Cisco Video Technology Delivers Throughout The Sports Year And At IBC 2014
IBC 2014 is going on this weekend and Cisco is there after a sporting year where their technology helped to power the World Cup Brazil, NBC Sochi Olympic Games and Commonwealth Games. Cisco and TV Globo, a Brazilian TV network and significant global content producer, together created a 4K/ultraHD (UHD) to showcase the proof-of-concept ‘Future of Video’ people witnessed during the World Cup event, allowing the executive team an exclusive opportunity to see the look and feel of the future of live sports inside the redefined home user experience. The Sports Techie blog is privileged to feature Cisco Sports & Entertainment news again with our worldwide readers and followers.
IBC
Cisco is in Amsterdam at stand 1.A71 at IBC 2014 that began today. Their #IBCShow content at the IBC International trade show centers on being a service provider of cloud technology and 4K/ultra HD video.
- Transformation Through Innovation Cisco at IBC 2014 – Overview of Cisco’s news/activities at the show.
- Cisco Videoscape Transforms Multiscreen Video Processing and Delivery – Update to Cisco Videoscape Virtualized Video Processing (V2P), which includes virtualizing functions required to produce and deliver multiscreen video.
Follow Cisco at IBC news and activities on Twitter hashtags: #CiscoIBC14, #Videoscape.
TV Globo
Today, Cisco announced that TV Globo, a longtime client, increased the scope of their partnership by creating an Industry leading 4K ‘Future of TV’ demo at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
The primary focus of the “Future of Video’ internal demonstration was to help TV Globo visualize the unique consumer and business opportunities that exist between the explosion of UltraHD and Cisco Videoscape on television and digital devices.
Raymundo Barros, CTO, TV Globo, said, “Cisco shares our belief in the power of 4K/ultraHD video to extend our viewers’ engagement beyond the broadcast. Live sports coverage in 4K/ultraHD will change the way people think and feel about watching sports forever. Seeing is believing, and there is no turning back once you get hooked on 4K/ultraHD.”
The innovative demo was designed around a wall-sized screen that displayed live games via three different, multiple camera angles, real-time stats (team rosters, player bios, game strategy), with continuous feeds of a viewer’s social media channels (Facebook, Twitter, Google, Instagram, etc.) connected to smartphone, tablets and laptops, over Cisco hardware and infrastructure.
This never before seen product is expected to define the fan experience during live sports video broadcasts into the future.
Key Highlights
- Better than being there: The ultimate experience: Cisco used a wall-sized screen to display multiple statistics ranging from the main action in the field, such as fouls, yellow and red cards, team lineups, and player biographies. These were being generated in real time, running parallel to one side of the main broadcast screen that was showing the match, fully immersing the viewer in the game.
- Synchronized, personalized, social: When a team scored a goal, the user could view three additional angles in real time, all perfectly synchronized with the main screen. Users can seamlessly interact with the TV screen using tablets, laptops and smartphones to serve as a remote, and to share real-time stats and comments with friends on social media (Twitter, Facebook, etc.), running parallel to the main screen.
A Visionary Partnership
Cisco and TV Globo, long-standing partnership, have together pioneered the second screen experience, and now next generation experiences. They co-developed and launched a synchronized second screen video application for The Voice Brasil powered by Cisco’s Videoscape last year. This new business model resulted in driving peak viewership, with an incredible 70% growth over the previous season. TV Globo and Cisco will continue to push the sports tech envelope and experiment with new possibilities, which will define the future of live sports video experiences for fans and sponsors.
Cisco Sports and Technology 2014
When you review the 2014 sport season so far, it has truly been a ground-breaking year for Cisco and sports. The excitement of the TV Globo partnership, is compounded by Cisco’s Videoscape suite of next-generation IP video components used by the World Cup, NBC Olympics in Sochi and the Commonwealth Games.
NBC Olympics Sochi
The Russian venues utilized the NBC Sports Network for the eighth consecutive Olympics. Cisco provided set-top box and DVR products that ran on NBC’s 10 gig circuits, and pushed transcoded live and on-demand video to end users that was hosted in the cloud, and distributed by multipoint traffic. Videoscape signal acquisition took IP multicast feeds to the NBC client program and IPTV system at IBC in an overseas environment, often during 8-hour or more delays, to deliver NBC programming to subscribers on TV and mobile devices, via Comcast Xfinity cable and other providers, and their Live Extra app for HTML-5-based devices.
Commonwealth Games 2014
Cisco also leveraged the cloud for the BBC with networking infrastructure that distributed “pop-up” 100 Gbps connectivity and the relay of information between cities at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. Customers were able to broadcast to the web, and take advantage of Cisco’s ability to scale up and manage data in the cloud. The BBC was also equipped by Cisco with the 4K/UltraHD footage from the Games for the Glasgow Science Centre, using adjustable displays and contextual applications.
Charles Stucki, vice president and general manager, Service Provider Video Infrastructure, Cisco, said, “4K/ultraHD is not just about more pixels. It involves more applications as part of the overall experience to enhance the picture. Utilizing a bigger screen, you are truly immersed and can lose yourself in the experience. It is better than being there, with a comfier seat. Cisco’s Videoscape TV services platform is well equipped to serve our customers on their journey to explore and rollout 4K/ultraHD services. We are proud of our work to showcase this with TV Globo in Brazil, and can’t wait to explore the possibilities for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games.”
For additional information about these events, click here.
About Cisco Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the worldwide leader in IT that helps companies seize the opportunities of tomorrow by proving that amazing things can happen when you connect the previously unconnected.
Sports Techie, The 4K video world is here and Cisco had their hands on it and shaped it during 2014. The World Cup, the Olympic Games and the Commonweatlth Games are sports events that are only increasing in popularity, via riveting TV, and second screen content. Thanks to Cisco, the video of the games, matches and trials, is routed to the clouds, and distributed to vendors, who then share it with fans all over the world, in Europe and here in America. What a good deal, especially for all the German, Argentina and Messi fans during the World Cup final, won by Germany.
I have never visited Holland but if you attend the IBC show, it would be nice to hear your thoughts about the adoption of cloud and ultraHD technology below as a blog comment or at any our social media network links.
See y’all later in Seattle and here in Atlanta.
I will see ya when I see ya, THE Sports Techie @THESportsTechie – http://twitter.com/THESportsTechie
Sports Techie Social Media Networks
Sports Techie Skype: sportstechie
Sports Techie Twitter: @SportsTechieNET: http://twitter.com/SportsTechieNET
Sports Techie Facebook Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/SportsTechie
Sports Techie YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/sportstechie
Sports Techie Google+: http://gplus.to/SportsTechie
Sports Techie Google+ Community: https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/103708211458464405078
Sports Techie (Robert Roble) Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+RobertRoble/posts
Sports Techie LinkedIn Group: http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Sports-Techie-2958439
Sports Techie Instagram: http://instagram.com/sportstechie
Sports Techie Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/SportsTechie/
Sports Techie Moby Picture: http://www.mobypicture.com/user/sportstechieNET
Sports Techie Myspace (Bob Roble): http://www.myspace.com/549000677
Sports Techie Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/86791607@N04/
AND
Sports Techie Guy: https://twitter.com/sportstechieguy