Internet streaming setting pace for developing video processing industry
Posted by Dennis Sellers 
Jan 29, 2008 at 1:23pm
Rapid technological advancements and the advent of Internet streaming is set to revolutionize the video processing industry, according to a new analysis from Frost & Sullivan. By taking over traditional broadcasting methods with live broadcasting, Internet streaming has gained considerable recognition among a large number of users, with Flash video set to dominate this domain, the research firm says.
Providing high-quality videos at the lowest bit rate possible, enabling digital broadcasting as well as Internet video streaming is “most vital,” says Frost & Sullivan. Researchers as well as industry participants need to set a new benchmark for the future,” says Technical Insights Research Analyst Venkat Malleypula.
“By addressing issues such as costs and convenience, Internet streaming has brought down the rate of business travel, proving to be an efficient tool to reduce expenses,” he adds.
Industries increasingly use streaming video on their web sites to provide visitors a smooth surfing experience. Corporations use this technology to collaborate with partners and provide training through webcasts. What’s more, with the cost of streaming solutions coming down, tier two and tier three participants adopt streaming platforms as a vital communication medium. Increased use of streaming applications is driving the market. Many companies have taken numerous initiatives to provide open source solutions, which have received a good response from a large community of developers, Malleypula says.
“Portals such as Google and Yahoo, which never ventured into online videos, have become front-runners in the streaming industry over the last few years,” he adds. “There is an increasing popularity of video streaming portals such as YouTube, Metacafe, and other start-ups, which have emerged as strong competitors in this industry.”
Several emerging companies are trying to provide high-quality videos for uninterrupted global coverage using various new technologies. Since the formats have to work across various platforms, it is important that they are compliant with the industry standards, Malleypula says. However, the lack of a unique standard or platform where the various technologies can be applied poses a challenge to the advancement of this technology, he adds. This means efforts must be made toward instituting a unique and a high-standard platform, which provides premium quality at a cheaper price.
Malleypula says that advances in video processing could help in developing better video quality at cheaper rates. Effective use of video processing on various application sectors could enable a single unified standard of video encoding technologies.
“A combined effort from research centers as well as video processing companies would help in satisfying the customers by providing a seamless platform on which users can operate any format and consequently achieve the best quality,” says Frost & Sullivan Technical Insights Research Analyst S.Gaurav.
Video streaming is already a part and parcel of handheld devices such as iPods and mobile phones. Over the next few years, video processing will play a vital role in developing a completely new range of technically equipped devices, he adds.
Meanwhile, the success of online video processing has not stopped the television industry from losing its position. TV viewing improves by the day with the arrival of digital video recorders (DVRs), direct to home (DTH), and set top boxes, according to S.Gaurav. An interactive platform, combined with features such as video on demand (VOD), has helped this industry compete stiffly with the streaming media, he adds.
His research indicates that both digital video broadcasting and Internet streaming simultaneously penetrate the market and one of these will dominate the market very soon.
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Dennis Sellers
Dennis has been a newspaper editor/reporter (seven years) and teacher (seven years). He has over 4,000 magazine, newspaper and online articles to his credit. He has also covered the Mac and tech industries for over a decade for such online publications as MacCentral, MacMinute and now MacsimumNews.
