February, 2025

• 7 February

  Unlocking CTV’s Full Ad Potential with Server-Guided Ad Insertion

  

  We all know the trade-offs of Client-Side Ad Insertion (CSAI) and Server-Side Ad Insertion (SSAI). CSAI offers real-time personalization but is vulnerable to ad blockers and playback hiccups, while SSAI ensures smooth playback and circumvents blockers but lacks real-time targeting and can be expensive. Now, a new technology has entered the scene: Server-Guided Ad Insertion (SGAI). But what exactly is …

  Read More »
• 3 February

  Evaluating DeepMind C3: A Low-Complexity Neural Codec with Competitive Compression Efficiency

  This paper, entitled, C3: High-performance and low-complexity neural compression from a single image or video, and authored by a team from Google DeepMind (Hyunjik Kim, Matthias Bauer, Lucas Theis, Jonathan Schwarz, and Emilien Dupont), introduces DeepMind C3, a neural compression method designed to deliver low decoding complexity while achieving competitive rate-distortion (RD) performance. The authors are recognized for their contributions …

  Read More »
• 2 February

  Few-Shot Domain Adaptation for Learned Image Compression

  The white paper, authored by researchers from the University of Science and Technology of China, introduces a novel approach to addressing the limitations of pre-trained learned image compression (LIC) models. These models, while effective within the domains they were trained on, often falter when applied to new, domain-specific data. To overcome this, the researchers propose lightweight adapters that allow efficient …

  Read More »

January, 2025

• 27 January

  Following the Money: What the Lexis Nexis Patent Report Reveals About VVC and AOMedia

  

  While researching my State of the Codec Market article for the 2025 Streaming Media Sourcebook, I stumbled upon an intriguing report from LexisNexis that sheds light on the patent ownership landscape for VVC and HEVC (link to report). For me, the report helped answer two critical questions: Will VVC be the next codec implemented on Smart TVs? Will AOMedia companies …

  Read More »
• 20 January

  New Lesson Alert: Choosing a Hardware Transcoder Added to Streaming Media 101

  

  We’re excited to announce the addition of a brand-new lesson to Streaming Media 101: Technical Onboarding for Streaming Media Professionals! Titled Choosing a Hardware Transcoder, this lesson dives into one of the most critical aspects of video processing today: selecting the right transcoder for your needs, whether in the cloud or on-premises. The lesson is available free to all current …

  Read More »
• 19 January

  Fox’s 1080p to 4K Upscaling Workflow for Super Bowl 2025: An Engaging Debate

  

  It started with a simple observation: Fox plans to upscale a 1080p HDR feed to 4K for the Super Bowl LIX broadcast. The comment came from Dan Rayburn, who shared details about Fox’s planned encoding ladder, including a maximum bitrate of 15 Mbps for 4K delivery. This revelation prompted a lively LinkedIn discussion among industry experts, exploring the decision’s technical, …

  Read More »
• 16 January

  Sye: The Best Low-Latency Tech You’ve Never Heard Of

  

  When your service spends a fortune on sports rights, the pressure on your technology team to deliver a flawless viewing experience is immense. It’s not just low latency; it’s synchronization across a range of playback devices driven by second-screen experiences and crisp, hiccup-free ad delivery. When it comes to delivering this type of experience, Amazon Prime Video has emerged as …

  Read More »
• 12 January

  The Future of Targeted Ads: Lessons from Disney’s Ad Tech Evolution

  

  As third-party cookies are phasing out, the race to refine first-party data strategies is on, and Disney is leading the charge. At CES 2025, Nadine Krefetz, contributing editor at Streaming Media, captured the key elements of Disney’s approach in her article, “CES 2025: Disney Ad Tech, Ad Targeting, and Ad Buying.” The piece provides an insightful glimpse into how Disney …

  Read More »
• 7 January

  The New Face of FAST: How Original Content Is Redefining Free Streaming

  

  When Free Ad-Supported Streaming TV (FAST) first emerged, its channels quickly became known as the home of dated, recycled TV shows and movies—free entertainment that offered volume but little innovation. As Bruce might have said, 57 Channels (And Nothin’ On). Today, that perception is rapidly changing. Platforms like Tubi and The Roku Channel are investing heavily in original content, reshaping …

  Read More »
• 6 January

  Cracking the Code(c): It’s All About the Implementation

  

  Free Webinar: Cracking the Code(c): It’s All About the Implementation January 30, 2025 – 16:00 GMT/11:00 EST/08:00 PST Last fall, I published a post called “There Are No Codec Comparisons. There Are Only Codec Implementation Comparisons.” The basic premise was stated in the conclusion, which reads, “the key point is that unless the study’s testing schema and codec selection aligns …

  Read More »