Advancements in video encoding technologies have enriched people's surroundings with eye-popping video clips played on digital signage everywhere. In fact, applications of digital imaging technologies are not limited to business and entertainment sectors but can expand vertically to different industries including education, healthcare and even manufacturing which have growing demand for high-definition video capture and Internet live streaming video.
For example, in the education sector, many schools are looking to make use of technology to revolutionize education. They hope to use video streaming technology to send educational content such as teaching materials and test questions to specific groups of students or classrooms for instant playout, adding broadcast to multimedia education.
In view of the rising trend of industrial applications, AVerMedia, as a global leader in imaging and video technologies, has been devoted to the R&D of software and hardware technologies to develop complete solutions for video capture, editing, steaming and playout. AVerMedia plans to focus on four target fields of application – education, healthcare, industrial testing and streaming services – in 2017, and will make every effort to fulfill the video application requirements by all the industries.
First to launch 4K/HEVC streaming solutions
Evange Chuang, Senior Director of CRD BU (Capture, Record, Deliver), AVerMedia, pointed out AVerMedia has been a long-term provider of USB dongles, TV tuner cards and set-top boxes (STB) to the world and therefore has accumulated extensive experiences in video decompression technologies. It has been further expanding its R&D efforts into video streaming and hopes to keep refining streaming quality with continuingly advancing software technologies so that high-definition display quality is possible even with limited network bandwidth. The current expansion into industrial applications is also based on its core competence in video capture and live streaming, which has enabled AVerMedia to quickly achieve tremendous results in B2B applications by extending its success in the B2C sector.
It is worth mentioning that since its establishment over 20 years ago, AVerMedia has gone through multiple changes during the evolution of video technologies, including the transition in video encoding from MPEG-2, MPEG-4, H.264 to H.265 (HEVC) and in display quality from Full HD to 4K. The company has always been a pioneer in each of the technology migrations and now leads the industry in launching 4K/HEVC frame grabbers and streaming servers. AVerMedia has also further introduced a streaming management system that helps users control the captured video content and stream it to specified application sites easily and quickly. Judging from its technological edge and completeness of product offerings, AVerMedia is fully prepared in its expansion into the industrial application market.
As to the four target markets AVerMedia has set heart on, it is working with some schools to test its streaming services. AVerMedia solutions have been used to compress and stream 4K video for live broadcast at several ceremonial events. Evange made a point that streaming applications are widespread and encompass not only digital TV and broadcast but also VOD, in-car multimedia, digital signage and distance learning, which are all areas that hold diverse development potential.
Evange added that all live webcast streaming video applications have to include a number of necessary elements – the front end, management system and playout – to be able to capture video content and instantly push it to playout devices in a range of different network environments through a central management system. There are a great number of vendors competing for opportunities in the video streaming market. However, most of them focus on only one single element among the front end, playout or management interface and the market still lacks any integrated solution for live streaming broadcast. This goes to show that AVerMedia indeed has great advantage in its expansion into the streaming application market as it is capable of supplying integrated solutions encompassing the front end, management system and playout and supporting on-spot live streaming broadcast.
As to the education sector, the development trends are progressing toward making use of e-curriculum and multimedia broadcast and therefore video capture, online streaming video and content management solutions are much in demand. For example, the principal can just sit in his office and speak to a camera and the video content can instantly be streamed to all the classrooms for playout. As such, a morning assembly of students can take place rain or shine. Also, exams such as English listening comprehension tests now more cleverly designed with added images or photographs can be transmitted to specified test sites through streaming technologies. These are examples to demonstrate how diverse the use scenarios can be. AVerMedia has just started its collaboration with academic institutions and is committed to bringing education-related applications to reality.
Devoted to research on deep learning to keep enhancing imaging technologies
Applications related to healthcare concentrate on the capture and backup of image data. That is, 2D or 3D image data output from a variety of instruments of different brands are compiled at one image work station for simultaneous processing. Evange explained AVerMedia not only supplies professional-grade frame grabbers that can capture original video content from different instruments but also provides SDK that can help with conversion of heterogeneous file formats from the different instruments, followed by video compression. The underlying imaging tasks are pre-processed so that healthcare professionals can save more time and efforts for the development of a range of customized applications.
Industrial testing is an area where AVerMedia has made great achievements. Evange indicated that many STB manufacturers are devoted to the development of video technology transition from Full HD to 4K. Video output is growing rapidly in volume so testing traditionally done by manual work to verify items such as color validity and data integrity is no longer suitable. Measures should be taken to automate the testing flow. Accordingly, after careful selection, STB manufacturers have adopted AVerMedia's video capture and SDK solutions so that they can capture video images and immediately compare them with reference samples.
The main reason why AVerMedia is winning the favor of the STB manufacturers is that compatibility is crucial to common frame grabbers but it is not the case with industrial testing scenarios which need to screen out products not up to standard in precision and accuracy, said Chuang. Common frame grabbers offer no help with restoring the original image. After understanding this special requirement, AVerMedia leveraged its R&D capability and quickly developed an auxiliary device that can analyze actual image signals and when used with video frame grabbers, can assist STB manufacturers screen out non-conforming products.
Evange reiterated image processing is AVerMedia's core technology. However, to create additional values, image processing has to transcend beyond applications in video capture, storage and streaming and to further include imaging data analyses. In view of this, AVerMedia is actively devoting R&D resources to the development of smart imaging analysis solutions based on deep learning through Convolutional Neural Network (CNN). Computer programs or systems can thereby develop themselves via a training process and become highly intelligent with the ability to actively capture specific features and eliminate weaknesses of traditional imaging technologies. When AVerMedia successfully develops the technology, the R&D results can be integrated with existing video capture, live streaming and content management solutions as well as value-added software and SDK services to complement each other and create powerful applications that bring values to customers.
Evange Chuang, senior director of CRD BU (Capture, Record, Deliver), AVerMedia
4K HDMI 2.0 PCIe Frame Grabber
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