Audio and video trends for 2019

Here are some audio and video trends for 2019:

The global Hi-Fi Systems market was valued at million US$ in 2018 and is expected to grow. EISA Awards has selected Hi-Fi product category winners, but I did not see anything really fancy new innovations that would excite me there. The Hi-Fi speaker market has seen considerable consolidation over the years but is expected to grow. The global Hi-Fi speaker system market is highly competitive. Various established international brands, domestic brands and as well as new entrants form a competitive landscape. The market is expected to have higher growth rate as compared to the previous years due to the booming electronic industry globally. It is due to the rising income of individuals globally and increasing affordability of technology products globally. Due to technological adoption and smart gadgets, North America region is showing steady growth in the Hi-Fi speaker system market. On technology standpoint the Hi-Fi market is mainly based on pretty much stabilized technology as class D amplifiers have been on mainstream for many years.

Smart TVs are everywhere. The vast majority of televisions available today are “smart” TVs, with internet connections, ad placement, and streaming services built in. Despite the added functionality, TV prices are lower than ever. Your new smart TV was so affordable because it is collecting and selling your data. It is clear that TV companies are in a cutthroat business, and that companies like Vizio would have to charge higher prices for hardware if they didn’t run content, advertising, and data businesses. Google wants sensors and cameras in every room of your home to watch, analyze, you, patents show.

Streaming services competition stays high. Apple’s embracing the TV industry for the first time: Vizio and LG TVs will support AirPlay 2 and HomeKit, while Samsung TVs will get an iTunes Movies & TV app, as well as AirPlay 2 support. Google and Amazon are playing are important players on smart speaker markets.

4K video resolution is still as hot as in 2019 – it us becoming mainstream and getting cheaper. Peraso showcases 4K wireless video at CES 2019. LG has produced a market-ready rollable OLED TV. The new 75-inch 4K Micro LED TV announced at CES 2019 proves Samsung is serious about scaling the technology to do battle with OLED. But it seems that even in 1029 “4K” trend remains woefully deficient from a compelling-content-availability standpoint. CES 2019 is already full of weird and wonderful monitors.

But new higher 8K resolution is being pushed to market. The “8K” (resolution) tagline was apparently everywhere at CES this year. Samsung announced a 98-inch 8K TV because why not. LG has come strong to CES 2019 with an 88-inch 8K OLED TV, a 75-inch 8K LED/LCD TV, HDMI 2.1, new auto calibration features, Alexa built in, and many more features. It seems that this ongoing evolution is occurring out of necessity: as a given-size (and -pixel-dense) display becomes a low profit margin commodity, manufacturers need to continually “up-rev” one or both key consumer-attention-grabbing parameters (along with less quantifiable attributes like image quality) in order to remain profitable … assuming they can continue to stimulate sufficient-sized consumer demand in the process. I am not sure if they can stimulate 8K to mass market in next few years.

Wall size TVs are coming. Samsung announced a modular TV at CES. Samsung first showcased this MicroLED TV technology at CES 2018, showcasing how the screens were composed of millions of individual LEDs. Individuals screens could be combined to create massive displays, which the company calls The Wall TV. The wall-sized displays shown in recent years at CES are, in my opinion, quite ridiculous, at least for the masses.

 

HDMI updates are coming. At present, the HDMI equipment uses the 2.0 standard (adopted in 2013) tht provides support for example for 4K video. HDMI Forum announced a new 2.1 standard already in November 2017, but it just starter showing in CES in January 2019. 8K fiber-optic HDMI cables seen at CES 2019. The 2.1 standard is a big change in technology at the bus bandwidth increases from 18 gigabit to 48 gigabits per second. This enables up to 10K video transmission and up to 120 frames per second.

Bendable displays are really coming to PCs and smart phones. LG’s “rollable” display shown this year neatly showcased the technology’s inherent flexibility while also addressing the question of how to hide a gargantuan display when it’s not in use. Several foldable smart phones have been shown. Chinese company Royole was showing off the FlexPai at CES in Las Vegas.

Micro displays for VR and AR glasses have developed. MicroLED is better looking, more efficient and more versatile than any previous display tech. Now all Samsung, Sony, LG and others have to do is figure out how to manufacture it affordably.Nanoco Technologies and Plessey Semiconductors have partnered to shrink the pixel size of monolithic microLED displays using Nanoco’s cadmium-free quantum-dot (CFQD quantum dots) semiconductor nanoparticle technology. Microchips and organic LEDs that deliver 4K-like high resolution displays a quarter of the size and half the weight of existing virtual reality (VR) headsets have been developed under a European Union project. Marc Andreessen says VR will be “1,000” times bigger than AR even though VR seems to be the popular whipping boy amongst the tech community.

There seems to be no shortage of angst with the current (and unfortunately burgeoning) popularity of usage of the term artificial intelligence (AI). Intelligence has been defined in many ways which makes it hard to get good picture on what is going on. I am still waiting for sensible intelligent AI to do something useful. But the ability for a sufficiently trained deep learning  system to pattern-match images, sound samples, computer viruses, network hacking attempts, and the like is both impressive and effective.

Potential problems related to the coming of self-driving car technologies and cameras are expected. A man at CES in Las Vegas says that a car-mounted lidar permanently damaged the sensor in his new $1,998 Sony a7R II mirrorless camera. Man says CES lidar’s laser was so powerful it wrecked his $1,998 camera because the LIDAR laser power rules ensure lasers are safe for human eyes—but not necessarily for cameras. Is this something that camera and car manufacturers need to figure out together?

2019 Will Be the Year of Open Source from software and even hardware. Open source video player app VLC has now reached 3 billions downloads.

When almost all AV products are pushing more and more features, it seems that almost Everything is too complicated for an average Joe.

 

1,491 Comments

  1. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
    Restream, a service that helps creators stream to around 30 platforms simultaneously, raises $50M Series A co-led by Sapphire Ventures and Insight Partners

    Restream raises $50M to help creators program and stream to multiple platforms
    https://techcrunch.com/2020/08/27/restream-raises-50m-to-help-creators-program-and-stream-to-multiple-platforms/?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cudGVjaG1lbWUuY29tLw&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAANzKQqA_AmxWkX6QxXWaDJ-LzGjIMmnx6Y9WcAXS-1i-8OdTVVZn5GK0O9zHJFaNkGb0lbWV2CY1Yu-fK7XrlyhGzFY5TOtP5vntXgkNP7Bjhmab8pQcI1opM7FnQcRvbL9RROe1l9u1M8kl7LDTmXInB0jvZDFuuOo9MBZnHfst

    Live streaming of video has come into its own during the coronavirus pandemic, with services like Zoom, YouTube, Twitch, Facebook and many others giving people a way to stay connected with each other, run events and continue working even when they can not be in the same physical spaces together.

    Now, a startup called Restream, which has built a platform to help those who want to stream to more than one place simultaneously

    Restream today covers some 30 streaming platforms, including Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitch, Twitter, and YouTube, and lets people also take video from platforms like Zoom and rebroadcast it to platforms for bigger audiences. It operates on a freemium model, with the majority of customers using the free tier and others paying between $19 and $299 per month depending on the level of service.

    Indeed, for all the negative aspects of the pandemic, it’s been a boost to the streaming industry’s business, and no less so Restream’s business: the company hit 750 million monthly views in July. Other big-name customers include Dr. Phil, Deepak Chopra, Microsoft, Redhat, SalesForce and Ubisoft.

    And what’s particularly interesting is how the company — which numbers just 45 people — has been managing all of that work remotely: no one is going into the office at the moment.

    While live-streaming was shaping up to be a big business already — and companies like Vimeo were also offering a route to rebroadcasting — we’re seeing ever more companies moving deeper in to the space to meet the demand and opportunity from the market today. Just yesterday, we reported on how Spotify is also preparing a virtual event streaming service at the same time that a number of other music services are also launching their own live event streaming platforms.

    Reply
  2. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Rafat Ali / Skift:
    A few lessons for the events industry from digital turning points in music, video, and news industries, as Zoom transforms events like Napster changed music

    https://skift.com/2020/08/26/the-event-industry-is-being-confronted-by-its-napster-moment/

    Reply
  3. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Why ‘The Mandalorian’ Uses Virtual Sets Over Green Screen | Movies Insider
    https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=share&v=Ufp8weYYDE8

    Reply
  4. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Young Student Secretly Photographs People with Hidden Spy Cam in the 1890s
    https://mymodernmet.com/carl-stormer-hidden-camera-photography/

    Størmer continued capturing images of people on Karl Johansgate, the main street in Oslo, over the course of his studies from 1893 to 1897. The results are close to 500 secret images that show a wide range of people in a casual, relaxed state. Working like a paparazzo, Størmer would greet his subjects and then snap away as they approached. Friendly salutations and suspicious glances play out across his work, serving as some of the first examples of street photography.

    Reply
  5. Tomi Engdahl says:

    https://electricalfundablog.com/digital-hearing-aid-works-types-components/

    Reply
  6. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Music of Memes **REMASTERED** (1700-2017)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAwFVibypVM

    Reply
  7. Tomi Engdahl says:

    I guess they couldn’t get the rights to Carrie Fisher’s likeness.

    Scientists Create True, “Star Wars”-Style Hologram
    https://futurism.com/the-byte/true-star-wars-style-hologram

    Finally, at long last, scientists have figured out how to make true hologram recordings like the iconic “Star Wars” moment where Princess Leia calls for help from Obi-Wan Kenobi.

    Using carefully-crafted nanomaterials, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology scientists were able to bend light in a way no natural material could accomplish, according to research published this month in the journal Optics Express. The result? The first true hologram movie of the Earth spinning on its axis.

    https://www.osapublishing.org/oe/abstract.cfm?uri=oe-28-16-23761#articleSupplMat

    Reply
  8. Tomi Engdahl says:

    TCL’s new paper-like display can also play videos
    NXTPAPER will reflect natural light to better protect your eyes.
    https://www.engadget.com/tcl-nxtpaper-display-e-ink-video-eye-protection-110057051.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cudGVjaG1lbWUuY29tLw&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAMsA5OCj7MC1H3cuesYZCqYmTEQLMAyszPfcGtP-3uyf89E1_wBkdyEmJJDnveAuaaJk-qdR8UrH8S-hEfKHNs2OIbSfrzDaPWvm0T9K8Xyxox-w7O7KSXHoJw5o8wmwhHdAvomSoLBUJ7WPtfhLm7I2y0LBchxz_yYeEDp52n-5

    Reply
  9. Tomi Engdahl says:

    TCL’s latest e-ink tech looks good on paper, but Chinese giant will have to back up extraordinary claims
    Concept demo fast enough to show movies and games apparently
    https://www.theregister.com/2020/09/03/tcl_nxtpaper/

    As the world’s second largest TV manufacturer, Chinese tech conglomerate TCL is best known for its displays. In that vein, it has shown off its newest e-ink technology at IFA, dubbed NXTPAPER, which promises richer colour and a refresh rate comparable to that of a smartphone.

    Electronic paper displays, like those on the Amazon Kindle, consist of thousands of small capsules filled with pigment. When an electrical charge is applied to these capsules, they shift orientation and thus change what is shown on the display. Unlike traditional LCD displays, which require a constant electrical charge, electronic paper displays only require electricity when the content of the screen changes.

    This principle is what allows the Kindle to have weeks-long standby times, whereas tablet computers have standby times measured in days. But electronic paper displays also have slower refresh rates, making them unsuitable for anything save consuming static content, like e-books and newspaper articles.

    Speaking to El Reg, Stefan Streit, TCL’s global marketing GM, said NXTPAPER would be fast enough for movies and some games, which is a remarkable claim. Streit was unable to offer a precise refresh rate when grilled, and we’ve asked TCL for further clarification.

    Streit said NXTPAPER will be suited to outdoor viewing due to the lack of glare you typically get with standard LCD or LED displays. The firm also claimed 25 per cent better contrast rates when compared with a typical LCD panel, while consuming 65 per cent less power.

    Reply
  10. Tomi Engdahl says:

    The Future of TVs is NOT What You Think!
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTTiQeXXrhI

    Everyone thinks MicrOLED is going to be the next big display technology, but with investment from Samsung and LG, OLED still has a lot of fight left in it, especially with the help of Quantum Dots from NanoSys.

    Reply
  11. Tomi Engdahl says:

    By shining white light on a glass slide stippled with millions of tiny titanium dioxide pillars, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and their collaborators have reproduced with astonishing fidelity the luminous hues and subtle shadings of “Girl With a Pearl Earring,” Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer’s masterpiece. The approach has potential applications in improving optical communications and making currency harder to counterfeit.

    Painting With Light: Novel Nanopillars Precisely Control the Color and Intensity of Transmitted Light
    https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news/2020/09/painting-light-novel-nanopillars-precisely-control-color-and-intensity

    Reply
  12. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Easy Focus Stacking With Your CNC Machine
    https://hackaday.com/2020/09/07/easy-focus-stacking-with-your-cnc-machine/

    Macro photography is the art of taking photos of things very close up, and ideally at great detail. Unfortunately cameras have poor depth of field at close ranges, so to get around this, many use focus stacking techniques. This involves taking many photos at different focal lengths and digitally compositing them together. To help achieve this, [gtoal] realized that garden variety CNC machines would be perfect for the job.

    https://www.instructables.com/id/Convert-Your-CNC-to-a-Macro-Photography-Rail-in-30/

    Reply
  13. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Headphones for Every Situation
    https://www.eetimes.com/headphones-for-every-situation/

    Some women collect shoes, or scarves, or other fashion accessories. I seem to accessorize with headphones. I own more than a dozen at last count; most of them are hopelessly out of vogue.

    I remember buying my first pair. They were Koss over-ear types; the salesman at the audio store seemed to really want me to buy another brand that rested on the ears.

    Reply
  14. Tomi Engdahl says:

    I bought 4 cameras from Wish and got what I deserved | Ashens
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PK3tBQraDA0

    Looking for a new camera on a budget? Then this video will be completely useless for you, as it only features cameras that aren’t any good!

    We’ve got a fake DSLR that’s effectively a bad webcam in a massive shell, a fake compact that’s exactly the same, a terrible camcorder and – for 3 times the price – a less terrible but still naff camcorder! And they only took about 7 months to arrive!

    Reply
  15. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Digitaalinen audioväylä leviää autojen ulkopuolelle
    https://etn.fi/index.php/13-news/11129-digitaalinen-audiovayla-leviaa-autojen-ulkopuolelle

    Analog Devices esitteli tämän vuoden alkupuolella digitaalisen audiotekniikan, jonka avulla voidaan esimerkiksi hiljentää tien ja renkaiden aiheuttama melu auton sisätiloista. Nyt ADI on esitellyt valmiin ratkaisun, jolla A2B-väylää voidaan hyödyntää muissakin audiolaitteissa.

    Kehittäjiä varten ADI esitteli SAM-moduulin (SHARC audio module), joka sisältää 2-ytimisen SHARC-signaaliprosessorin integroidulla Arm Cortex-A5-ytimellä. Lisäksi ADI tarjolaa tytärkortteja, joilla peruskortin toiminnallisuutta voidaan laajentaa.

    https://www.analog.com/en/applications/technology/a2b-audio-bus.html

    Reply
  16. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Hollywood and beyond reacted with a range of emotions, from full-throated support to downright anger over the new Best Picture standards.

    ‘Not Messing Around’: Oscars’ New Diversity Rules Draw Praise And Criticism
    http://on.forbes.com/6189GsPuW

    The Academy for Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which holds Hollywood’s coveted Oscars awards show every year, announced new diversity and inclusion rules on Tuesday for films seeking consideration for Best Picture, setting off a firestorm of praise and criticism.

    Reply
  17. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Quantum light squeezes the noise out of microscopy signals
    https://phys.org/news/2020-09-quantum-noise-microscopy.html

    Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory used quantum optics to advance state-of-the-art microscopy and illuminate a path to detecting material properties with greater sensitivity than is possible with traditional tools.

    Reply
  18. Tomi Engdahl says:

    ‘Not Messing Around’: Oscars’ New Diversity Rules Draw Praise And Criticism
    https://www.forbes.com/sites/lisettevoytko/2020/09/09/not-messing-around-oscars-new-diversity-rules-draw-praise-and-criticism/#6fa0e6cd1b38

    The Academy for Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which holds Hollywood’s coveted Oscars awards show every year, announced new diversity and inclusion rules on Tuesday for films seeking consideration for Best Picture, setting off a firestorm of praise and criticism.

    Reply
  19. Tomi Engdahl says:

    The Vera C Rubin Observatory will be the world’s largest digital camera and to test it out they took a photo of… a Romanesco broccoli.

    At 3,200 Megapixels, This Is The Largest Single Photo Ever Taken
    https://www.iflscience.com/space/at-3200-megapixels-this-is-the-largest-single-photo-ever-taken-/

    Once built, the Vera C. Rubin Telescope in Chile will provide an important new window into the universe, and crucial to that is its camera. The sensor array will make it the largest digital camera in the world, capable of taking 3,200-megapixel digital photos. In fact, it’s just taken its first one. The largest single photo ever taken is a picture of a Romanesco broccoli.

    The Romanesco image and another released, a picture of pioneering astronomer Vera Rubin herself, shows that the technology of this spectacular instrument is truly cutting edge. The images produced by the camera are so large it will take 378 4K ultra-high-definition televisions to screen them properly. The camera can see a golf ball from 25 kilometers (15 miles) away.

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  20. Tomi Engdahl says:

    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-09-10/vinyl-record-sales-top-compact-discs-for-first-time-in-34-years

    Reply
  21. Tomi Engdahl says:

    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-09-10/vinyl-record-sales-top-compact-discs-for-first-time-in-34-years
    Pursuits
    Vinyl-Record Sales Top Compact Discs for First Time in 34 Years
    By Lucas Shaw
    10. syyskuuta 2020 klo 18.25 UTC+3
    Sales of vinyl records surpassed those of CDs in the U.S. for the first time since 1986, marking a key turning point for the format’s nostalgia-fueled resurgence.

    People spent $232.1 million on limited-play and extended-play records in the first half of the year, according to the Recording Industry Association of America, eclipsing the $129.9 million they spent on compact discs.

    Reply
  22. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Best noise-cancelling headphones 2020: in-ears and on-ears, budget to premium
    https://www.whathifi.com/us/us/best-buys/headphones/best-noise-cancelling-headphones

    Silence the outside world and turn up the music

    Reply
  23. Tomi Engdahl says:

    https://ishotify.com/find-hidden-cameras-in-house/

    Reply
  24. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Want Perfect Water Drop Photos? Check Out the DIY dropController
    Martyn Currey’s six-valve controller makes it easy to capture water droplet splash photos.
    https://www.hackster.io/news/want-perfect-water-drop-photos-check-out-the-diy-dropcontroller-02f5186f4aa2

    Reply
  25. Tomi Engdahl says:

    5 Development Platform Keys for Easy Real-Time Audio System Design
    This article explores exactly what features to look for when selecting a development tool for building real-time embedded audio systems.
    https://www.electronicdesign.com/technologies/analog/article/21141583/5-development-platform-keys-for-easy-realtime-audio-system-design

    Reply
  26. Tomi Engdahl says:

    A teacher Carmen Castrejon shared a Facebook post on Sep. 3, explaining how to display what you’re writing onto a laptop camera without fancy equipment.

    Teacher invents low-tech laptop & CD lifehack to screen handwritten notes for online class
    Improvise, adapt and overcome.
    https://mothership.sg/2020/09/cd-zoom-hack-camera-teacher/

    A teacher Carmen Castrejon shared a Facebook post on Sep. 3, explaining how to display what you’re writing onto a laptop camera without fancy equipment.

    This is especially helpful for teachers and lecturers who may frequently need to show workings as they are being written.

    Reply
  27. Tomi Engdahl says:

    YouTube launches its TikTok rival, YouTube Shorts, initially in India
    https://techcrunch.com/2020/09/14/youtube-launches-its-tiktok-rival-youtube-shorts-initially-in-india/?tpcc=ECFB2020

    As TikTok’s fate in the U.S. remains murky, YouTube today announced the launch of a new short-form video experience it’s calling YouTube Shorts. The feature will allow users, initially in India, to upload 15-second or less short-form videos using a new set of creator tools, including a multi-segment camera, similar to TikTok, speed controls, and a timer and a countdown feature. The videos can also be set to music, thanks to YouTube’s access to a large library of songs that it says will continue to grow over time.

    The multi-segment camera lets users string together multiple video clips into one short clip. The other controls enable YouTube creators to be more creative than if they simply pressed a “record” button.

    Reply
  28. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Zyxel, ATEN partner on end-to-end AV-over-IP platform
    https://www.cablinginstall.com/ip-security-av/article/14183024/zyxel-communications-inc-zyxel-aten-partner-on-endtoend-avoverip-platform?utm_source=CIM+Weekly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CPS200911060&o_eid=7211D2691390C9R&rdx.ident%5Bpull%5D=omeda%7C7211D2691390C9R&oly_enc_id=7211D2691390C9R

    Zyxel Networks has now partnered with ATEN, a specialist in AV/IT connectivity and management technology, to ensure smooth integration of network system design and deliver an interoperable, reliable AV-over-IP solution.

    Reply
  29. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Bijan Stephen / The Verge:
    Facebook Gaming says it will allow partnered streamers to play some copyrighted music in the background of their live streams — It’s a big deal! — Today, Facebook Gaming is set to allow its partnered streamers to play copyrighted, popular music in the background of their live streams …

    Facebook Gaming will now allow partnered streamers to play copyrighted music
    It’s a big deal!
    https://www.theverge.com/2020/9/14/21436136/facebook-gaming-partnered-streamer-copyright-music-riaa-twitch-youtube?scrolla=5eb6d68b7fedc32c19ef33b4

    Today, Facebook Gaming is set to allow its partnered streamers to play copyrighted, popular music in the background of their live streams — which means they’ve seemingly solved the copyright problem that’s plagued live-streaming (and basically the entire internet) since the beginning. In a press release, a spokesperson for Facebook Gaming put it like this:

    So, how’s it work? Music played during a gaming broadcast must be a background element, not be the primary focus of the stream. For example, a streamer’s voice and/or gameplay audio should be in the foreground. This also applies to clips made from a livestream, and the VOD version of livestreams, but does not extend to separately edited and uploaded VOD content.

    Reply
  30. Tomi Engdahl says:

    https://etn.fi/index.php/13-news/11149-maailman-tarkin-digikuva-3200-megapikselia

    Reply
  31. Tomi Engdahl says:

    https://www.electronicdesign.com/technologies/analog/article/21141583/5-development-platform-keys-for-easy-realtime-audio-system-design?utm_source=EG+ED+Analog+%26+Power+Source&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CPS200911057&o_eid=7211D2691390C9R&rdx.ident%5Bpull%5D=omeda%7C7211D2691390C9R&oly_enc_id=7211D2691390C9R

    Reply
  32. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Morningside’ | How To Make A Song, by Moby

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=share&v=VJgqdvlSwZs

    Reply
  33. Tomi Engdahl says:

    4K AI Colorized | Atomic Bomb Cannon test with Shockwave in 1953 – DeOldify
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uveNLvPSx3U

    The original atomic bomb cannon test black and white film has been colorized and upscaled to 4K resolution using artificial intelligence. This footage is INTENSE, turn up the speakers!

    Reply
  34. Tomi Engdahl says:

    This Week in PowerBites: PSpice Prescience, GaN/Si Audio Smackdown!
    Can you design stuff on your smartphone? Does GaN really sound better than silicon? Does he who controls the PSpice really control the universe?
    https://www.electronicdesign.com/power-management/whitepaper/21141914/this-week-in-powerbites-pspice-prescience-gansi-audio-smackdown?utm_source=EG+ED+Analog+%26+Power+Source&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CPS200914028&o_eid=7211D2691390C9R&rdx.ident%5Bpull%5D=omeda%7C7211D2691390C9R&oly_enc_id=7211D2691390C9R

    GaN in Class-D Audio
    Advantages with GaN Systems – A Comparative Look
    https://gansystems.com/class-d-audio-transistor-comparison/?utm_source=press-release

    Reply
  35. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Decoding The Netflix Announcement: Explaining Optimized Shot-Based Encoding For 4K
    https://hackaday.com/2020/09/16/decoding-the-netflix-announcement-explaining-optimized-shot-based-encoding-for-4k/

    Netflix has recently announced that they now stream optimized shot-based encoding content for 4K. When I read that news title I though to myself: “Well, that’s great! Sounds good but… what exactly does that mean? And what’s shot-based encoding anyway?”

    JPEG compression was a game changer for images. We could now store huge images with pretty much the same quality in much less space.

    JPEG uses lossy compression and so it could get much smaller images at the cost of image quality.

    For videos, being a sequence of images, the logical next step was Motion JPEG. M-JPEG is a video compression format in which each video frame is compressed separately as a JPEG image so that meant that you would get the benefits of JPEG compression to applied to each frame. Like FLIC, but for JPEGs.

    MPEG-1 was one of the encoders that explored new ways to compress video. Instead of a each individual frame being compressed, MPEG-1 split the video into different frame types

    MPEG-2 came with interlaced video, a technique for doubling the perceived frame rate of a video display without consuming extra bandwidth, and sound improvements. The MPEG-2 standard could compress video streams to as much as 1/30th of the original video size while still maintain decent picture quality.

    MPEG-3 was integrated into MPEG-2 when found to be redundant. But then came the more modern MPEG-4. MPEG-4 provides a framework for more advanced compression algorithms potentially resulting in higher compression ratios compared to MPEG-2 at the cost of higher computational requirements. After being released, there was a time when a lot of different codecs coexisted, and it was sometimes frustrating for the regular user to try to play a video file. I remember not having the DivX codec, or Xvid, or 3ivx, or having to install libavcodec and ffmpeg, or maybe trying to play it in Quicktime player, or just giving up in tears…

    We currently live in the middle of a Streaming War, with fierce competition between video streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney Plus, Hulu, HBO Max, Apple TV+, Youtube Premium, CBS All Access, etc.

    All those services try to deliver new and exclusive content and deliver it well. Delivering well involves many aspects, from content freshness to user experience, but one thing I think we can agree upon: when the video quality sucks, no marketing or UX team can save the day. With this in mind, several modern algorithms for video encoding are used, including H.264 (a.k.a. MPEG-4 Part 10), HEVC, VP8 or VP9. Besides those, each service try to enhance their own video quality as they can.

    Netflix was using PSNR (Peak Signal-To-Noise Ratio) in dB as a measure of picture quality.

    Finally, in 2018, Netflix started to implemented Optimized shot-based encoding, and its now available also in 4K titles since August. So back to the original question. What if, instead of somehow random chunks to encode our video, which result in random Key-frames being generated (of them some might be very similar which is not optimal since they take a lot of space), one could choose the right and optimal Key-frames for each title?

    Besides optimizing the Key-frames for encoding, shot-based encoding has some other advantages, such as seeking in a video sequence leads to natural points of interest (signaled by shot boundaries) and encoding parameter change in different shots is unnoticeable for the user since the Key-frame is very different. All of these changes are tweaks for the encoders that can actually be H.264 or HEVC or VP8, it makes no difference.

    on average they need a 50% lower bitrate to achieve the same quality with the optimized ladder. The highest 4K bitrate title on average is 8 Mbps which is also a 50% reduction compared to 16 Mbps of the fixed-bitrate ladder.

    Optimized shot-based encodes for 4K: Now streaming!
    https://netflixtechblog.com/optimized-shot-based-encodes-for-4k-now-streaming-47b516b10bbb?gi=7979c69587fa

    Reply
  36. Tomi Engdahl says:

    VR Technology Helps Bring A Galaxy Far, Far Away To Our TV
    https://hackaday.com/2020/08/27/vr-technology-helps-bring-a-galaxy-far-far-away-to-our-tv/

    Virtual reality is usually an isolated individual experience very different from the shared group experience of a movie screen or even a living room TV. But those worlds of entertainment are more closely intertwined than most audiences are aware. Video game engines have been taking a growing role in film and television production behind the scenes, and now they’re stepping out in front of the camera in a big way for making The Mandalorian TV series.

    https://www.starwars.com/news/the-mandalorian-stagecraft-feature

    Reply
  37. Tomi Engdahl says:

    https://hackaday.com/2020/07/01/why-are-digital-cameras-still-boring/

    Reply
  38. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Filmmaking From Home With Projection Mapping
    https://hackaday.com/2020/07/06/filmmaking-from-home-with-projection-mapping/

    Stuck at home in self-quarantine, artist and filmmaker [Kira Bursky] had fewer options than normal for her latest film project. While a normal weekend film sprint would have involved collaborating with actors, set designers, and cinematographers in a frenzied attempt to finish in less than 48 hours, she instead chose to indulge in her curiosity for projection mapping, a technique that involves projecting visuals onto three-dimensional or flat surfaces.

    https://towardsdatascience.com/how-i-created-a-short-film-with-projection-mapping-8a950462509b

    Reply
  39. Tomi Engdahl says:

    https://hackaday.com/2020/08/03/see-the-science-behind-vr-display-design-and-what-makes-a-problem-important/

    Reply
  40. Tomi Engdahl says:

    https://hackaday.com/2020/07/27/mp3-is-25-years-old/

    Reply
  41. Tomi Engdahl says:

    3D Printed Speaker Uses DSP For Ultimate Performance
    https://hackaday.com/2020/07/25/3d-printed-speaker-uses-dsp-for-ultimate-performance/

    Reply
  42. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Acoustic Camera Uses Many, Many Microphones
    https://hackaday.com/2020/08/10/acoustic-camera-uses-many-many-microphones/

    Reply
  43. Tomi Engdahl says:

    https://etn.fi/index.php/13-news/10970-kiinalaiset-valtaavat-seuraavaksi-televisiomarkkinat

    Reply
  44. Tomi Engdahl says:

    L2 Camera
    Fully manual twin-lens reflex instant film camera
    https://hackaday.io/project/174394-l2-camera

    Reply
  45. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Circle Guitar Creates Wall Of Sound
    https://hackaday.com/2020/08/26/circle-guitar-creates-wall-of-sound/

    Reply
  46. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Monitor Not VESA-Compliant? It Is Now!
    https://hackaday.com/2020/08/23/monitor-not-vesa-compliant-it-is-now/

    Reply
  47. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Get Creative With This ESP8266 Photography Light
    https://hackaday.com/2020/08/21/get-creative-with-this-esp8266-photography-light/

    Reply
  48. Tomi Engdahl says:

    https://www.pietiko.fi/mittaustietoa/aanitasomittarien-luokat/

    Reply
  49. Tomi Engdahl says:

    https://hackaday.com/2020/07/19/3d-printer-revives-large-format-camera/

    Reply
  50. Tomi Engdahl says:

    https://hackaday.com/2020/07/19/building-a-motion-capture-suit-on-the-cheap/

    Reply

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