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With the coronavirus shocking the world with its existence, everyone had to switch to different means to combat the unprecedented changes. And luckily, we had our go-to options. And streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hotstar, and many more. This gave the desired push to video technology. And it’s not slowing down anytime soon. 

More than 80% of consumers owned an internet connected device. Also, more than 50% of adults were inclined towards video content. And this statistics is from the USA alone, imagine that globally the number will be in billions.

Also, Bitmovin’s customer base saw an increase in video plays, time watching, and downloaded data during the coronavirus outbreak. 

                                                                      (Video Consumption During the Coronavirus Pandemic)

However, if you think TV experiences are limited to the video, technology, or streaming space alone, you are highly mistaken. The latest innovations are quite a blend of new and traditional creations, making it possible to deliver high-quality content with more customer friendly experiences. 

Additionally, there was a rise in the growth of streaming organizations along with smaller or MSMEs. This includes local, short, and serial makers that came together to provide better and enhanced productions across a variety of streaming platforms. 

So, if you want to make sure that the modern viewers experience top-quality content, it is imperative that the providers stay innovative with technology. To do that, the providers are ensuring two major elements: 

• Improved back-end operations to increase efficiency.
• Better customer experiences by providing consumer-friendly service offerings

Let’s talk about these aspects a little more in the next part of this article. So, let’s get started!

New age Back-end technologies to Enhance Efficiency

The following are some of the technologies used by the providers to enhance operational efficiencies. 

Adopting SMPTE 2110 to transform the broadcast industry

When it comes to video consumption, broadcast content is a bit behind OTT big brands. The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) is developing a back-end tech to increase the quality and speed equivalent to OTT delivery workflows. 

They are using SMPTE ST 2110 that offers flexibility compared to the SDI connectivity. Thus, enabling providers to deliver uncompressed and compressed audio/video streams.

Improvements in The Dynamic Ad Insertion Technology (DAI)

While it isn’t anything new, the latest implementations use consumer information efficiently to deliver ads that are relevant not only to the viewer but also to the viewed content. Also, this technology helps with the latency issue as well. Thus, helping with better performance and uninterrupted streaming experience. 

Optimal User Experience With CAD

If you want to use different methodologies for better user experience, CAD (Context Adaptive Content Delivery Workflows) helps do just that. Usually, methods like Adaptive Bitrate Ladder (ABR) are used since it helps to deliver the content at an ideal resolution. Besides this, future codecs like AV1, HEVC, VVC, and cloud-based options help providers adapt to the lossy compression methods. 

This does not only help with content delivery but also with specific shots within a piece of content. Moreover, these technologies help with providing excellent streaming quality along with reducing costs with respect to storage and streaming of videos.

Better experiences with Dolby Vision and Atmos

Dolby has always been at the forefront when it comes to creating impeccable experiences. Dolby Atmos is already taking the surround sound to the next level. To provide the same experience for the content you are consuming right now, Dolby adopted Dolby Vision which enables depth, sharpness, and a higher range of color to the video.

Better Overall Experiences for the end-customers

To improve the content quality and improve the experience to the next level, here’s how streaming innovations are improving customer experiences.

4K+ Supported Virtual Reality Products

As of today, the market is full of 4k supported accessories. And that too at affordable prices. Not only that, there are already 8k headsets out in the market. Now all the work comes on the shoulders of back-end developers to support 8K quality content. In the coming years, one can expect integration of innovative codecs like VVC to guarantee the rise in the popularity of 4K+ devices.

Synchronized Viewing is Skyrocketing

In the past ten years, streaming platforms are busy improving social experience. The consumers don’t have to succumb to the broadcast viewing timings. Also, with VoD available, the Chill concept with streaming platforms is rising already. And with the pandemic, this is further increasing social viewing experience. 

Plus, this new concept is increasing with additions to social media platforms. However, right now, it’s only possible on sports apps providing live streaming features, or social networks, or Disney+. 

Further, streaming platforms are launching natively to benefit modern customers. 

Improving Content Resolutions

If you look at the report here, more than 99% of TVs are now in HD or higher. However, this technology has been here only from the past decade only. Most OTTs are offering higher quality for previously generated content. Streaming platforms like Hulu are upscaling content to improve user experience. 

Adoption of 5G Network

Before users could get the hang of 4G, there was so much hype about the fastest networks like 5G. Now the developers are using this opportunity to avoid low latency challenges. The combination of 4G/5G and cloud-based encoding solutions will make sure to avoid the buffering symbol ever again.

Final Takeaways: Innovations and Streaming Predictions Moving Ahead

Many innovations are born out of complications and struggles. After all, everyone knows about the challenges faced by the video streaming platforms in 2020, which led to the evolution of video technology to meet the demands of the end customers. 

We already see the changes in the social experiences and content delivery workflows. These services bring quality content on any device irrespective of the bandwidth. From this moment on, one can expect VR/AR/3D video content experiences, better networks. 

The leaders are expecting the following streaming predictions in the coming future. 

• Improved interoperability
• Increased speed
• Ubiquitous streaming

In fact, as per Cisco, the number of internet-connected devices will see a major rise in the world by 2023. So, one can assume that the future will bring a lot of new innovations that will give way to the internet of streams.

So, are you all set?