S&T puts VOD AND Catch-Up TV at the centre of IBC
IBC, Amsterdam, Stand 1.A21/Connected World Stand IP601, 10 – 14 September 2010: S&T (Strategy & Technology) is showing its latest technology for catch-up TV and Video on Demand services at IBC 2010 both at its regular booth in Hall 1 and as part of the Connected World area (Stand IP601), where S&T is exhibiting for the first time. Making its debut at IBC 2010 is the S&T Player application for MHEG Interation Channel and CI+ markets.
S&T Player is an MHEG application for Video on Demand services including catch-up TV. Flexible back-office integration is provided using S&T’s Mediator server application.
Connected or ‘hybrid’ TV receiver devices are generating much interest in the global market as broadcasters supplement their linear broadcast services with catch-up TV and other on-demand services. Research has shown that when these services are available on TV, consumer adoption is significant.
Colin Prior, Director of International Sales at S&T said, “The broadcast market interest in hybrid TV, combining the best of broadcast and IP delivery, has led S&T to exhibit in the Connected World hall at IBC for the first time. S&T Player and Mediator offer a product solution for video on demand and catch-up TV services on MHEG-IC and CI+ platforms, reducing risk and time to market due to their configurable, modular structure. With cable TV operators increasingly looking at CI+ to reduce customer premises costs and several platforms adopting the MHEG-IC specifications for catch-up TV, these products are generating a lot of interest in the market.”
S&T Player and Mediator offer a configurable and customisable solution for MHEG Interaction Channel (MHEG-IC) and CI+ platforms, supporting browsing and navigation of on-demand content as well as playback control. S&T Player also implements playlists so that, for example, a sequence of commercials and programme segments can be served to the receiver that then ‘pulls’ each content item in sequence. Logging of playback progress is also supported, enabling the introduction of CPM models for advertising views.
The MHEG-IC version of S&T Player runs on receivers conforming to the DTG D-Book 6.2.1 specification, with support for high definition graphics and AES encryption of streamed media.
The CI+ version uses the same core S&T Player product, but in conjunction with a CI+ module and constrained to the standard definition graphics supported by the CI+ browser MHEG engine.
The Mediator server application performs the function of transforming VoD catalogue data from back-office systems into a standard format used by S&T Player. A number of adapters have already been developed for third-party back-office products.