The challenges facing the television/video industry today can be daunting. For many years, competition for subscribers revolved around content, while the network architecture remained relatively stable. More recently, Video on Demand, High Definition, Start Over and other time shifted applications have been widely deployed. This has now been joined by the “TV Everywhere” concept and, of course Over The Top (OTT) Television. In addition 3D is today trying to leap from the theatre into the living room. Every year there is something new to contemplate and for which to potentially plan. Over the years, the MPEG Industry Forum has worked aggressively to bring clarity to the industry’s vision of the future and to advocate for the adoption of standards that accelerate that clarity. This year at IBC this task has become more important than ever as new technologies create new opportunities to make (or lose) money. The 2010 MasterClass at IBC is focused around two areas that will bring technologists and leading executives from operators and content owners around the world to discuss these new opportunities and to share their experience and perspectives.

NEW MOVES IN VIDEO COMPRESSION
Clearly MPEG-4 AVC (aka H.264) has succeeded MPEG-2 as the video compression technology of choice. Meanwhile processing power continues to grow relentlessly and we are seeing promising results from simulations of H.265 (aka HEVC or High Efficiency Video Coding). Is a new codec giving another 50% efficiency just around the corner or is it over the horizon. What does this mean for service operators as they are just getting round to planning a staged upgrade to MPEG-4. Is it worth waiting for this next technology especially as the industry continues to find improvements in the original MPEG-2. There is a real prospect of demand, albeit niched, for 3D consumption in the home. What does this mean for operators and studios alike. Will the nascent 3D market home in on and stay with the technology now known as “frame compatible” or will the new MVC standard emerge to dominate this sector. As always there continues to be important codec decisions to be made.

THE FUTURE OF OVER THE TOP TELEVISION
There is a fascinating battle royal going on in our living rooms as finally broadband gets connected to the central display device in the home. Will the operators who own the pipe stifle the OTT guys with byte consumption limits and bandwidth tiering or will they succeed with throwing up another wall – this time just further out – with their TV Anywhere initiatives around the world. We are seeing service operators increasingly turn into full media companies with acquisition of content. Is this the end game and as always will we see content re-crowned as king or will the increasing social diversification create real demand for Over The Top TV content that will always be outside an operators wall. The business model for OTT is fascinating and this session will look at all the factors both for and against, the success or otherwise of OTT offerings.

For more information, visit http://www.mpegif.org/exhibitions/IBC2010/Index.php.