Tandberg to Debut Back-Office for Multi-Platform TV

Tandberg Television, part of the Ericsson Group, will debut its device-aware, back-office for multi-platform TV at CableLabs’ Summer Conference, August 9-12 and at IBC, September 11-15. The technology leverages its current on-demand infrastructure to support content delivery across any platform to any device.

Tandberg will demonstrate the latest version of its OpenStream Digital Services platform with new device awareness capabilities that enable support of VOD deployments with both MPEG-4 AVC capable set-tops and MPEG-2 set-tops. The technology demonstration will include “session-shifting,” which allows a subscriber to pause playback on one device such as a PC and resume playback of the same video on another device such as the TV or mobile phone.

The platform is enabled by OpenStream’s awareness of a device’s capabilities concerning access network, video format and client functionality, allowing it to tailor the video streaming for that device. This awareness capability also enables advanced advertising and marketing promotions across multiple screens.

The new device capabilities of the OpenStream platform allow operators to re-use existing content distribution and asset management systems, as well as existing subscriber management and billing systems. And the platform can simultaneously support both cable- and IP-based video delivery. The demonstrated back-office system will automatically determine the optimal compression and delivery format, aspect ratio and resolution, and resource availability and then select the appropriate streaming server to deliver it to the requesting device, whether it is a set-top box, PC or mobile phone.