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Broadcast tech providers team with digital signage firm to showcase OTT 4K broadcast at NAB 2015

Industry partners create solution to enable secure 4K video broadcasting of live events over IP to digital signage media players.

April 8, 2015

Zixi, an industry provider of live broadcast-quality video delivery over public and private IP networks to "any device, anywhere, at any time," announced at the National Association of Broadcasters Show (April 11-16 at the Las Vegas Convention Center) a collaboration to deliver proof-of-concept for over-the-top distribution of live events broadcast in 4K.

Elemental Technologies, RED Digital Cinema and BrightSign LLC, the provider of digital signage players, partnered with Zixi to enable end-to-end 4K distribution over IP to deliver 4K content from any live venue to virtually any destination. OTT is utilized by a growing number of low-cost service providers to deliver video content directly to viewers, creating the direct relationship with viewers that's becoming commonplace as on-demand viewing continues to displace traditional broadcast distribution, the company said.

The solution demonstrated at the NAB Show is intended to highlight the power of OTT — including acquisition, transcode and distribution over IP, and decode and display of a 4K live stream. Source input is captured in 4K using an EPIC RED DRAGON and the RED 4K Broadcast Module, which then feeds an Elemental 1RU encoder capable of real-time 4Kp60 HEVC video processing. The resulting content is wrapped in the Zixi Transport Protocol by the Zixi Feeder running on the same Elemental system. Zixi then transports the content over a standard Internet connection, protecting the stream and managing packet loss and jitter, delivering the file to the Zixi Broadcaster. The stream is then distributed to multiple destinations, each equipped with a BrightSign 4K media player with the embedded Zixi Receiver that accepts the 4K content. BrightSign 4K then decodes and sends the content to a 4K display via HDMI 2.0 preserving native 4K resolution and 60 frames-per-second playback.

The workflow described above constitutes an end-to-end 4K distribution solution over IP capable of delivering live 4K content to multiple endpoints simultaneously, according to the announcement. The security and reliability of such a solution offers a proven OTT distribution model to broadcasters and program providers, as well as commercial establishments such as bars, hotels, restaurants and other venues, the company said.

This end-to-end 4K offering will be featured in several booths at NAB. In particular, RED Digital Cinema will feature 4K footage from capture to endpoint, starting with the EPIC DRAGON camera and delivered via Zixi to BrightSign's 4K players displaying the content on the booth's 4K screens. Elemental also will feature BrightSign's 4K players in its booth. Zixi will be featuring BrightSign's 4K and HD players at the Zixi booth.

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