UltraFlix 4K OTT service adds HDR – runs over Verizon CDN
Published 20th August 2015
http://rethinkresearch.biz/articles/ultraflix...rizon-cdn/
NanoTech Entertainment’s 4K-only UltraFlix OTT service is adding HDR to its 4K offerings, support for MPEG-DASH and has a deal with Verizon Digital Media for a CDN that’ll stream UltraFlix’s 4K content to viewers. UltraFlix, which has abandoned the net top it started with, is an app that’s on a wide range of UHD TVs from different setmakers.
UltraFlix has a very big potential market and it’s one that is growing. It said it expects that its app will be on more than 95% of all 4K TVs and set tops this year and that IHS forecasts that in the States more than 15 million 4K TVs will be sold in 2015 and more than 40 million in 2016.
Verizon Digital Media will prepare, deliver and play UltraFlix’s content, which it said is “the world’s largest library of 4K content on-demand.”
NanoTech said that HDR (High Dynamic Range) is just as important as, if not more important than, resolution because it “brings images to life with a much wider color gamut and brightness. Color, hues and shades are dramatically richer. Brightness is up to 40 times richer. Contrast is enhanced up to 500 times, bringing a finer sense of dimension with more natural depth and shading.” It said that with HDR “viewers not only feel the difference, but significantly notice the fine details.”
NanoTech uses the industry standard MPEG-DASH (Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP) because it automatically adjusts the bitrate by splitting a video stream into tiny segments with different bitrates. Depending on the speed available at any given moment, the receiving device (TV, smartphone, tablet, PC) automatically selects from the various alternatives the next segment to download and play. It always selects the segment with the highest bitrate that it can download in time for the beginning of playback without stalls or re-buffering.
One of NanoTech’s claims is that it can stream 4K content at a miserly 4 Mbps, which most all broadband homes have. Now it can alternatively stream Blu-ray quality 4K at 100 Mbps, which few homes have, so far at least.
UltraFlix now supports electronic sell-through (EST) so that content owners can sell their video direct to consumers via the app. That will allow its users to access new releases sooner and store them in the UltraFlix Cloud for unlimited playback and enjoyment, any time and, so long as it’s on a UHD TV or other 4K capable device, anywhere.
Looking ahead, UltraFlix said it will in a few weeks add “hundreds of major studio blockbuster titles for EST and rental.” That’ll require that the UltraFlix app on UHD TVs to be updated — no problem since the UHD TVs are already connected to the Net.
Nanotech’s announcement highlights the fact that a dedicated, highly focused technology startup can succeed in a world of giants and also that HDR is quickly becoming an integral part of 4K. It requires HDR content and an HDR capable UHD TV.
Verizon clearly despite prior contradictory statements by one of its FiOS executives, has at least one division looking to profit from the coming 4K market.
More bandwidth will be required for 4K than previously thought. That’s because, if other OTT services follow NanoTech’s lead, 4K streams with the quality of the 4K version Blu-ray will need 100 Mbps into and within the home. That’s cause for “happy feet dancing time” in the broadband and home network industry, equipment makers and service providers alike.
Published 20th August 2015
http://rethinkresearch.biz/articles/ultraflix...rizon-cdn/
NanoTech Entertainment’s 4K-only UltraFlix OTT service is adding HDR to its 4K offerings, support for MPEG-DASH and has a deal with Verizon Digital Media for a CDN that’ll stream UltraFlix’s 4K content to viewers. UltraFlix, which has abandoned the net top it started with, is an app that’s on a wide range of UHD TVs from different setmakers.
UltraFlix has a very big potential market and it’s one that is growing. It said it expects that its app will be on more than 95% of all 4K TVs and set tops this year and that IHS forecasts that in the States more than 15 million 4K TVs will be sold in 2015 and more than 40 million in 2016.
Verizon Digital Media will prepare, deliver and play UltraFlix’s content, which it said is “the world’s largest library of 4K content on-demand.”
NanoTech said that HDR (High Dynamic Range) is just as important as, if not more important than, resolution because it “brings images to life with a much wider color gamut and brightness. Color, hues and shades are dramatically richer. Brightness is up to 40 times richer. Contrast is enhanced up to 500 times, bringing a finer sense of dimension with more natural depth and shading.” It said that with HDR “viewers not only feel the difference, but significantly notice the fine details.”
NanoTech uses the industry standard MPEG-DASH (Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP) because it automatically adjusts the bitrate by splitting a video stream into tiny segments with different bitrates. Depending on the speed available at any given moment, the receiving device (TV, smartphone, tablet, PC) automatically selects from the various alternatives the next segment to download and play. It always selects the segment with the highest bitrate that it can download in time for the beginning of playback without stalls or re-buffering.
One of NanoTech’s claims is that it can stream 4K content at a miserly 4 Mbps, which most all broadband homes have. Now it can alternatively stream Blu-ray quality 4K at 100 Mbps, which few homes have, so far at least.
UltraFlix now supports electronic sell-through (EST) so that content owners can sell their video direct to consumers via the app. That will allow its users to access new releases sooner and store them in the UltraFlix Cloud for unlimited playback and enjoyment, any time and, so long as it’s on a UHD TV or other 4K capable device, anywhere.
Looking ahead, UltraFlix said it will in a few weeks add “hundreds of major studio blockbuster titles for EST and rental.” That’ll require that the UltraFlix app on UHD TVs to be updated — no problem since the UHD TVs are already connected to the Net.
Nanotech’s announcement highlights the fact that a dedicated, highly focused technology startup can succeed in a world of giants and also that HDR is quickly becoming an integral part of 4K. It requires HDR content and an HDR capable UHD TV.
Verizon clearly despite prior contradictory statements by one of its FiOS executives, has at least one division looking to profit from the coming 4K market.
More bandwidth will be required for 4K than previously thought. That’s because, if other OTT services follow NanoTech’s lead, 4K streams with the quality of the 4K version Blu-ray will need 100 Mbps into and within the home. That’s cause for “happy feet dancing time” in the broadband and home network industry, equipment makers and service providers alike.
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