In packed two day programme of presentations, discussions and demos, a highlight of BroadThinking 2014 will be a first look at Version 2 of HbbTV. This annual EBU seminar deals with the full range of technology trends around the delivery of broadcast content over broadband networks, for which HbbTV is a key enabler. TP Vision's director of standardization, Jon Piesing, will give an overview of the main aspects of the yet-to-be-published specification.
Two elements of HbbTV 2.0 that will recieve particular attention at BroadThinking are MPEG-DASH and HTML5. Qualcomm's Thomas Stockhammer will provide an insight into some of the typical issues broadcasters are likely to face when using DASH to distribute their content. HTML5 will figure strongly in two presentations, one on Media Source Extensions (Fraunhofer FOKUS) and one on using HTML5 in the browser (Opera).
Still Cloudy
While the early hype has died down, broadcasters have moved on to actually using cloud-based approaches for publication workflows in the real world. BBC will present their hybrid cloud set-up for encoding to distribution. There will also be a look at future technologies for software-defined networking (SDN) and OpenFlow.
A session on delivery trends will feature three presentations. First up, NPO's Egon Verharen, a member of the EBU Technical Committee, will share the Dutch public broadcasters' experiences with HTTP streaming. Chief architect with Akamai's Media Division, Will Law, will update delegates on the latest technology developments in the CDN domain. The use of network measurements in automating content delivery over broadband will be dealt with by Julien Coulon of Cedexis.
Getting personal
The first day of BroadThinking will focus on user interfaces and personalization in the connected screen environment. Personalized services will be critical to the success of media organizations in future. The challenge for broadcasters is to first know what the audience likes, wants and needs, and then to be able to deliver that content to all devices as and when required. An update on standardization efforts for synchronization between devices - another key element in the multiscreen eco-system - will help complete the picture.
There is still time to register for BroadThinking 2014 . Download the full programme here.