InterDigital publishes white paper on the importance of sustainability as the energy footprint of the video entertainment industry grows
Sponsored Content
Published: January 20, 2021
InterDigital publishes white paper on the importance of sustainability as the energy footprint of the video entertainment industry grows
target=_blank title=Share on LinkedIn class=share-linkedin> InterDigital publishes white paper on the importance of sustainability as the energy footprint of the video entertainment industry grows
https://www.tvbeurope.com/media-delivery/how-sustainable-is-the-future-of-video-entertainment title=Share via Email class=share-email>
By 2022, video viewing is projected to account for 82 per cent of all internet traffic, according to Cisco's Visual Network Index. Since internet use accounts for up to 4 per cent of all greenhouse gas emissions (and quickly rising), that places a considerable amount of responsibility on the video entertainment industry to move to more sustainable practices. InterDigital's new white paper, The Sustainable Future of Video Entertainment, breaks down the most significant contributing factors to the video ecosystem's carbon footprint and highlights the moves businesses can make to reduce their environmental impact.
Created in partnership with Futuresource Consulting, the report analyses the entire video value chain, from production to broadcast and consumption. Among the major considerations are data centres, whose combined power amounts to 416 Terawatts, equivalent to around 3 per cent of all electricity generated annually. While corporations such as Amazon, Facebook, Google and Microsoft have committed to transitioning to 100 per cent renewable energy, efforts to improve the mechanical and electrical infrastructure of data centres are shown to only produce marginal improvements. Real measures to mitigate environmental harm must focus on the move towards IT, explains the InterDigital white paper, by increasing server utilisation and the use of virtualisation for multi-tenancy in data centres.
In the streaming sector, sustainability initiatives should emphasise CDN efficiency, server workloads and optimised network usage, as the white paper makes clear. Hulu employs Amazon Web Services' (AWS) CloudFront CDN to deliver over 75,000 VoD programmes to 32 million subscribers, relocating its video data storage facility to a data centre in Las Vegas running on 100 per cent renewable energy. Meanwhile Netflix invests in carbon offsetting programmes, as its energy consumption far outpaced its user growth in 2019, illustrating the impact of video streaming on the environment. The report notes the importance of transparency in the sector for curtailing this consumption.
On the consumer end, the white paper describes that as devices grow in resolution, so to does their energy consumption; for the 30 million 8K TVs expected to be installed by 2023, energy consumption for video streaming will be 50 per cent higher than the 343 million tablets used worldwide. Initiatives such as Energy Star from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are designed to educate consumers on energy efficiency and could see further acceleration in the post-Trump era.
Looking to the future, 5G presents opportunities for broadcasters to relay live video directly to production studios. A live event that would have previously required eight fixed cameras could instead be covered by four 5G cameras, while production engineers can work from remote studios rather than travelling across the country, thereby offering ample possibilities for increased sustainability. Machine learning and AI provide further potential in their application during video encoding, reducing file sizes and bit rates without sacrificing visual quality, resulting in energy savings in both the data centre and the receiving device.
InterDigital details these emerging solutions and many more in its white paper, outlining an end-to-end approach to sustainability that can make the video entertainment industry a driving force in protecting the planet for future generations.
Download The Sustainable Future of Video Entertainment white paper today.
SubscribeFor more stories like this, and to keep up to date with all our market leading news, features and analysis, sign up to our newsletter here.
Europe Stories
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
08/07/2026
Latest analogue-emulation plug-ins revealed
Universal Audio have just added two new analogue-emulation plug-ins to their DSP-powered UAD line-up. Developed ...
08/07/2026
Turn any audio loop into a playable kit
Pitch Innovations have recently introduced an interesting new tool that's capable of creating playable kits from...
08/07/2026
Adds new keyboard-split function
MonkeyC have recently launched an update that overhauls their powerful software sampler. Described as the sampler that mad...
08/07/2026
Four new delay algorithms & dual-engine functionality
Strymon have just announced that the much-anticipated MX version of their hugely popular delay pedal i...
08/07/2026
Rohde & Schwarz and China Mobile Research Institute jointly demonstrate generati...
08/07/2026
Film follows the courageous fight for justice by survivors of Ireland's Magdalene Laundries & Mother and Baby Homes
TESTIMONY airs Wednesday 22 July at 9...
07/07/2026
Applications are now open for the Validation Booster, a six-month acceleration programme supporting journalists, media organisations, content creators, media in...
07/07/2026
New mixer aimed squarely at instrument-level sources
Heritage Audio have clearly been busy recently, as alongside their all-new Tubestrip, they've also ...
07/07/2026
New channel strip combines popular hardware designs
The latest arrival to the Heritage Audio line-up brings together a selection of their praised hardware d...
07/07/2026
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
07/07/2026
UKTV commission with BritBox and Sony Pictures Television and inspired by Deborah Cadbury's book, Chocolate Wars
The six-part series is produced by Fable P...
07/07/2026
Tuesday 7 July 2026
Record audiences tune into the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026 on Sky Sports
The ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026 was the most watche...
07/07/2026
Tuesday 7 July 2026
Official trailer released for Fightland, a revenge drama fr...
07/07/2026
Wuppertal July 7, 2026
Riedel and ARRI Bring Cinematic Live Production to the Eurovision Song ContestRiedel Communications and ARRI played a key role in one o...
07/07/2026
To Whom It Concerns RT today confirmed that Patrick Kielty is to extend his contract as host of The Late Late Show.
Last season, the world's longest-runn...
06/07/2026
Bundle gains 100 new synths & more
Synth Anthology 5 the largest and most feature-packed edition of UVI's hardware synth emulation bundle, bringing toge...
06/07/2026
Available now via free firmware update
MOTU have just announced that three of their popular audio interfaces now boast official Milan Certification. The 16A...
06/07/2026
Rohde & Schwarz completes Hunter Preliminary Design Review for the Integrated Co...
06/07/2026
The R&S IMAGER from Rohde & Schwarz uses millimeter wave imaging to inspect the ...
06/07/2026
Monday 6 July 2026
Sky Kids unveils new slate for 2026 including Paris Hilton&#...
06/07/2026
Monday 6 July 2026
Sky agrees to acquire ITV Media & Entertainment, creating a ...
06/07/2026
Fresh from his World Cup heroics with Cabo Verde, Roberto Pico' Lopes will join the RT panel for Argentina v Egypt tomorrow and for the England v Norway q...
06/07/2026
A death can be unsuspicious, but it has to be explained
What happened to Ke...
05/07/2026
Browser-based and desktop apps available
Digital Sunset Studios have been busy working on an interesting project: a free software tool that provides compute...
04/07/2026
Celebrates company's 80th anniversary
Rhodes have recently revealed that they will be producing a limited run of electric pianos in celebration of their...
04/07/2026
** MEDIA ALERT **
BLEACH: THOUSAND-YEAR BLOOD WAR THE CALAMITY Continues I...
04/07/2026
** MEDIA ALERT **
VIZ Media Unveils New Anime Slate at Anime Expo 2026 with ...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
03/07/2026
New bundle & three Single Packs
Continuing to expand their already sizeable orchestral collection, VSL's latest release introduces three new Single Pack...
03/07/2026
Venue installs new ATC-equipped control room
LSO St Luke's, a unique music venue that also serves as the home of the London Symphony Orchestra, have rec...
03/07/2026
1 February 2023
SHARE Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email
Munich, Germany, 1st February 2023: Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software technology for digit...
03/07/2026
** MEDIA ALERT **
VIZ Media Celebrates Anime Expo 2026 with BLACK TORCH Worl...
02/07/2026
Stammering, stuttering, strangulated tones
The Crow Hill Company's latest creation promises to be the most original sound set they've produced to d...
02/07/2026
A new era in unmixing and spectral editing
The latest version of Steinberg's spectral audio-editing software has just arrived, building on the strength...
02/07/2026
Aims to simplify additive synthesis
Sine Machine is the debut launch from Melatonin, a Vienna-based developer who have spent the past six years creating wha...
02/07/2026
Products to remain fully active & supported
Following the news of Native Instruments joining the inMusic brand line-up, Academy and Emmy Award-winning visua...
02/07/2026
What you missed!
Last weekend, Saturday 27 June 2026, saw the debut of Sound On Sounds new GearExpo UK event, the largest dedicated pro-audio event to take ...
02/07/2026
Thursday 2 July 2026
Tea with Judi Dench returns to Sky Arts with legendary guest, Sir Ian McKellen
Sky today confirms Tea with Judi Dench will return this su...
01/07/2026
New AI Assistant, Multi-channel Audio, ARA2 improvements & more
Tracktion's DAW software has just received its latest major update, gaining a selection ...
01/07/2026
Stammering, stuttering, strangulated tones
The Crow Hill Company's latest creation promises to be the most original sound set they've produced to d...
01/07/2026
Exclusive run of limited-edition modelling pedals
Sweetwater and Andertons M...
01/07/2026
Matt started engineering and mixing in studios. Twelve years later, a good friend, front of house engineer Shane Haase, took him out on tour as system engineer ...
01/07/2026
Our SD10T was an absolutely rock-solid, stable console and the Quantum 338T has been the perfect upgrade, Hurley says. Having multiple screens is a big advant...
01/07/2026
LEXINGTON, Kentucky - July 2026 -Tyler Childers' seventh and latest studio record, Snipe Hunter, is an adventurously sprawling collection of tunes that span...
01/07/2026
** MEDIA ALERT **
BLEACH Comes to Life in Los Angeles with First-of-Its-Kind...
InterDigital publishes white paper on the importance of sustainability as the energy footprint of the video entertainment industry grows
