paradoxically it may come from a large number of HD HDR channels which more organisations will be able to justify launching.” DEPENDENCY.“ In terms of IP, there is perhaps more of a dependency on what form of IP is being used. Existing IPTV systems use UDP( User Datagram Protocol) which is inherently designed for streamed media. However, TCP( Transmission Control Protocol) based schemes are becoming more widely used( notably for HTTP Adaptive Streaming). While for UDP, bandwidth is pretty much the only consideration, for TCP many other network characteristics and system configurations can play a role,” he advises.
According to Richard Brandon, CMO at Edgware, there is no doubt that 4K, and potentially 8K, will become as popular as the move from SD to HD television.“ But this is just the start of the problem in terms of network capacity. This new multiple in bandwidth consumption is hugely compounded by the trend from‘ multicast’ to‘ unicast’ traffic- as viewers want to watch programmes when they want- pausing them, time-shifting them, and‘ rewinding’ them back to watch highlights. Then there’ s the desire to show personalised ads as well, or a choice of camera angles. All of this means a move from a single stream of packets per show( albeit a larger one with 4k TV) to millions of streams of packets- one per viewer, each personalised in terms of timing, content, ads and even device type.”
“ So, the above all sounds like pretty bad news for networks unless fibre everywhere is deployed, and plenty of it. But thankfully this isn’ t necessary. The first thing to remember is that network bottlenecks are not all created equally. The last mile into the home isn’ t shared by anyone else- so while it needs to be fast enough to cope with a few simultaneous channels, it can still be supported over copperbased technologies,” he says. DEEPER. According to Brandon, the real problem manifests itself deeper in the network, when these multiple individual IP streams are aggregated together.“ Just throwing extra bandwidth at that problem can cause all sorts of problems. However, all is not lost there, because every TV stream from the origin location to the metro or last mile distribution point doesn’ t necessarily have to be delivered. TV caching technologies, like Edgeware’ s, are far lower cost than building out new network capacity- and delivering TV without delays or packet loss when the core,
“ The industry must look towards reducing bitrate requirements much further.” – Fabio Murra, V-Nova
metro or aggregation networks are congested.”
“ This is achieved by simply keeping a copy of the most popular content- live or recorded – close to the viewer. The content can then be streamed out as needed, enabling pausing or‘ rewinding’ as required. The content can then be repackaged for the correct device format and personalised ads inserted if needed. Netflix has already realised this with its own TV delivery architecture, deploying local delivery servers that keep down its network or CDN costs and ensures TV is delivered with higher quality. So in conclusion, do network operators and TV content providers need to address this problem? Absolutely. Does it require a massive new investment in fibre? Thankfully not,” he states.
“ Making broadband scale for video delivery is a major challenge for ISPs,” admits Trow.“ Multicast offers the potential to scale IP delivery, but it is a fundamentally different network technology to the current, ubiquitous, unicast-based infrastructure. Upgrading broadband provision for multicast is expensive and only really a viable option for the largest operators, who can offset the significant CAPEX associated with such an upgrade. Another vital tool is caching content to reduce the burden on congested networks. However, caching is very much a containment exercise in a scenario where 1G performance is needed, particularly for live video streaming applications.” BREAKTHROUGH.“ Big sporting events are definite drivers for advanced television formats, but the major breakthrough of 4K is yet to come on a global scale,” says Narjus.“ The advanced image resolutions are already putting more pressure on data transmission capacities and the development is guaranteed to continue strongly. If we think about
millions of consumers watching football world championships, and simultaneously streaming the content on 4K over IP, it is easy to forecast that the lack of sufficient bandwidth causes IP based networks to collapse. However, the current DVB-C can carry the load easily. In future, the logical phase after the DVB-C delivery will be all-IP television, but issues such as network capacity, service availability and even the availability of attractive consumer devices will ensure that linear television stays important far to the future,” he predicts.
“ There is a clear shift towards IP-delivered services in television, and with the advent of higher-resolution formats and the proliferation of video-capable devices in and outside of the home, IP networks are going to be under pressure,” warns V-Nova’ s Murra.“ According to multiple reports, video traffic growth is well into double-digits and cannot therefore be tackled simply by the 50 per cent typical incremental performance benefits we get every 10 years( roughly) from legacy compression approaches. It’ s going to be a mixture of new technologies, from costly fibre upgrades, 5G deployments and – importantly – new approaches to video processing.”
“ It is clear that HDR and 8K are firmly on the TV industry agenda, with 4K already embedded in consumer expectations, they are currently purchasing high-quality video consumption devices. Demand for highquality video is growing faster than the speed at which new infrastructure is being deployed, creating a divide between those that can receive services and those that cannot. Netflix, for example, still recommends a 25 Mbps minimum connection for its 4Kp24 services.” STRAIN.“ The good news is that nextgeneration codecs will help both alleviate the networks’ strain and target the devices already in the field, making high-quality IP delivered video a mass market reality, whether 4K, full HD over DSL or SD video on 2G mobile networks. For example, in trials with EE, we have already demonstrated full 4Kp50 video over 4G / LTE at 6 Mbps. Let’ s not forget that the problem of delivering the highest-quality 4K services starts with the capture and contribution of premium content, such as sports. Fibre connectivity can still be a bottleneck in certain venues, due to both
20 EUROMEDIA