
James Shepherd, CTO, InSync Technology, takes a look at how frame rate conversion can help broadcasters meet the ever-growing demand for high-quality content
By Contributor
Published: September 22, 2022
James Shepherd, CTO, InSync Technology, takes a look at how frame rate conversion can help broadcasters meet the ever-growing demand for high-quality content
target=_blank title=Share on LinkedIn class=share-linkedin>
Meeting the demand for perfect high-quality content is something all broadcasters have at the front of their minds, but nowhere more so than during live events, where anything less than the best fan experience is critical. Even the slightest jerky motion, pulsing, flickering, ghosting or other visible defects is unacceptable to fans and advertisers alike. Motion compensated frame rate conversion analyses adjacent frames, detects, and calculates the movement of objects within the scene, creating new frames with appropriate object placement and display timing while converting content from one frame rate to another.
The main use cases for frame rate/standards conversion are linear channels with ongoing demand, assets that need to be distributed to different markets in different formats, and events-based content such as live sports. While ongoing services are not always financially viable in cloud environments, it is in the latter case where we see the greatest degree of demand with significant spikes around major events, such as the Olympics or major golf and tennis tournaments. Due to its highly specialist nature, this demand also comes all at once.
For many areas of the broadcast chain, while the migration to cloud is the ultimate destination, we will not be there for a few years yet. The huge spikes in demand are what make motion compensated standards conversion for premium live sports an exception. Traditional hardware-based solutions are not well suited to these high-volume peaks; adding capacity not only means a huge cost outlay, but in most live environments, where space is at a premium, also requires additional footprint.
When we are talking multiple, concurrent sporting events, the issues are further compounded. As broadcasters meet demand for new services and drive to give sports fans the best possible experience, with multiple camera angles, etc., demand for frame rate conversion spirals even higher and hardware is just unable to keep up.
The cloud answers these demands very neatly, delivering a degree of agility and scalability that hardware simply cannot match. Cloud services eliminate the need for costly capex-based infrastructures and allow broadcasters the flexibility of paying only for what they actually use, as and when needed. Additionally, almost unlimited CPU processing power allows processing to be scaled rapidly and cost-efficiently.
Meeting pain points While customers are keen to sweat their investments as effectively as possible, their hardware is becoming more difficult to maintain. Added to the need for flexibility, the availability of high-quality motion compensated standards conversion in the cloud has come at a timely point, just as many existing hardware assets approach end of life. Broadcasters are now looking at how these assets will be replaced, and with what.
In parallel, with so much of the IP transport and delivery workflow now residing in the cloud, it is an enormous operational inconvenience to bring those IP streams back to an on-premise facility, where hardware decoders take them back to baseband SDI for conversion before being reencoded and pushed back to the cloud. This adds latency which in a live environment must be kept to the bare minimum; the last thing audiences and broadcasters want is for a critical piece of action to appear on social media first. Any additional encoding/decoding cycle also results in a quality impact for the end user.
These pain points were driving the industry to look for answers even before the pandemic, which has only taught us the vital importance of having flexible capability built into systems. We are also able to benefit from the fact that so much of the IP and cloud workflows have already been established. Until recently, motion compensated frame rate conversion has been the missing piece; we expect it will be plainer sailing for customers to make the transition here than in other operational areas.
Anything to do with motion compensated standards conversion has traditionally been the preserve of a handful of specialists and so has been waiting its turn to get focus from the industry at large.
A vital niche The main challenge is ensuring the teams that will be deploying the solution work with it; they need to go through the proof of concept (POC), and confirm they are happy that the necessary controls, monitoring, and backup provision are of an equivalent quality and stability to the previous hardware solutions before deployment.
Of all the processing that has moved to the cloud, motion compensated frame standards conversion remains one of the most demanding and unique, exceeding even the most advanced codecs in terms of complexity. As a result, a big part of our job as a technology partner is building awareness around the growth in complexity that server-based technology can address and solve. InSync brought the FrameFormer standards conversion software engine to market and demonstrated live IP motion compensated standards conversion using CPU-only technology in 2019.
It might have been one of the last on the list to migrate to the cloud, but motion compensated frame standards conversion is by no means least the technology is available and is working now. We have shown that we deliver a quality result across the full breadth of customers' content property, providing complex technology in a plug-and-play format. We have seen an incredible response from broadcasters to ou
More from TVB Europe
15/04/2025
Jan Krupp, VFX supervisor at Scanline VFX, tells TVBEurope how the company created a range of environments for the Netflix film
By Matthew Corrigan
Published...
15/04/2025
Ateliere said that due to the current, unforeseen turbulence in the US and in the global business and financial markets the company is no longer in a position t...
14/04/2025
Stanley has been promoted to the role following seven years as general manager with the company
By Matthew Corrigan
Published: April 14, 2025 Updated: Apri...
14/04/2025
StreamAMG delivers more than 15,000 live events each year, with over 52,000 hours of content watched in 200 countries
By Matthew Corrigan
Published: April 14...
14/04/2025
TVBEurope content director Jenny Priestley sums up her 2025 NAB Show experience, from the end of AI hype to the impact of tariffs, trying out virtual production...
11/04/2025
Two creative projects will receive awards of £35,000 aiming to boost innovation in 5G across the media and entertainment sector
By Matthew Corrigan
Published...
11/04/2025
The London VFX studio has strengthened its pipeline team with two promotions and a new appointment
By Matthew Corrigan
Published: April 11, 2025 Updated: A...
10/04/2025
The report outlined a package of proposed measures to ensure domestic production...
10/04/2025
Attendees travelled from 160 countries around he world to the media and entertainment industrys Super Bowl event
By Matthew Corrigan
Published: April 10, 202...
10/04/2025
Kitty Higinbotham, president of Wall Street Communications, tells TVBEurope why communication skills are essential in an ever-changing industry
By Matthew Corr...
09/04/2025
Located across from Panavision London's camera and optics rental business, the new site is nearly 10,000 sq ft larger than the previous facility
By Matthew...
09/04/2025
The project aims to enable flexibility and integration to ensure consistent graphics experiences across diverse platforms
By Matthew Corrigan
Published: Apri...
09/04/2025
The proposal includes an investment of £20 million in local industry and could create up to 4,000 jobs
By Matthew Corrigan
Published: April 9, 2025 Updated...
09/04/2025
Andy Sumner also joins the company supporting its recent expansion into Liverpoo...
09/04/2025
TVBEurope celebrates the stand-out products on show in Las Vegas
By Jenny Priestley
Published: April 9, 2025 Updated: April 13, 2025
TVBEurope celebrate...
08/04/2025
Channel 4's Top Guns: Inside the RAF puts viewers at the heart of the action, following the service as it carries out operations around the world. Mark Tatt...
08/04/2025
DPP CEO Rowan de Pomerai and CCO Mark Harrison talk to TVBEurope about the organisations first decade, plans for the future and challenges facing the media indu...
08/04/2025
Reports say ProSiebenSat is lining up the investment bank to repel the Berlusconi-owned company as it seeks to retain independence
By Matthew Corrigan
Publi...
08/04/2025
Jodi Morelli, acting head of external communications for Globecast, and growth manager, North America at RISE talks to TVBEurope about the need to stay curious,...
07/04/2025
The company debuted new products, accessories and upgrades ahead of NAB 2025
By Matthew Corrigan
Published: April 7, 2025
The company debuted new products...
07/04/2025
Production company Fulwell 73 and financiers Cain International plan to build 20 premium sound stages at the complex
By Matthew Corrigan
Published: April 7, ...
06/04/2025
TVBEurope content director Jenny Priestley sits down with new Grass Valley CEO Jon Wilson to discuss his vision for the company going forward, what that means f...
04/04/2025
In our latest article on a piece of broadcasting history, Vizrts Russell Leak tells TVBEurope how his Dad created the motor used in a BBC 1 ident from the 1980s...
04/04/2025
The agency aims to bridge gaps in product strategy, development, and go-to-market programmes for media tech companies around the world
By Matthew Corrigan
Pu...
04/04/2025
Carole Pigeard, SVP of global sales at Moments Lab tells TVBEurope how diverse perspectives fuel evolution in the media and entertainment space
By Matthew Corr...
03/04/2025
Innovations across Premiere Pro and After Effects deliver AI-powered upgrades and workflow improvements, said the company
By Matthew Corrigan
Published: Apri...
03/04/2025
The new upgrades aim to enable smarter tracking, greater control, and faster workflows while expanding interoperability across robotic systems
By Matthew Corr...
03/04/2025
From a trip to space to the inaugural Sports Summit, and a look behind the camera of Wicked, this is whats on the TVBEurope teams radar at the 2025 NAB Show
B...
03/04/2025
Because of the nature of this sort of sliding scale of tariffs, there are opportunities that werent there before, analyst Alice Enders tells TVBEurope
By Jenny...
02/04/2025
Sally Wallington, SVP of sales at Pebble, explores the mission-critical considerations broadcasters should make when choosing a playout provider
Sponsored Cont...
02/04/2025
TVBEurope meets Tim Claman, chief product officer at Avid, to discuss the compan...
02/04/2025
Submissions will be accepted up until 23:59 PST on 2nd April
By Jenny Priestley
Published: March 24, 2025 Updated: April 3, 2025
Submissions will be acc...
02/04/2025
Leclerc will work with group members to explore and champion UK digital media distribution via broadcast, IP, mobile or hybrid delivery
By Jenny Priestley
Pu...
01/04/2025
Adopting open standards, the solution aims to provide workflow standardisation, allowing for automation and other innovations across a diverse range of markets
...
01/04/2025
Submissions will be accepted up until 23:59 PST on 2nd April
By Jenny Priestley
Published: March 24, 2025 Updated: April 1, 2025
Submissions will be acc...
01/04/2025
The AI issue takes a look at how AI is reshaping broadcasting, including areas such as sports commentary and archiving and storage, plus we discover how Norways...
01/04/2025
Joining the company with more than two decades of experience forging and scaling alliances in the industry, Wastcoats role will support TVUs strategic developme...
31/03/2025
Submissions will be accepted up until 23:59 PST on 2nd April
By Jenny Priestley
Published: March 24, 2025 Updated: March 31, 2025
Submissions will be ac...
31/03/2025
The company is said to be working with KPMG on a deal that could include the sale of a majority or minority stake
By Jenny Priestley
Published: March 31, 202...
31/03/2025
The confidential agreement ends multi-jurisdictional litigation between the parties over the issues
By Matthew Corrigan
Published: March 31, 2025 Updated: ...
31/03/2025
Em Bell, senior client services coordinator at dock10, tells TVBEurope why a can-do attitude and problem-solving mindset is ideal for the TV industry
By Matthe...
28/03/2025
TED-Ed series Ada fuses storytelling with eye-catching animation. The Should We ...
28/03/2025
Rita Madeira, content producer at Digital Azul, tells TVBEurope how the industry thrives on connections and welcomes curiosity
By Matthew Corrigan
Published:...
27/03/2025
The Mini has a footprint equal to the size of an average smartphone and can be placed side by side for use in stereoscopic or volumetric video
By Jenny Priestl...
27/03/2025
The teams behind House of the Dragon, Masters of the Air, Silo and The Lord of t...
27/03/2025
The initiative aims to help young women pursue higher education in broadcast and media technology, offering financial assistance and networking opportunities
B...
27/03/2025
We believe that ProSiebenSat.1 needs a strong shareholder that can provide expertise and experience in the industry, making an active contribution to its growth...
26/03/2025
The Chancellor presented her speech in the House of Commons today
By Matthew Corrigan
Published: March 26, 2025 Updated: March 27, 2025
The Chancellor p...
26/03/2025
The council will guide key focus areas to help grow a more secure, interoperable and effective media creation ecosystem, said the organisation
By Matthew Corri...
26/03/2025
Donna Thomas, executive vice president, Vubiquity talks to TVBEurope about how nurturing an early entrepreneurial streak paved the way for her career
By Matthe...