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Picture Quality rules for TV - Picture quality (including size) was and remains the #1 selling feature for TV. Second and third were always design and sound quality. This article claims people like navigation options and controllablity; but in the USA settop box world that seems awkward. Maybe … Continue reading 
Mobile TV future - Roughly 12 years after the dismal launch of DVB-H ( long forgotten) we watch video on our mobile more than ever. People are glued to their mobile phones and increassingly watch video content on it. As predicted then this typically is … Continue reading 
Paramount agreement could spell end of geoblocking - A small news item with a significant potential impact. The geographical fencing in the EU for content distribution is gradually broken down. The EU will enforce non-exclusivity on content distribution by country/territory in contracts as well as effectively outlaw cross … Continue reading 
Comcast outdoing FCC plans - Comcast and other major payTV operators are facing the FCC on the issue of the choice of the device to access TV services. Comcast and others deliver their TV services exclusively to settop boxes and in order to create some … Continue reading 
50% think viewing TV can be over internet - Zattoo, a German OTT channel streaming service has commissioned market research from TNS Infratest regarding appreciation of the German public about the ability to view TV over the internet. Roughly 50% thinks this is possible, which is a large increase (60%) … Continue reading 
Linear or non-linear - That’s the question that arises for the future. Will linear TV (channel) watching gradually disappear in favour of on-demand (PVR, VOD, SVOD, online, downloaded etc)? Will broadband be the way to deliver all TV, even linear, despite being “less efficient”? … Continue reading 
Research: viewers prefer smart TVs for OTT - BroadbandTVNews reports on a “new” finding that Consumers like things integrated in their TV. Given the dynamic of streaming (OTT and/or in-Home and/or device-to-device) that is of course a moving target. But not exactly real news. Still: it is a confirmation … Continue reading 
FCC picks a hard battle - The FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has published an article outlining his perspective on the FCC push for forthcoming regulation that should open up access to payTV services to any kind of device. This to the great dismay of major PayTV companies as well … Continue reading 
HbbTV 2.0: three steps forward - HbbTV2.0 brings a lot of innovations to HbbTV. Some of them seem logical: new codecs, better MPEG Dash profiles etc. Others a bit esoteric: sophisticated second screen synchronization: not your everyday issue. Nevertheless doing interactivity in conjunction withg broadcasting is … Continue reading 
OTT and DTT in the Netherlands - The latest development in the Dutch media landscape is that the Dutch broadcasters are aggregating their OTT and offering live streaming in one online platform. Dutch internet penetration is high. Access speeds are high based on pervasive, cable and decent A/VDSL and … Continue reading 
EU blow to net neutrality - Sadly the EU now has a net neutrality law that only pays lip service to the principle. The loopholes are so big that you can drive a bus through them. A Stanford Law Professor sums it up: Fast lanes for … Continue reading 
DSTAG about navigation or security? - The DSTAG report is out and it is reflecting two views on how multiple devices could be used to access payTV services from MVPDs (large PayTV network operators). This article is a commentary on an excellent Jeff Baumgartner report on … Continue reading 
Cloud DVR is better than a box - Cloud PVR has many advantages over box based PVR. The nscreemmedia article below mentions these: Cloud storage does not break – so no loss of customer at that point. Easy upgrade of features Try before you buy marketing Lower storage cost … Continue reading 
Linear is dead, long live non-linear - The pundits are predicting it, and hard figures so far show a rise in non-linear video consumption; but that did not prove non-linear would finally dominate. And vested managers are suggesting it is “add on” to linear. But now hard figures … Continue reading 
Letter exchanges in FCC’s DSTAC - The FCC DSTAC Committee was created to define downloadable security as a replacement for CableCard. Only there is disagreement as to the scope. The MVPDs (cable, satellite and IPTV providers) want to keep their service offer preserved as one package under … Continue reading 
Rovi Shareholder revolts - Rovi’s trouble is not over. After loosing 10 lawsuits against Virgin and some against Ziggo (and recently a preliminairy one against Netflix) in attempts to solidify their patent position in EPGs one of their larger shareholders (Engaged Capital) is saying … Continue reading 
UHD: Playready 3.0 requires hardware - UHD is requiring better content protection technologies. Though protecting content in bilions of consumer devices will remain an almost impossible challenge new technologies try to do the best possible. The current windows10 Playready3.0 will require hardware protection for all critical … Continue reading 
TV 2020 in the networked society - A nice video interview on NscreenMedia with Simon Frost, Head of Communications Marketing for Ericsson about what TV will be like in 2020 as a summary of a panel discussion at NAB2015. Some interesting remarks: In 2020 50% of video will be … Continue reading 
BBC moves to internet by 2025 - Herewith an interesting blog by Matthew Postgate, CTO of BBC. Internet will be increasingly in the focus for BBC as a distribution medium. I had the opportunity to be on a pannel with the head of BBC R&D 8 years … Continue reading 
Video codec with 2x the performance of HEVC? - A private company from the UK called V-nova claims to have developed a new codec called PERSEUS that is at least twice as efficient as HEVC. It is licensing the codec, similarly as with other codecs. The article from Videonet provides more … Continue reading