Daily Magazine

In a decade or so down the line, experts looking back likely will say that 2012 was the year cable operators and the rest of the telecommunications industry pivoted from basic “get it out there” multiscreen platforms to those that work with a far higher level of precision and efficiency.

That’s the plan, at least. What happens remains to be seen. What is clear is that the industry is poised to take several important steps beyond the “one off” catch-as-catch-can approach that has dominated to date. “The year 2011 saw most — if not all — the major service providers world-wide investigating adaptive streaming, ranging from lab investigations to highly publicized deployments,” wrote Yuval Fisher, chief technology officer of RGB Networks in response to emailed questions. “The market has matured quickly, with operators’ expectations quickly rising from the initial ‘help me just see how this works’ to ‘I need high video quality, high-availability equipment.’”