Stand 14.D10, IBC 2019, RAI, Amsterdam: Intinor Technology, Sweden’s leading developer of products and solutions for high quality video over IP networks, has announced that ESL, the world's largest esports company, has deployed a combination of Intinor’s Direkt router, Direkt router lite, and Direkt receiver units to cover its linear broadcasting needs.

ESL wanted to move away from a rigid managed service model for traditional linear broadcasting and expand its internal distribution workflows for the web and, for the first time, take care of linear broadcasts internally.

ESL Director of Streaming, Steven Jalicy, said, “We wanted a solution that could dynamically scale and deliver high quality and high reliability without generating out of control service costs and technology bottlenecks. Furthermore, we wanted the future capacity and potential to merge our online and linear workflows into a single ecosystem.

“To achieve this, we needed a hardware system that was protocol and service agnostic. Something we could build into our own infrastructure and workflows to deliver traditional linear content to traditional linear takers, but deploy it using the same concepts that have been so successful for ESL when it comes to delivering content to our core audience on online platforms. Intinor was the perfect partner for this project.”

Intinor’s solution for ESL was to use a combination of Direkt router, Direkt router lite, and Direkt receiver units. The receiver units enable ESL’s takers to receive content via IP transport, which then breaks out to an SDI output that conforms to the respective traditional broadcast standards required. The routers enable ESL to contribute and distribute content from live events directly to takers worldwide and are the backbone of the deployment as they handle SDI source inputs onsite; perform live video encoding; process IP contributions; and ensure content distribution across the vast ESL network.

With the Direkt system, ESL can now directly manage and operate its own linear content distribution network without an expensive managed service, and without investing in the traditional infrastructure and hardware that would normally be required for linear content delivery.

Additional benefits include the ability to use Intinor’s proprietary Bifrost Reliable Transport (BRT™) protocol for 100 percent redundant transport over the public internet while also staying flexible and agnostic with options for RTP, HLS, RTMP and SRT protocols. Owning the hardware also enables ESL to integrate Intinor technology with ESL’s own workflows, which can then deliver key functionality for innovative broadcast concepts without increased costs for services and development.

Jalicy added, “Set against a backdrop of an almost impossible deadline - we had to go from fundamental design, through proof of concept and then onto a full scale deployment in less than four weeks - Intinor has been a great partner throughout this process and we will soon deliver our first live event using the new Intinor system, which takes place 28th-29th September 2019, live from the Barclays Center, New York. This represents just the beginning of our plans and we are confident that Intinor technology is going to play a crucial role in ESL’s continued innovation in the live broadcast space.”

Intinor CEO Roland Axelsson said, “We are delighted to have delivered such a robust and well-received Direkt system for ESL that eliminated their need for an external, restrictive, and expensive managed service provider. Having freed them from such hold-ups, we very much look forward to even more exciting applications and deployments for both companies.”

ESL will feature prominently in The IBC Esports Showcase on Tuesday 17 September, which will include information and discussions on entry into esports and managing the complexity of production through to the seamless technical delivery of an esports broadcast.

Intinor will feature the Direkt router, Direkt router lite, and Direkt receiver on Stand 14.D10 during IBC 2019.

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About ESL
Founded in 2000, ESL has been developed into the world’s largest esports company leading the industry across the most popular video games with numerous online and offline competitions. It operates high profile, branded international leagues and tournaments such as ESL One, Intel® Extreme Masters, ESL Pro League and other top tier stadium-size events, as well as ESL National Championships, grassroots amateur cups and matchmaking systems, defining the path from zero to hero as short as possible. With offices all over the world, ESL is leading esports forward on a global scale. ESL is a part of MTG, the leading international digital entertainment group.

About Intinor
Intinor develops its own products and comprehensive solutions for high quality video over IP networks. With solutions for contribution, as well as for distribution and web TV, Intinor has customers ranging from small production to major television channels. Intinor also work as consultants with product development and has extensive experience in developing custom-designed systems to meet specific needs. For more information, visit www.intinor.com.

Company Contact:
Martin Weber, European Sales Manager
Sales and Marketing
+49(0)176-231 322 65
+49(0)8122-84 700 59
martin.weber@intinor.se

Media Contact:
Jennie Marwick-Evans
Manor Marketing
jennie@manormarketing.tv
Phone: +44 (0) 7748 636171

Go back a couple of decades in a time machine, and the Real Time Media Protocol (RTMP) was the protocol for streaming media. Video encoders pushed out RTMP for delivery to the cloud and, in turn, to a player. Everyone relied on RTMP, and the workflow was simple, without complications such as cloud transcoding or repacking.

Fast-forward to 2019 and RTMP is still widely used, although it doesn’t support High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC, or H.265) and no longer has native support within mainstream player applications and operating systems. The industry continues to rely on RTMP-based workflows with streams pushed up to the cloud and then transcoded, transrated and repackaged before they are ready for distribution in the formats that today’s viewing devices support.

BEST OF BOTH WORLDS

However, a new encoding and streaming model is gaining ground—and earning support as a smarter and more cost-effective means of modern media delivery. The combination of HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) and Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (DASH) with new chip-level system hardware, along with the concept of edge compute encoding, is making the entire media delivery process faster and more efficient. And, HLS and DASH combined with the Common Media Application Framework (CMAF) enables low latency.

As a result, video delivery over the public internet is being achieved with latency levels low enough to enable a new set of applications—for example, increased interactivity that allows channel changing in emerging countries (where cable is not feasible) to be made possible. Other applications can include live auctions and sports gamification—and making streaming of “live broadcasts” actually live.

While neither HLS nor DASH is new, what is new is CMAF and the development of cost-effective live streaming video encoders that natively support HLS, DASH and CMAF. This advancement in technology is thanks to new system-on-chip (SoC) semiconductor technology that has allowed video encoders to now use more modern, purpose-built hardware rather than general purpose FPGAs and CPUs.

Built on the Qualcomm Snapdragon SoC, new edge compute encoding devices boast significantly greater processing power than their legacy counterparts. With this additional horsepower, edge compute encoding devices can address two critical challenges in streaming: adapting smoothly to changing network conditions and delivering high-quality video over relatively poor internet connections.

Content providers use adaptive bitrate (ABR) streaming to provide every viewer with the best possible image quality. With anywhere from four to eight versions of content—all with different resolutions and bit rates—available in the cloud, it’s possible to deliver the version that takes best advantage of available bandwidth for the target device. One version might be ideal for a small cellphone picture; one might be intended for an iPad, another for a PC or a set-top box.

BRINGING LIVE STREAMING TO INTERNET-CHALLENGED AREAS

The limitations of previous-generation encoding devices made it necessary to create all bit-rate variants of that initial piece of content in the cloud. Why? Because to take on the processing required to create multiple versions on the point of production, conventional encoders would need to be equipped with a bigger CPU or with a lot more FPGAs, and the costs for those add up. As mentioned, in a traditional streaming scenario, higher-resolution content is pushed at a particular data rate—often about 10 Mbps—up to the cloud, and then cloud processing outputs versions with different resolutions and bit rates.

In the new edge compute encoding model, the SoC-based device creates multiple versions of content and delivers them to the cloud for distribution. The latest generation of SoC-powered edge compute encoders can create six instances of video at different bit rates and send them all to the cloud, reducing both latency and the cost of cloud processing while maintaining image quality. And new SoC-based devices can create both HLS and DASH outputs, operating within CMAF, carrying HEVC to the cloud in a direct workflow that allows users to enjoy the bandwidth savings—upwards of 40% depending on the content—that HEVC affords.

Thanks to the high compression and high quality of HEVC, 4K video can be encoded and sent up to the cloud, thereby boosting the video quality offered to customers. While HEVC enables 4K video over public internet, consider the advantages of HEVC to a 720p signal. Maintaining outstanding quality of the 720p signal with less than 1 Mbps is now possible, opening internet-challenged areas for live streaming. Even commodity internet routing and switching gear available at consumer retail stores can be used to produce best-in-class video. This is the democratization of technology through the use of today’s standards.

The application of SoC-based edge compute encoding to streaming is transforming media-delivery workflows and the cost structures associated with them. Even more exciting is the prospect of the new applications that edge compute encoding can enable and engender. If anyone can take a camera, plug it into an encoding device and stream video worldwide in 3 seconds or less, what happens then? The possibilities are limitless, and the results will be amazing.

Todd Erdley is the CEO of Videon.