Digital Rapids Announces Support for Microsoft Silverlight 3

Digital Rapids -- the leading provider of tools and solutions for bringing television, film and web content to wider audiences -- announced support for Microsoft Silverlight 3 in Digital Rapids' comprehensive range of studio encoding, transcoding and live streaming systems. Silverlight 3 support further extends the proven abilities of Digital Rapids' award-winning solutions for delivering unparalleled, high-quality, live and on-demand online video experiences.

Silverlight 3 is the newest version of Microsoft Corp.'s powerful platform for creating and delivering rich Internet applications (RIAs) and media experiences on the Web. Digital Rapids' solutions will enable content owners and distributors to take advantage of the video-related enhancements and features in Silverlight 3 to deliver rich, high-quality online viewing experiences.

Highlights of the new feature set include support for Microsoft Internet Information Services 7.0 (IIS7) Smooth Streaming, an HTTP-based platform that enables adaptive delivery of live and on-demand content to Silverlight-based video media players. IIS7 Smooth Streaming dynamically detects the best quality a viewer can receive based on their current bandwidth and local computer conditions, seamlessly switching between multiple streams at different bit-rates to deliver consistent, high-quality viewing experiences up to true HD even under changing connectivity and playback conditions. Live and on-demand IIS7 Smooth Streaming support will be available in the upcoming version 3.1 software for Digital Rapids' StreamZ and StreamZHD encoding systems. IIS7 Smooth Streaming will also be available in updates of the Digital Rapids Transcode Manager enterprise-class transcoding software and select models of StreamZ Live dedicated streaming encoders.

Silverlight 3 also augments its existing support for the VC-1 video format and Windows Media Audio with new native support for H.264 (also known as AVC, or MPEG-4 Part 10) video and AAC audio, allowing users to choose their preferred compression standard. Digital Rapids' encoding, transcoding and streaming solutions offer robust standard or optional support for H.264 and AAC encoding.

"As consumers raise their expectations for Web video and the surrounding experience, it's imperative that content owners and distributors create offerings that increase viewer engagement. The enhancements in Silverlight 3 bring Web viewing experiences far closer to the quality and reliability expectations of television while wrapping them with rich interactive capabilities, and we're pleased to support these new features in our solutions," said Brian Stevenson, Director of Product Management, Digital Rapids Corporation. "Support for live and on-demand IIS7 Smooth Streaming is a natural extension of our systems' long-standing ability to create outputs in multiple formats, sizes and bit rates simultaneously, and extending our H.264 encoding capabilities to Silverlight lets our customers choose the format that best serves their multi-platform distribution strategies."

"Microsoft is pleased that Digital Rapids is supporting Silverlight across its encoding, transcoding and streaming portfolio," said Steve Sklepowich, group product manager for Silverlight at Microsoft Corp. "The addition of Silverlight 3 support in Digital Rapids' hardware and software solutions, together with support for HTTP-based Smooth Streaming, enables users to experience true stutter-free HD online via efficient, automated media production workflows."

ViewCast Announces Support for Microsoft IIS Smooth Streaming

ViewCast Corporation, a developer of industry-leading hardware and software for the transformation, delivery and management of professional quality video over IP and mobile networks, announced support for Microsoft Internet Information Services 7.0 (IIS) Smooth Streaming content delivery platform for Microsoft Silverlight. Working seamlessly with the IIS Smooth Streaming advanced, HTTP-based adaptive streaming technology, select Niagara streaming media encoders will enable media companies and consumers alike to take advantage of bandwidth-optimized, high-definition (HD) content streamed over the Internet.

IIS Smooth Streaming enables content creators and delivery networks to stream video on
demand (VOD) and live events to consumers’ PCs in the highest possible quality - including true HD (720p) - transparently adapting video stream quality to accommodate users’ available bandwidth without freezing or buffering the stream. This approach ensures that users can enjoy the highest possible quality online viewing experience, while enabling media companies to provide a consistent, seamless viewing experience that extends average viewing times and associated revenue opportunities.

“IIS Smooth Streaming technology is an exciting advance for media streaming applications, bringing media companies and consumers one step closer to realizing television-caliber programming definition and continuity via the Internet,” said Dave Stoner, ViewCast President and CEO. “By supporting IIS Smooth Streaming technology with our Niagara streaming media encoders, we’re enabling our customers to seamlessly scale their media streaming applications to meet the unique requirements of their viewers. But we’re also demonstrating to the marketplace the importance of our technology. As advancements like Microsoft IIS Smooth Streaming generate growth in Internet video programming, they also generate new interest and growth in our technology. ”

“Microsoft is committed to bringing next-generation media experiences to the Web via IIS Smooth Streaming and Silverlight in order to provide the scalability and quality of service that media companies require to grow their online video businesses,” said Steve Sklepowich, group product manager for Silverlight at Microsoft Corp. “Microsoft is enabling ViewCast to realize the full promise of true HD via Microsoft’s adaptive streaming platform, providing direct benefit to their customers.”

ViewCast Niagara streaming media encoders are designed to deliver the quality, features and ease-of-use convenience that professional broadcasters demand. They are pre-configured, plug-and-play solutions that enable users to quickly capture and broadcast premium quality audio and video in multiple formats and at multiple bit rates - all simultaneously.

NAB Follow-up for Streaming and Compression Tools

Here's a Follow-up for Streaming and Compression Tools at NAB 2009. Most of the buzz this NAB was surrounding Microsoft's Smooth Streaming and its implementation in various tools. This looks to be very exciting and allows automatic adjustment to lower or higher datarate for live and on-demand streams. The quality of the streams is impacted by the bandwidth available.

Inlet Technologies has some tools that have implemented the Smooth Streaming for on-demand and live streaming. They also have a tool that provides great post encoding video analysis and called Semaphore. The tool has been out for a while but now it's included in their Armada encoding product that provides large scale encoding. By large scale encoding I'm talking about hundreds and thousands of files being encoding. The tool can do checks at the end to make sure there were no technical issues like dropped frames, audio loss, etc. There are far to many features to list in this blog post. Make sure you visit the Inlet website.

Wowza Media Systems will have a new release of their server that supports Smooth Streaming and Silverlight. I can't wait. The next release will also allow live streaming to the iPhone. Amazing! Check out there website. We'll that's enough for this post. Time to catch a plane.

Inlet First to Announce Live and VoD Support for Microsoft IIS7 Smooth Streaming

Inlet Technologies, a leader in advanced encoding solutions for new media, announced full support for Microsoft Internet Information Services 7.0 (IIS7) Smooth Streaming technology. Both live events and video on demand content benefit from the quality and scalability advantages of Smooth Streaming, and Inlet Technologies is the first encoding technology provider to announce support of this new platform. Microsoft Corp. and Inlet will demonstrate live Smooth Streaming in action this week at the MIX09 conference put on by Microsoft.

Smooth Streaming is Microsoft’s new HTTP-based adaptive streaming platform, an advanced media delivery method that switches seamlessly between multiple streams, depending on the available bandwidth and PC performance at any given moment. The best possible quality video stream is automatically delivered to the end user without stuttering, dropped frames or buffering. While the Smooth Streaming process itself is completely invisible to the end user, it results in a much improved user experience. It also offers broadcasters the ability to offer true HD (720p+) streams to clients who have sufficient bandwidth without alienating those with lower speed connections.

Inlet is the first encoding solutions provider to announce support for Smooth Streaming for live streaming and video on demand applications. These solutions are ideal for a wide variety of media companies wanting to stream a range of high quality content, including sports, news, and special events. Both Inlet’s Spinnaker family of live streaming appliances and Armada automated VoD management system have built-in support for Smooth Streaming.

“Microsoft is dedicated to improving all aspects of online video, for both consumers and media companies, but we can’t do it alone. We work closely with industry leading partners such as Inlet to help make Smooth Streaming a truly open platform and to make it as easy as possible for media companies to migrate to it,” explained Steve Sklepowich, group product manager for Silverlight at Microsoft.

“We are excited to have yet another ‘first’ under our belt, with this support for Microsoft Smooth Streaming,” said Neal Page, Inlet Technologies CEO. “Inlet is committed to improving all aspects of the online video business by applying advanced technology solutions to real-world applications. Smooth Streaming is a significant leap forward, and presents a compelling opportunity to help media companies improve the quality of online video for all of their customers.”

Inlet also will demonstrate live Smooth Streaming at the NAB show; visit booth number SL5624 for more information

Microsoft and Akamai Innovate on Consumer Video Experiences Using Silverlight

Microsoft Corp., the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions, and Akamai Technologies Inc., the leader in powering rich media, dynamic transactions and enterprise applications online, announced plans to enable high-definition (HD) quality experiences on PCs. Akamai will release a beta version of a new service, powered by Windows Server 2008 and Microsoft Silverlight, to deliver rich Internet applications via the world's largest HTTP edge network.

Microsoft is introducing new Web server technology, called Internet Information Services 7.0 (IIS7.0) Smooth Streaming, that gives consumers instant start-up times and no buffering by adapting the quality of the video stream in real time based upon changing connectivity speed. This enables companies to boost brand awareness and advertising revenues by extending average viewing times. They can also benefit from unprecedented network scalability using distributed HTTP-based Web servers.

"Smooth Streaming is an evolution of proven Silverlight technology that has powered global online events," said Scott Guthrie, corporate vice president of the .NET Developer Division at Microsoft. "Our objective has always been to provide a platform that enables next-generation media experiences on the Web. Together with Akamai, we will take that a step further by offering a consistently superior adaptive streaming experience on a global scale."

Akamai will be building upon this innovative technology with a new service, Akamai AdaptiveEdge Streaming for Microsoft Silverlight, which will be deployed across the company's globally distributed network to bring a solution with HD scale to media companies worldwide. The service is expected to be available to select Akamai customers in a beta release in early 2009. Akamai AdaptiveEdge Streaming for Silverlight will leverage IIS Smooth Streaming, which offers a simple-to-manage approach for adaptive streaming, and will be an upcoming feature of IIS7 Media Pack. IIS7 Media Pack brings media-specific features such as bit-rate throttling and playlists to Web servers. This powerful solution is enhanced by the compelling experiences and rich interactive applications enabled by the Silverlight player.

"We've seen firsthand the growing demand for HD online content among our customer base," said Tim Napoleon, chief strategist, Digital Media at Akamai. "In a broadcast model, typically the experience is consistent across 100 percent of the viewing audience. The challenge is that capabilities in the online world vary greatly for each user. Adaptive streaming allows the video to adjust to the audience, maximizing each user's experience. We believe that this technology, combined with an open video player solution that embraces existing development and ad standards, will allow us to offer the scale and reach needed to grow the business of online video."

"Users expect TV-quality video when they go online; anything less just doesn't make the grade anymore," said Will Richmond, broadband video analyst and editor/publisher of VideoNuze. "Especially in the HD era, premium video providers are recognizing that quality is king and as a result are accelerating their shift to more robust delivery infrastructure. And the payoffs are clear: higher-quality video drives longer viewing sessions, greater engagement and improved monetization opportunities."