OTT

How many times has this happened to you: You’re streaming video to your TV, using an OTT device (like a Roku or Chromecast), over a network app that you’ve authenticated with your cable or satellite subscription. It’s been a long day, and you begin to drift off – then BAM! you’re yanked back into consciousness by a commercial that is approximately 400 times louder than whatever show you were watching, before your heart leapt out of your chest and ran away.

If you’ve ever wondered why the commercials on OTT video are often so over-the-top loud compared to the commercials on TV, as it turns out, you maybe HAVE seen this movie before. Because variable loudness on broadcast commercials has been “a thing” for more than a decade. Here’s the background:

Back in 2010, we saw the first legislation aimed at too-loud commercials (which arguably have been the bane of viewers since the beginning of TV). It all started when Representative Anna Eshoo (D-Calif) asked her brother to turn down the TV after a loud commercial interrupted a family dinner. In true brother fashion, he told her to just make a law against loud commercials (seeing as she was the legislator and all).

So she did, and on September 29, 2010, the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation (CALM) Act was unanimously passed in the Senate.

The CALM Act requires broadcasters and MVPDs (Multichannel Video Programming Distributors) to ensure that the average audio of TV advertisements isn’t louder than the program itself. The FCC began enforcing the CALM Act on December 13, 2012, encouraging viewers to call and complain about loud commercials that violate the rules.

By equalizing the average volume between content and commercials, the CALM Act aims to prevent advertisers from rupturing your eardrums in an attempt to get your attention. Though it creates an extra layer of complexity for MVPDs, this is a very good thing for the viewing experience (and isn’t that what matters?).

This is all accomplished using the A/85 Recommended Practice: Techniques for Establishing and Maintaining Audio Loudness for Digital Television set forth by the ATSC (Advanced Television Systems Committee).

But this new solution wasn’t without pushback from unscrupulous advertisers. After the CALM act took effect, some advertisers started using silence or very quiet audio to offset extra-loud passages, so on June 4, 2014 ATSC amended the algorithm to close that electronic loophole. The current algorithm uses “gating” to exclude silent or extremely quiet parts of commercials when calculating the average volume.

As a result, commercials on TV today aren’t as obnoxiously loud as they used to be. If only we could say the same for streaming video!

Unfortunately, the CALM act only applies to broadcast television – it does not extend to content that is distributed over the Internet (even if that content is tied to a cable or satellite subscription). Currently there is no proposed legislation, and no end in sight, for the ultra-loud commercials that interrupt our streaming background noise.

This is an issue that begs to be revisited, because of the steady shift towards online viewing since the CALM act took effect in 2012. Nowadays, just about every cable network makes their content available through a website and an app, and payTV subscribers are viewing more of their TV content over-the-top – but the viewer experience is still marred by earsplitting advertisements. Subscribers of SlingTV started complaining about loud commercials back when the streaming service started back in 2015, and back then SlingTV acknowledged it as a “known issue” that was actively being addressed. Two years later the commercials are louder than ever.

We have to wonder what kind of conversion rates these obnoxious advertisements are getting. Presumably there is a payoff, or advertisers wouldn’t go to so much trouble to crank up the audio on their commercials. But surely we aren’t the only ones that scramble for the mute button, then roll ours eyes and add the offending brand to a mental list, titled Stuff I’ll Never Buy Because of Terrible Ads.

After thumbing through every 2014 issue of this magazine, five tech trends rose to the top:

1. We’re now squarely in the middle of the transition to “all-IP” (Internet Protocol), as the umbrella covering cloud-delivered services, bandwidth (wired and wireless), connected devices, TV everywhere, and all else in the technological vogue. It began with the cable modem, in the late ‘90s. Nobody really knows when the “all” part of “all-IP” will happen — but “not in my lifetime” is a seldom-heard response.

2. This year, the term “OTT” — Over-the-Top — became less a categorical description of Netflix, Amazon, and the rest of the new ilk of video competition, and more a common technological ingredient, used by all. In short, with every step toward cloud, operators are “over-the-topping themselves.”

3. The recognition that “the competition” now extends beyond satellite and telco-delivered services, to the OTT camp, brought with it a new “tech culture” reality. Vendors, operators and programmers alike spent a sizeable chunk of 2014 retooling to work at “web speed,” which means adopting agile software and “DevOps” strategies.

4. RDK, the Reference Design Kit, rose in strategic importance this year, again, and big time. Evidence: In October, Liberty Global CEO Mike Fries off-handedly called RDK “a DOCSIS moment,” referencing the cable modem specification that changed the economics of what became the broadband industry.

5. “Speed vs. capacity” will sustain as one of the more important tech subtleties. It’s the “gig” that can gum things up: GigaHertz is a unit of capacity, Gigabyte a unit of storage, and Gigabit a measure of speed. But! As important is throughput, or, the amount of stuff we’re moving to and from our various screens. Knowing the distinctions matters.

That’s the short list! Merry merry, and may your 2015 technologies be kind and useful.

This column originally appeared in the Platforms section of Multichannel News.

Still looking for some last-minute holiday gifts? You’ve come to the right place. Once again, we’re rounding up our favorite streaming devices in an attempt to make your holiday shopping research a little easier. After all, we follow this stuff all year long!

In keeping with the title, we’re focusing on the stocking stuffers of the streaming world – small, specialized, and relatively inexpensive. Because the price and features differ so much, we’ve left the game consoles and connected Blu-ray players off this list (they won’t fit in a stocking, anyway).

Without further ado, here’s our list (scroll down to the bottom for a side-by-side comparison of the apps that are currently available on each device).

For your tech-savvy friends: Chromecast ($35)    

This little dongle made quite a splash earlier this year, and its low price point and small size make it a fantastic stocking stuffer. Unlike Roku’s streaming stick, Chromecast will work on any TV with an HDMI port. It currently has access to Netflix, Hulu Plus, YouTube, Pandora, and HBO Go, with more compatible apps joining the ranks soon. Chromecast isn’t as user-friendly as the other devices on this list, but it’s a great choice for anyone who enjoys playing with the latest technology.

For loved ones willing to pay for good TV: Apple TV ($99)

Despite no updates to the hardware for quite some time, Apple TV is finally getting more premium content. In past years Apple TV only had Netflix and iTunes, making it a tough one to recommend. But with the addition of Hulu Plus, and payTV apps such as HBO Go, Disney, and ESPN Live, the premium content selection is starting to look a lot more like Roku’s. And about HBO Go – many of the big payTV operators currently block access on Roku but not on AppleTV, so AppleTV is probably the best bet for any Comcast or DirecTV subscribers on your list.

For just about everyone: Roku ($50-$100)

This one won’t surprise anyone, because Roku is consistently at the top of our list in terms of value, content, and ease of use. (Disclaimer: My parents are still using the Roku I got them for Christmas 3 years ago).

There are a few different Roku devices to choose from:

Old TV? Roku LT or Roku 2.

Roku is the only manufacturer on this list that offers component out, making it a great choice to smarten up any dumb analog TV. At around $50, the Roku LT is a perfect gift for your relatives with an ancient TV. While the LT tops out at 720p, the Roku 2 ($80) streams full 1080p video and also includes a headphone jack on the remote – perfect for watching while other people are trying to pretend to work, or sleep.

For your favorite media junkie: Roku 3.

At $99, Roku 3 adds some premium features on top of the standard ones. Its processor is about 5x faster, and it includes a motion-sensing remote control for gaming (and a free copy of Angry Birds, as in years past). Roku 3 also includes USB and Micro SD ports, making it easier to put home movies and photos up on the big screen. But the thing we’re most excited about is support for DIAL (Discovery And Launch), the same protocol used by Chromecast – this makes it possible to control Roku’s Netflix and YouTube channels from a mobile device.

Google TV Android TV …just stick with Chromecast this year

Google retired the “Google TV” name and is now partnering with manufacturers to make devices “with Google services.” New devices from Sony and Hisense have been announced, and Google is also rumored to be building a “Nexus TV” device. We’ve yet to see the user interface, but the details released so far suggest the same old Google TV experience.

And remember, HDMI cables aren’t included with AppleTV and Roku anymore, so you’ll want to throw one in the box as well – no need for anything fancy, this will do.

A few months ago, I reviewed the latest streaming service to hit the lab, Redbox Instant by Verizon. Back then it was still in the beta test phase, and the experience (and lack of content) made that all too clear.

But the beta tests are over, and Redbox Instant launched publicly on June 3rd. So how is it doing now?

Devices and Playback:

Redbox Instant originally worked only on mobile phones, tablets, and computers, with an Xbox 360 app added during the beta phase. In early June, GoogleTV devices (2^nd-generation and later; the Intel-based devices don’t work) got a Redbox app too. What’s more, we’re told we’ll have an app on Roku before the summer’s over.

I tried out the GoogleTV app (which doesn’t automatically appear with the latest update — you have to search for it in the Play Store) and I liked the interface well enough, but the app crashed a couple times during playback. Though to its credit, the app did remember where it left off and was able to resume when it crashed.

Of course, with any new app glitches will be discovered and resolved, so this kind of thing is somewhat expected. You may recall that I experienced a few playback issues with the iPad app for Redbox Instant, back when I tested it during the beta phase. Those issues have cleared up and the Redbox app now performs as well as any other video service on my slow connection. We’re expecting the same from the GoogleTV app, and the Roku app when it eventually launches (don’t disappoint us now, Redbox.)

I also found that the resolution was noticably lower on Redbox than when I streamed the same title on the same device through Netflix — while Netflix and Hulu Plus have some titles at 1080p, Redbox and Amazon Prime top off at 720p. This was especially pronounced on my slow DSL connection at the farm, so I think the way each service handles adaptive streaming plays a role as well (in our experience Netflix seems to be particularly good at this.)

Redbox Instant’s web interface

Content:

Last time, I complained about the fact that Redbox Instant has very little subscription streaming content, and that most of what’s available isn’t exclusive – so if you have Netflix or Amazon Prime, there’s not much on Redbox that’ll be new to you.  That’s still largely the case, though we have seen Redbox’s streaming catalog expand to about 8,000 titles since the beta launch (for comparison, Amazon Prime has about 33,000 titles in its unlimited streaming catalog.)

The latest streaming content from Redbox (on Google TV)

The catalog is still movies only, no TV, and it still combines titles that you can see for free with your subscription with those that you have to pay extra and/or drive to a kiosk to pick up. While they offer the flexibility of unlimited streaming and per-transaction titles, and you can do things from the app like reserve titles at a kiosk, it all starts to feel a bit cluttered. There are filters for each content source – kiosk, rental, and subscription – but I occasionally found myself accidentally browsing everything of just the unlimited streaming content. It’s hard enough to choose something to watch, without deciding on a title and then realizing you have to drive to a kiosk or pay extra to watch it.

Browsing titles to rent or buy on Google TV

What’s next for Redbox Instant?

Like virtually every other streaming video service, Redbox Instant plans to create some original content in the future. According to CEO Shawn Strickland, the primary focus will be family-oriented programming, a genre he claims is lacking in other services. (We’re not so sure – Amazon has three new original childrens’ series planned, and just scored a deal with Viacom to pick up a bunch of Nickelodeon programming. Not to mention Netflix’s exclusive deal with Disney.)

But if you listen to Redbox tell it, they don’t want or need to compete with Netflix and the other services – disc rentals are an important part of their plan, as that allows their customers to get new releases from a kiosk before they’re available to stream. Their plan is to focus on disc rentals and then upsell streaming packages to those customers who are already heavy users of Redbox kiosks. So they’re betting that there’s still enough life in physical media to carry them through.

Us, we’re not so sure. But we’ll be watching to see how this all shakes out.

The who’s who of the over-the-top (OTT) video community met in San Jose a few weeks ago, at a trade show called OTTCON. Missed it? Me too. But I did dispatch Sara Dirkse, who runs our OTT video lab (and blogs on this web site.)

Luckily for us, she takes great notes. Here’s the highlights:

– Backhanded compliment of the year: “Dinosaurs with lasers” was applied to cable as a descriptor. “The dinosaurs are getting more advanced, so we can’t really call them that anymore,” said Jeremy Toeman, CEO of Digit Media.

– The words “1970s cable TV” came up repeatedly, as participants likened the current state of OTT to the programming heyday of yore.

– “Long form video” now means anything over 10 minutes. (!)

– When asked how many had seen every episode of the Netflix original series “House of Cards,” a third of the audience raised hands. (Every episode.)

– “Syndicated metadata” popped up regularly at OTTCON. It’s a way for content owners to ensure that no matter what app people use to get to their content, their metadata persists, so that the experience is rich and consistent.

– People with Apple products watch twice as much video on their phones and tablets than people with Android-based gadgets.

– If 10% of cable’s audience cut the cord, it would double the load on CDN (content delivery network) providers like Akamai, which is already moving just under 10 Terabits per second.

– The last mile network is not where the major congestion is occurring, said Will Law, principle architect for Akamai’s Media Division. “It’s like widening your driveway and expecting to reduce your commute time.”

– Making TVs into phones is a bad idea, said Digit Media’s Toeman. Skype on a tablet trumps.

– Watch for more original content from non-traditional brands (Red Bull, Funny or Die) and brands (Netflix, Hulu.) It won’t replace cable, but we’ll see a lot more of it.

– More than 850 display devices use Netflix’s API (application program interface.)

– Netflix is developing 4K streaming content. Which weighs 17 Mbps, if compressed with the best technique in the market today (H.264/MPEG-4.) With HEVC (High Efficiency Video Coding), that’ll halve to 8.5 Mbps – but is still more than 2x the heft of today’s HD streams, compressed with H.264/MPEG-4.

Bottom line: Netflix doing 4K will seriously tweak that already tweaked 50% CAGR in broadband usage.

So, dinosaurs with lasers: That’s what the new kids are up to. Onward!

This column originally appeared in the Platforms section of Multichannel News.

It happens about every decade, and the third one is almost upon us: A new standard for video compression, bound to make video shipping better.

It’s called “HEVC,” for “High Efficiency Video Coding.” You’ll see it demo into the industrial mainstream at the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show, in January, and into your handhelds and TVs a year hence from that.

The skinny (heh): Another doubling of how much video can be stuffed into the same space as what’s stuffable using today’s best compression techniques. Or, it’s a way to send the same stream with more bits. More bits, better quality.

HEVC improves upon H.264 (also known as “AVC” and “MPEG-4”), which improved on MPEG-2, the granddaddy of digital video compression, dating back to the earliest digital set-top boxes (circa 1995.)

With each new compression chapter, efficiency roughly doubled: HEVC is 2x better than H.264/MPEG-4; H.264 is 2x better than MPEG-2. It follows that HEVC is 4x better than what’s inside millions of already-fielded digital set-tops.

Who benefits most: Mobile carriers, already vexed with trying to keep up with how much video we’re shipping to each other from our camera-bejeweled handhelds.

Another potential beneficiary: Over-the-top video providers (think Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, etc.), which will likely opt for the “more bits” stance. Capacity? Eh! To them, bandwidth is free. Why bother with conservation?

No reason the home team (multichannel video providers) can’t look happily upon HEVC, too. With the pursuit of “all-IP” (Internet Protocol) networks comes the ability to harness the goods of that world. HEVC isn’t by definition an “IP thing,” but it’ll play sooner and with more gusto on the IP side of the plant.

What’s different between HEVC and H.264/MPEG-4: Nothing huge. Both use the same core techniques. (Advanced class: Block-based motion compensation, entropy coding, predictive coding, quantization into i-frames, b-frames and p-frames.)

More, HEVC makes existing compression ingredients more flexible. Recall that compression is all about finding and removing redundancies in pictures. In H.264, motion blocks were fixed; in HEVC, they’re variably-sized.

Instead of encoding the entire yellow wall, frame to frame, for instance, HEVC can “mark” it for reconstitution as such on the end screen (“yellow wall here,” in a gross oversimplification.)

The tradeoff is computational intensity – up 35-50% — particularly on the decode end: TVs, handhelds. But, computational complexity is symbiotic with Moore’s Law. So, processors are already 10x stronger than they were when MPEG-4/H.264 came out, 10-ish years ago.

At last month’s IBC, encoder maker Elemental Technologies showed attendees its HEVC work in two ways. One demo showed a 1080p HD stream compressed to 5.2 Mbps — which “weighs” about 8 Mbps, when compressed with H.264. Another showed side-by-side 1080P streams, HEVC and H.264, both compressed to 5.2 Mbps. The point: To show off the additional picture quality afforded by HEVC in the same amount of bandwidth.

Pretty nifty, by all accounts so far.

This column originally appeared in the Platforms section of Multichannel News.

This week marks one year of sampling a large variety of over-the-top video hardware and software in a makeshift office lab. Why: To understand why people cut the cable cord, or hang out on the “connected” side of today’s Internet-connected TVs.

Seems a good time to share some findings.

1. What I use the most, of the over-the-top services: Amazon Prime. Why: Amazon was first to offer Downton Abbey Season 2, which I could watch on a Vizio screen at home, while “getting steps” on the treadmill. (I am OCD about 10,000 steps per day, thanks to the Fitbit, to which I am wonderfully addicted.)
After that, and still on Amazon Prime: Tanked. Tanked is a family viewing activity, marathon-style – but, alas, the main TV in the house isn’t Internet-connected. So I brought home a Sony streamer, which was dissed at the lab for its clunky on-screen remote (it’s as clunky on the Sony PS3.) But, it has Amazon Prime. The Tanked binging continued in the living room.

2. Observation: Be careful what you wish for, in terms of user experience. OTT apps like Netfix and Amazon, as well as cable video apps like xFinity, can use or not use various native features within each streaming device. Which means that the same app behaves differently, one screen to the next. (Maybe we’ll all just get used to this?)

When marathon-viewing Nurse Jackie on the Vizio screen, for instance, the Amazon app keeps track of episodes I’ve seen with a simple check mark. No such feature on the Sony streamer upstairs. Same app, same show, but you need to remember which episode you watched last.

The flip side of that, which comes with DLNA, is that any software-based video app can leverage native device features that are cool or handy.

Example: At the Cable Show in June, on a back wall of the CableNET area, Cox showed how its Trio guide had taken advantage of a native feature inside a Sony connected TV, such that in-show navigation happens on a scroll bar, frame by frame. It looked great.

3. What I use the most at work: Comcast’s “AnyPlay,” fed by Motorola’s “Televation” box. Live streaming cable TV on the iPad. Love it. Make it do trick-play, I’d love it even more.

That’s a short walk through a year’s worth of OTT-ing in the lab. Next time: What all that streaming did to the broadband meter; the puzzle of getting signal to everything; the multiplier on remote control clutter.
This column originally appeared in the Platforms section of Multichannel News.