 series but that is not the end of the event. The company may launch a series of products including four variants of the iPhone 14 (most likely) which include the iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro, and iPhone 14 Pro Max. This time, Apple is going to skip the mini variant as launched in iPhone 12 and 13.

Apart from the major highlights i.e. iPhone 14, the company is rumored to launch the Apple Watch series which includes Watch series 8, 8 Pro, and SE 2. The 8 Pro Watch is rumored to offer improved fitness and health features, advanced sensors, durability, and long battery life. Yet all the products may or may not get launched tomorrow. The wait is going to end soon, till then we will keep you informed.