Video Breakthroughs

Rovi Corp.’s DivX streaming format has been approved by the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem (DECE) for streaming use with UltraViolet.

DECE is the industry-wide consortium behind the digital locker service. The approval allows DivX Plus Streaming to be used by UltraViolet retailers to deliver over-the-top video streaming video that adjusts itself based on available bandwidth, and supports 1080p, subtitles and multiple language tracks.

It is possible to overstate the complexity of multi-screen video, but the absolute number and types of display devices are indeed increasing, which means that efforts to promote standards and greater simplicity address a live concern. A current initiative, playing out within the MPEG-DASH Industry Forum, among other places, to enable digital rights management (DRM) interoperability is a case in point.

Building his case for a common downloadable DRM framework that is independent of but compatible with CE devices of all shapes and sizes, Tranter (VP at NDS, now part of Cisco) names three standards that could play a foundational role, namely:

* Simulcrypt—the long-standing DVB protocol published by ETSI used to enable multiple key management systems;
* MPEG-DASH—Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (DASH), which became an ISO standard in late 2011; and
* UltraViolet—an authentication and cloud-based rights system deployed over the past few years by a consortium of studios, manufacturers and service providers.

With EDC Private Cloud, Jeff Malkin, president of Encoding.com, says his company has solved the problem of premium content, finally bringing cloud encoding to major players. The solution includes fast and secure file ingest and upload (with partner Aspera), high-end processors, and vast storage. One key advantage is EDC Private Cloud's ability to move files quickly: Malkin says it can move files five to six times faster than Amazon can from S3 to EC2.

EDC Private Cloud offers Dolby Surround Sound audio, Widevine DRM, and UltraViolet compatibility.

Besides winning on speed, Malkin asserts that EDC Private Cloud, which uses an automated workflow, also wins on price. In its beta period, he says, it won RFPs with Synacor and Midwest Tape, turning in prices that are 20 percent of current market pricing.

Further reinforcing the digital content ecosystem’s roster of technology support, Motorola Mobility’s SecureMedia content protection has been approved by the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem (DECE) for streaming UltraViolet content. Now, service providers using SecureMedia can offer subscribers ready access to their UltraViolet digital entertainment collections anytime, anywhere and on any device.

SecureMedia is extending the purchasing, collecting and sharing content in the cloud experience to consumers’ favourite connected devices by giving service providers a way to encrypt and process UltraViolet content in compliance with DECE’s specifications for streaming content protection.

At first glance, I thought UltraViolet was just what I needed to put my movie collection online. I was wrong.

UltraViolet sounded good. "UltraViolet is DVD for the Internet. Just as the DVD logo means that you can buy a DVD from any seller and expect it to play in any player with a DVD logo (DVD players, DVD PCs, DVD entertainment systems in automobiles, and so on), the UltraViolet logo means you can buy UltraViolet movies from any seller, keep track of your 'online locker' or 'virtual collection' of movies, and expect them to play on anything with the UltraViolet logo (PCs, tablets, smartphones, Blu-ray players, cable set-top boxes, and so on)."

Oh well, lots of things sound good at first.