United Cloud, the innovation center of United Group, is the first company from the region to participate in Streaming Media Connect, one of the world's most influential conferences in the industry. Boban Kasalović, Product Manager at United Cloud, discussed the future of streaming with representatives from global giants Netflix, META, and AMD. They agreed that fluctuating user habits, especially among younger generations, have elevated LIVE streaming to a prominent position in the TV industry, increasingly taking over from the traditional TV distribution systems and media content delivery to end-users.
"I believe that my story and the perspective of someone who works mostly on LIVE content - namely for TV channels broadcasting live to millions of users simultaneously - contributed the most to the panel's conclusions. Everything we've gone through in the past seven years at United Cloud, developing EON TV, is a great experience that can be useful for companies like Netflix, which are just starting to broadcast live content," says Boban Kasalović of United Cloud.
Discussing the development of TV codecs, Boban expects AVC to remain the leading codec in the industry but foresees that other codecs will collectively surpass its usage within two to three years.
"Unlike Netflix, which almost entirely bases its business on broadcasting movies and content on demand, most of our service is occupied with broadcasting live TV channels. In this sense, we work intensively every day to achieve high-quality video for end-users within seconds. Additionally, our perspective includes the infrastructure of telco providers across the region who use our streaming solution. Considering all these requirements in multiple technological solutions gives us extensive experience and knowledge in this segment," adds Boban.
One of the most interesting parts of the discussion was related to the use of hardware accelerations. It was noted that their application not only facilitates the implementation of new codecs but also increases energy efficiency and reduces consumption, which is significant for the green agenda of the European Union.
Streaming Media Magazine organizes the most important events for streaming and brings together industry leaders. Their influence, initially focused on the US market, is now expanding globally. Other panelists on the future of streaming, discussing "Bit Players: Which Video Codecs Will Take Center Stage in 2024?" included Andrey Norkin, a Video Algorithms Research Scientist from Netflix; Hassen Tmar, a Technical Program Manager from META; Sean Gardner, who leads video strategy at AMD. Tim Siglin, a well-known figure in the streaming industry, was the moderator.