It’s fair to say that over the last 12 months, artificial intelligence has dominated the news headlines allowing other technologies to continue to evolve outside of the spotlight. In terms of cloud, that means more and more broadcasters are gaining confidence in the move away from traditional on-premise workflows.
The cloud is now being used across multiple workflows from content creation to the media supply chain and archive, broadcast, and direct-to-consumer and streaming where it can help to personalise the viewer experience and enhance content monetisation. In a time when many broadcasters and streaming services are looking to “do more with less”, the cloud provides flexibility and allows users to scale dynamically without the need for heavy upfront investments in hardware and infrastructure.
“It also helps them focus on projects that truly differentiate their businesses,” explains Thomas Edwards, senior manager, solutions architect, Media and Entertainment, Games, and Sports, at Amazon Web Services (AWS). “Rather than concentrating on the undifferentiated infrastructure that all broadcasters use, they can focus on delivering value to their viewers. Cloud-based workflows help reduce the heavy lifting of racking, stacking, powering, and cooling on-premises hardware.”
The cloud is finding a stronghold in multiple areas within the media industry but is particularly relevant for playout, live sports, remote production, and post production. “Cloud-based workflows enable real-time access to content, facilitating faster decision-making and reducing latency in live production environments,” adds Charles d’Autremont, CEO and founder of multi-cam video production specialists, Cinedeck. “Post production has also been significantly transformed, allowing teams to collaborate seamlessly across different locations and enabling faster content delivery.”
But there are still challenges for broadcasters who want to take the leap into the cloud – particularly because of the “we’ve always done it this way” argument. Many end users still associate broadcasting with dedicated hardware and have concerns about latency, security, and cost structures should they make the move.
“To overcome that, broadcasters should start with hybrid models, where cloud playout complements on-premise infrastructure and can be seamlessly integrated into existing ecosystems,” states Gatis Gailis, CEO and founder of Veset, a cloud-native solution provider. “It is also important to focus on education and training to help operational teams understand the efficiencies and capabilities of cloud workflows, to ensure they are on board with the digital transformation right from the start.”
There’s also a case to be made that moving to the cloud removes the traditional silos of the broadcast industry, argues Gailis. “The cloud removes these barriers and allows teams to work together more efficiently, regardless of location,” he adds. “By providing a shared, centralised environment where broadcasters and streamers can access, edit, and distribute content, the cloud fosters closer collaboration between teams, partners, and even across different networks for more agile content creation and distribution.”
Another area where broadcasters and streamers can find a use for the cloud is the adoption of artificial intelligence – particularly generative AI. It can help enhance the productivity of creatives, enabling them to generate enhanced metadata, as well as with transcription, translation, person identification, and content summarisation. ”All of these make it easier and faster to search through content archives and help to reduce more laborious, time-intensive tasks,” says Edwards.
There’s even the possibility that moving to the cloud can help the viewing experience. One benefit is that the cloud makes it easier to test additional functionality for workloads which can then be added to a broadcaster’s or streamer’s content offering. “For example, you might add real-time transcription and translation of live video to reach more global users. You could also personalise content for viewers or even segment your audience and better target ads for enhanced monetisation,” adds Edwards.
The cloud can also ensure smoother, real-time streaming with less lag and better video quality across devices. It can also allow for more personalised content through targeted ads, making viewing more engaging. Cloud-based QC processes can also be used, enabling teams to quickly address problems and make real-time adjustments.
Moving to the cloud will likely mean a change in codec from the traditional MPEG or HEVC to newer kids on the block such as AV1 or JPEG XS. But choosing the right codec includes a number of different factors, such as compression quality, latency, distribution cost, and device support. ”It’s important for video service providers to start by carefully evaluating the codec, ABR ladder, and quality settings of their encoding system with their content to ensure they achieve the results they want,” says Edwards.
“Every codec is a tradeoff between quality, file size, and processing requirements.” agrees d’Autremont. “For example, AVC/H.264 provides excellent video quality while maintaining a smaller file size, making it widely used for streaming.”
For Gailis, the choice is clear: JPEG XS. “It delivers high-quality, low-latency video while significantly reducing bandwidth costs,” he says. “For video-on-demand (VoD) and distribution, AV1 is another strong candidate due to its superior compression efficiency, reducing streaming costs while maintaining high video quality.”
This content first appeared in the official NAB Show Daily Newspaper.
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