Video streaming infrastructure firm Bitmovin has confirmed that its Next-Generation Video on Demand encoding product will make its debut at the 2022 NAB Show.
The enhanced encoding technology is designed to provide the highest-quality viewing experiences possible, for audiences across a range of devices and at lower bitrates.
“As streaming networks fight for territory and invest heavily to produce compelling original content, no one can afford a subpar audience experience,” said Stefan Lederer, CEO and co-founder. “The entire industry is grappling with audience churn, experimenting with different pricing models and promotions to maintain their subscriber numbers. But focusing on the audience experience and insisting on a new standard of quality across the board feels like the right place to start – and that led us to develop our Next Generation VOD Encoder.”
Bitmovin’s Next Generation VOD Encoder supports:
- Multi-codec streaming: The Bitmovin Next-Generation VOD Encoder includes the ability to run multi-codec streaming workflows combining AVC, HEVC, VP9, AV1 and VVC. By matching higher performance codecs with compatible devices, it’s possible to deliver the best quality of experience for all audiences and viewing platforms, even with limited bandwidth. Bitmovin has been an early champion of AV1 and, in 2022, made further improvements, finding AV1 can offer the same visual quality at 50% less bitrate for H.264/AVC and 30% less bitrate for H.265/HEVC, respectively. Furthermore, Bitmovin implemented VVC, the successor to HEVC, as an experimental feature in the encoder.
- Content-aware encoding: No two content pieces are the same and hence should not be encoded at the same bitrate. The art of content-aware encoding is to optimize the encoding ladder to the best possible mix of quality and bandwidth efficiency. Bitmovin’s Next-Generation VOD Encoder offers the market-leading Per-Title, and Per-Shot encoding in Beta, which improves the bitrate distribution within a single rendition based on shot boundaries (i.e. scene changes).
- Quality-focused features: Cutting-edge visual experiences are business imperative for broadcasters and premium content providers. Bitmovin’s Next-Generation VOD Encoder has enhanced Dolby Vision HDR capabilities, supporting conversions to other HDR and SDR formats in a combined workflow. It also supports UHD and with Per-Title encoding and advanced codec support makes it possible to deliver 4K and even 8K video. As an experimental feature, the encoder utilizes machine learning-based Super-Resolution methods to upsample lower resolution content to HD and 4K.
- Advanced Content Protection: When it comes to protecting content from piracy, one of the most successful methods of prevention and detection is the process of applying a watermark. Historically, watermarks have been added on top of the video at playback. However, Bitmovin partnered with content security provider NAGRA to deliver a new forensic A/B watermarking solution that applies imperceptible video watermarks to content during the encoding process. It builds combinations of AB segments comparable to DNA sequences during content delivery, making it possible to single out content leaks on the player/client level and take appropriate action.
“The Bitmovin Next-Generation VOD Encoder is the most advanced VOD encoder on the market, and we cannot wait for the industry to see it at the 2022 NAB Show. Attendees will see first-hand how Bitmovin is pioneering the new era of video streaming with encoding technologies that deliver an unrivaled quality of experience to audiences worldwide, starting with on-demand content.”
To see the Next Generation VOD Encoder in action, visit Bitmovin at West Hall booth W10109 at the NAB Show.
