WALTHAM, Mass.—Video encoding provider Videon is partnering with Zixi, a developer of live video over IP,  integrating Zixi’s tech platform into Videon’s LiveEdge, a powerful container-based edge compute ecosystem with sub-second glass-to-glass latency. A second integration enables LiveEdge to be managed by Zixi’s ZEN Master control plane, enabling users to manage large-scale configurations and orchestrate, analyze, monitor, and report on live video streams and devices across the Zixi Enabled Network of customers, integrated hardware and software applications, platforms and service providers standardized on Zixi.

Offering an alternative to traditional live video infrastructure, Zixi’s LiveEdge simplifies first-mile workflows by normalizing and synchronizing live video, audio, graphics, and data feeds, in real-time, enabling complex workflows and use cases including remote production kits, live betting, multi-camera time sync, video assistant referee, localized graphics, remote camera control, automated ad marker insertion and in-stadium second screen experiences, to name a few. 

Key features include the ingestion of live video, audio, graphics, and metadata, including proprietary and custom data formats, for normalization, synchronization, visualization, and security using native, third-party, or custom containers such as SMPTE-336 (KLV), SCTE-35, timestamp, DRM, watermarking, etc. 

Many of Zixi’s clients are using the company’s Software Defined Video Platform (SDVP) to deliver and manage thousands of streams to deliver low latency error-free transport over IP networks. For those media organizations contributing and delivering live video over unmanaged IP networks, Zixi says its protocol is a resilient congestion and network-aware protocol that adjusts to varying network conditions and employs patented, dynamic Forward Error Correction techniques for error-free video transport over IP. 

v17 of Zixi’s core software being released at IBC 2023 improves processing capacity requiring 95% less compute compared to other available options, as well as helps reduce transport stream egress cost by up to 50% allowing organizations to maximize their resources, minimize expenses and deliver broadcast-quality video content reliably with a profound impact on the TCO of live video streaming implementations. 

Zixi says the efficiency of its platform eliminates the need for excessive virtual machines, leading to reduced infrastructure requirements and substantial cost savings. By significantly cutting infrastructure costs, media organizations can allocate their resources more efficiently, redirecting budgetary allocations to other critical areas creating new business models and opportunities to generate revenue, the company said.

Videon utilizes key components of the SDVP to transport broadcast quality, ultra-low latency live video over any IP network. LiveEdge devices with the native Zixi integration include EdgeCaster EZ, EdgeCaster VCP, LiveEdge Node, the new LiveEdge Max, and across multiple form factors, including LiveEdge 2Go Mini, LiveEdge 2Go, and LiveEdge Rack.

"As Videon's footprint rapidly expands, becoming an embedded and critical component in major workflows, our customers recognized the value of Zixi's dependable and scalable broadcast-quality video delivery," said Lionel Bringuier, Chief Product Officer at Videon. "While Videon empowers users to harness edge computing, ingesting live video, audio, graphics, and data feeds to simplify first-mile workflows and create new revenue-generating opportunities, our collaboration with Zixi further elevates this capability, offering the industry's lowest TCO and unmatched management of linear and event channels at scale through the SDVP integration."

"With its unmatched efficiency and scale, reduced infrastructure requirements and transport stream egress cost reduction, Zixi opens new possibilities for growth, innovation, and enhanced video streaming experiences.," said John Wastcoat, SVP BD and Marketing, Zixi. "The integration with LiveEdge and partnership with Videon expands our ability to deliver exciting use cases like live betting, video assistant referee and dynamic, unique in-stadium second screen experiences." 

Videon will exhibit LiveEdge ecosystem’s native integration in the Zixi Partner Village at IBC 2023, for more details and to book a meeting please visit https://zixi.com/zixi-at-ibc-2023/

LONDON—M2A Media, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Videon, Singular.live, TAG Video Systems and Spalk have successfully demonstrated a first-of-its-kind, multi-vendor proof of concept showing how next-generation hybrid cloud technologies can improve traditional live broadcast workflows.

The demo, which occurred during the London-based roadshow, Connecting in the Cloud: Shaping the Future of Live Broadcast, used multiple live video sources, including a cloud hand-off from ATP Media, the global sales, broadcast production and distribution arm of the ATP Tour, and a live BT Sport feed acquired into AWS from BT Media & Broadcast in London. 

“M2A Media has a keen understanding of the value that cloud technology is bringing to the media and entertainment industry,” explained Marcus Box, CEO, M2A Media. “With this proof of concept, it was our aim to bring together leading innovators in the field to educate and to inspire the industry by presenting the technologies that are disrupting the broadcast landscape. We were delighted that the POC was so well received, and we look forward to future collaborations as we continue to disrupt and innovate.”

The purpose of the demonstration was to showcase the ease with which valuable live video can be contributed via the AWS cloud and transformed using progressive new cloud technologies, the companies said.

In addition to showing secure receipt and control of the live video streams, the workflow was augmented through a range of transformations including remotely switching from one source transport stream to another transport stream for B2B distribution, the addition and control of live graphics, live commentary, and the transformation to B2C streams and delivery to an AWS CloudFront for its onward journey to viewers and sports fans worldwide.

The Videon Compute Platform (VCP) played a key role in creating true hybrid:cloud live video architectures, bringing compute power to the origination of the video source and allowing for unique workflows in live sports, the companies said. 

The platform's native functions, including LiveEdge Core, sit on-premises and allow users to package streams in multiple formats, insert SCTE-35 ad markers, graphic overlays, UTC time codes, and user-defined KLV metadata into live video feeds. The addition of LiveEdge Compute enables developers to create and run powerful functions as docker containers on the platform, the companies said.  

In addition, the management layer, LiveEdge Cloud, provides remote health monitoring and management for entire fleets of VCP devices. This flexible architecture not only offers low latency, lowered end-to-end operating costs, stability, and security––but also the head room and extensibility for future heavy compute functions such as Machine Learning inferences––all wrapped up in a small form factor with low power consumption for energy-efficient operations, the companies reported. 

The orchestration of the AWS cloud for workflow flexibility and scalability was shown by M2A Media’s live IP transport product, M2A CONNECT. As well as offering visibility of workflows for dynamic public cloud resources, M2A’s user-interface rewards operations teams with levels of control and set-up previously only suited to engineers, it said. 

TAG Video Systems has become the de facto provider for video and data monitoring by offering products that are both comprehensive and configurable. The proof of concept demonstrated how TAG can be used to fully monitor and visualize a cloud workflow, and benefit from scalability, agility, and custom orchestration, it reported. 

Singular.live provides broadcast quality graphic templates, from creation to live control and automation via its web based HTML5 overlay platform. This control was shown in real-time, using a series of custom templates created for the event, it said. 

Spalk showcased how their Virtual Commentary Studio can allow broadcasters, production companies and rights holders to easily produce customized and localized broadcast feeds for specific markets whilst lowering the cost of entry to reach new market segments without sacrificing production quality, the company said. 

Gamification is changing the rules of the game for live sports, and this is the right time for media companies and sports organizations to take notice. Gamification brings greater fan engagement and more at-scale monetization opportunities that industry players need to notice. 

Scale for live video means the number of feeds for any given event. So far, latency between the venue where the live sports takes place and the device where fans are watching the game has averaged around 30-40 seconds. 

Therefore, live content hits the consumer platform 30-40 seconds too late, severely damaging the opportunities to create deep, meaningful, and lucrative fan engagement. Increased latency has resulted from existing complex cost-prohibitive workflows relying on the cloud to do the heavy-lifting when processing live feeds. 

Edge computing for live video changes all this removing the challenges of latency in live streaming by simplifying workflows and augmenting the cloud by adding powerful processing capabilities at the point of video origin.

Edge computing at the source of live video creates a unified experience for live sports fans and betters, enabling broadcasters and sports leagues to engage their audiences consistently at scale. Live sports consumption turns from passive to active, allowing media and sports organizations to unlock more scalable monetization opportunities.

Why At-scale Ultra-low Latency is Critical for Live Video Monetization and Viewer Engagement
Live video has exploded, with streaming audiences in the U.S expected to reach 158 million in 2022. Live sports is one of the leading sectors driving this growth on several platforms. Broadcasters and sports organizations need to take advantage of live video’s exponential growth to harness monetization opportunities.

Today, we are already seeing live video platforms deliver active viewer engagement instead of the more traditional ‘passive’ linear TV viewing experiences. Live social commentary, betting, and performance tracking are examples of deeper fan engagement available at scale.

Live streaming workflows need to change to deliver compelling live sports content. The current methods of sending a live video feed to the cloud for processing create workflow complexity that increases latency and costs and degrades the video quality. 

Ultra-low latency (ULL) is critical for sports gamification as any delays will result in poorer viewing delivery and limit the fan’s immersive experience. By overcoming the latency challenge, media and sports organizations can engage fans and encourage monetization through sports gamification at-scale.

Edge Computing: Augmenting Cloud Capabilities and Driving Monetization
Research has shown that in 2022 197 million US adults will watch content on a second device while watching a digital video or traditional TV. A second screen is becoming an essential source of personalized content for audiences that can consume content on the platform they want—often in conjunction with a linear program. It creates an excellent opportunity to pioneer secondary, often lightly-produced, content, including different camera feeds or commentary options typically accompanied by on-screen statistics and graphics. These complementary options enable viewers to have a gamification experience, providing an extra layer of game insight and data analytics.  

But for this to happen, media companies need to ensure the live content reaches consumers with ultra-low latency. A video edge computing platform can revolutionize live streaming workflows, putting advanced compute capabilities and processing power on-premise, right at the source of the video, instead of relying on the cloud to do the heavy lifting. 

Changing how we package live video feeds to bypass or augment cloud functions can enable direct output of HLS and DASH in a low-latency format. The feeds can then be pushed into the CDN and delivered to viewers worldwide. These scalable workflows can be simultaneously adapted to HTTP, SRT, or WebRTC, providing the same ULL. 

A video edge computing platform also addresses the OPEX challenge, shaking up the economics of the cloud. By optimizing their dependence on the cloud, media companies can perform and complete critical processing tasks on-premise in a standards-based streaming environment. 

In addition, organizations can take advantage of edge computing’s scalability and build and deploy the functions they require —  customizing their platform to meet their business needs today and in the future. Workflows become simplified as the steps to send feeds to and from the cloud are removed from the delivery chain. 

Depending on the use case, this reduces latency dramatically to less than 3 seconds or even sub-seconds. Let’s take the example of Web RTC. Bypassing the cloud directly to a Web RTC Gateway can bring latency down to sub 1 second. Audiences get an experience of improved quality, less latency, and a unified experience across various platforms at scale. In today’s ever-competitive market, this can give video producers a much-needed edge as it delivers the fan the experience they want in a scalable and unique way. 

Harnessing Gamification and Fan Engagement with Edge Computing for Live Video
Gamification is changing how we consume live sports and opens a host of monetization opportunities for media and sports organizations — provided they resolve the critical latency challenge and achieve real-time content delivery.

A video edge computing platform revolutionizes live streaming workflows by creating powerful computing and processing capabilities on-premise, at the source of live video. Therefore, an encoder no longer needs to send live feeds to the cloud for processing before reaching a CDN. The live video delivery chain becomes shorter, simpler, and more efficient. Media companies optimize costs and deliver content to the consumer with ULL creating consistent fan engagement — and scalable monetization doors open up for live sports gamification.

We’ve only begun to scratch the surface of what gamification and consistent fan engagement can bring to the media and broadcasting industries. As the growth of live video explodes, a video edge computing platform that delivers at scale changes the realm of possibilities for media and sports organizations, bringing new viewing and at-scale monetization opportunities that we can’t afford to miss.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa.—Edge computing tech startup Videon has announced that it has raised an additional $9 million in funding, boosting the total investments in the company during the past seven months to $16.3 million.  

The funding, led by Alter Venture Partners with participation from Fortson VC, Bruce Chizen, Voyager Capital, and Cercano Management, will be used to further develop and improve its next-generation video edge computing platform, Videon said. 

Videon’s technology already powers tens of thousands of hours of live video every day for audiences across more than 19 countries. Techex, THEO Technologies, V-Nova, and Zixi are currently building and deploying applications that harness the benefits of Videon’s edge computing capabilities for their customers, the company reported. 

“Live video streaming continues to see exponential growth across everything from news and sport to security, emergency services, and corporate content, with the live streaming market estimated to be worth $4.26 billion by 2028,” said Tricia Iboshi, CEO at Videon. “For our customers, just getting live video over the internet is table-stakes and only the start of the story for what they need to achieve. We’ve spent the last 6 months working with industry leaders across the video ecosystem to unlock the potential of the edge to deliver new experiences, drive greater efficiencies, and create more opportunities for personalization and monetization. The latest funding will enable us to continue to innovate, adding more video applications, enabling disruptive workflows and driving live video at scale.”

Videon puts edge computing power at the point that video is created, enabling a huge array of video processing tasks to be completed before content goes into the cloud, the company said. This enables users to significantly reduce the complexity and cost of live production, adding multiple camera angles and remote feeds to meet growing audience expectations for personalized content.

Moving computing power to the edge where the video is created is the key to reducing latency, the company noted, and is especially vital for sports, gaming, and betting applications.

“Live streaming is exploding but it’s actually only at the first stage of its potential,” said Louis Toth, managing partner at Alter Venture Partners.  “At the moment, the economics of creating and distributing live video are restricting what content creators and media organizations are able to do. Videon is revolutionizing live video through powerful edge processing at an unrivaled price point. Videon’s video edge computing platform has huge market potential — it opens up unlimited live video use cases across sectors powered by low latency, multiple camera angles, technologies like AI and Machine Learning, and new monetization opportunities.”

STATE COLLEGE, Penn.—Videon has launched its LiveEdge premium platform-as-a-service (PaaS) that adds enhancements, customization options and intelligent automation to the company’s video compute platform.

LiveEdge enables users to bridge the gap between the cloud and on-premise devices to create integrated custom orchestrations, reducing video streaming complexity, latency and cloud video processing costs while delivering higher quality and reliability, the company said. 

The solution powers EdgeCaster, the company’s Qualcomm technology-based video computer platform. The LiveEdge suite of functions enables users to build live video experiences rapidly by working with pre-packaged modules or by taking advantage of an easy –to-use developer kit to create their own custom and unique functions, it said.

The launch of the solution includes LiveEdge Streaming, a next-generation edge compute-powered streaming solution, and LiveEdge Compute, which enables developers to create custom functionality using Python and Docker, it said.

LiveEdge connects the cloud to the on-premise environment and moves processing-intensive, time-laden and costly cloud functions to the point of video creation, it said.

LiveEdge and the EdgeCaster video compute platform allow broadcasters and content creators to enhance audience engagement. Together, they create the functions and flexibilities needed to increase the number of cameras and feeds required to meet growing demand for personalized content experiences at scale, thereby unlocking new monetization opportunities, the company said.

The company’s solutions are integrated closely with the solutions of ecosystem partners, including Akamai MSL4, AWS Mediastore, AWS IVS and Fastly Origin Shield. With over 7,000 devices deployed in 19 countries, Videon powers thousands of hours of live streaming every day for major broadcasters, sports leagues and OEMs.

LiveEdge includes features to help media service providers remotely deploy and manage large fleets of customer premise equipment (CPE). The features include a built-in webserver, zero-touch provisioning, automated remote management and monitoring over any IP network. 

“LiveEdge powers new live video workflows by bringing cloud functions to the point of video origin. It removes traditional broadcast industry processes and equipment that add to latency, overall workflow complexity and cost,” said Videon CEO Tricia Iboshi.

More information is available on the company’s website.

STATE COLLEGE, Penn., & SEATTLE, Wash.— The edge computing company Videon has raised $7.3 million in Series A funding led by Voyager Capital that will allow the company to expand its senior leadership, engineering, marketing, and sales teams.

As part of the expansion, Video announced that Rob Green in Seattle joins the firm as CEO with a remit to drive expansion plans and build new partnerships. 

The funding round was led by Voyager Capital, with participation from Arnold Venture Group and leading technology executive, investor, and former Adobe Systems CEO, Bruce Chizen.

Since 1997, Voyager Capital has focused on first-round venture investments to help entrepreneurs in the Pacific Northwest and California fund new businesses. Voyager Capital had previously led the Series A venture rounds for Elemental Technologies and MakeTV.

“We’re on a mission to revolutionize the live video streaming market by putting the power of live video processing at the source,” explained Todd Erdley, founder, chairman, and president at Videon. “Our unique technology enables anyone to produce and deliver broadcast-quality video from anywhere to anywhere. With live video being so integral to all our lives, now’s the time to make this technology available to everyone.”

Chizen added that “the funding will enable us to go to the next level in our growth. We are excited to have Rob Green on board as the new Videon CEO. His extensive experience in building strategy for fast-growth technology companies will be a major catalyst for Videon.” 

Videon’s technology is used by customers like LiveX, Techex, and major broadcasters, and top sports leagues to deliver tens of thousands of hours of live video every day, the company said.

The new CEO Rob Green noted that “with live video growing exponentially, our new investment comes at exactly the right time. We will leverage the company’s unrivaled expertise, vision, and know-how to enable more people to take advantage of the full potential of live streaming. We’re on a growth journey and this investment will enable us to further cement our pioneering position in the market.”

Videon offers a live video encoding, streaming, and edge computing platform built around on-chip video processing capabilities. It enhanced the use of the compute and video processing power of the Qualcomm Snapdragon chips typically used for the most advanced smartphone solutions and developed IP that uses this power to enable broadcast-quality workflows.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa.—Videon today announced its EdgeCaster Edge Computer Encoder is compatible with AWS Elemental MediaStore.

The compatibility means Videon customers can use AWS Elemental MediaStore as a direct ingest from the EdgeCaster H.264/HEVC video encoder in support of low-latency workflows for HLS and DASH outputs using the Common Media Application Format (CMAF). Support of the EdgeCaster’s ingest protocols makes possible worldwide latency of less than 3 seconds, Videon said.

"Live streaming should not come with a latency penalty as compared to traditional broadcast TV," said Todd Erdley, founder and CEO of Videon. "EdgeCaster's compatibility with AWS Elemental MediaStore is a strong step forward to making live streaming truly live—using standards-based, viewer-scalable and cost-effective solutions. Compatibility with AWS Elemental MediaStore represents an important development in our relationship with Amazon Web Services. AWS Elemental offers crucial insight into how streams can be ingested into AWS Elemental MediaStore and how Videon can optimize our platform."

Leveraging AWS Elemental MediaStore, the EdgeCaster encoder reduces the time and cost associated with live streaming, the company said. Rather than relying on the cloud to handle time-intensive computational processes, EdgeCaster attends to these tasks on the network edge, thus increasing efficiency.

Videon developed intellectual property based on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon system of a chip semiconductor. Using Snapdragon’s processing power, EdgeCaster streams at resolutions up to 4K at 30fps using H.264 or H.265/HEVC compression and supports up to six bit rates, ensuring low-latency workflows with MediaStore can be deployed, the company said.

More information is available on the Videon website.

STATE COLLEGE, PA.—The sky could soon quite literally be the limit for Ultra HD, as Pennsylvania-based technology company Videon Central expects planes to upgrade to UHD over the next two years.

“Ultra HD will be the new standard in aviation,” said Todd Erdley, CEO of Videon. “Ultra HD’s standards will have a profound impact on the quality of all displays, even small size found in IFE applications. Technology like High Dynamic Range might even make the need to pull down window shades in a plane a thing of the past.”

Erdley predicts that private jets will begin to showcase UHD technology in 2016. Meanwhile, he expects commercials planes to be able to offer UHD by late 2017 as a value add for first class passengers.

Videon will be on hand to show the difference between HD and UHD at the upcoming National Business Aviation Association Convention, which takes place from Nov. 17-19 in Las Vegas.