1	Post MPEG 2 Kurt Schini National Account Manager Harmonic Inc. www.harmonicinc.com
2	Agenda MPEG-2 Overview/History H.264 Overview/History H.264 Benefits H.264 and Video Processing, Video Analysis and Statistical Multiplexing The Future of H.264 Migration Strategies
3	MPEG 2 History MPEG-2 is the video standard most widely deployed. Delivery rates have come down dramatically since early adopters…6Mbps. Today delivery of quality images is between 2-2.5Mbps. Reality is larger efforts are required for smaller gains in efficiency.
4	MPEG-2 History Con’t...
5	H.264 Overview Specification being finalized. Growing industry consensus for H.264 as next standard. H.264 will reinitialize the efficiency cycle. Conservative estimates predict up to 50% compression efficiency gains over MPEG-2. Persuades industry to take leaps into new technologies.
6	H.264 Enabling New Technologies xDSL Enables subscriber penetration and success of the business model. Video on Demand Cost of bandwidth and storage capacity. Reduction in these costs thanks to better compression can make the difference between success and failure.
7	Industry Consensus of H.264 Lead initially by the wireless community. Joined by the entertainment video community. Over the last year the standards bodies have worked to shape this future standard for entertainment video. International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and International Organization for Standardization (ISO) have agreed to develop the standard jointly. Projected deployment in 2004 with cost effective set-top-boxes.
8	Some Benefits of H.264 H.264 represents an evolution rather than a radical departure from MPEG-2. Smaller, dynamically selected block sizes for motion compensation allow the encoder to encode both large and small moving objects accurately and efficiently. Improved prediction of motion vector values allow complicated motion information to be represented more efficiently. Multiple reference frame selection allows the encoder to represent moving picture areas with maximum efficiency by finding the best match across multiple past video frames.
9	Extending the Benefits of H.264 The service quality an operator delivers to an end user depends on a range of factors…not all in the area of compression. Video processing Video Analysis Statistical Multiplexing
10	Video Processing State of the art noise reduction and content pre-filtering is a must for any high-performance video compression system. Motion Compensated Temporal Filtering (MCTF) Removes large amounts of video noise while preserving feature sharpness and avoiding motion blur artifacts. Non-linear spatial filtering Adaptively cleans video content in segments where MCTF cannot perform well, while preserving sharpness.
11	Video Processing Con’t... Texture adaptive spatial filtering Works in close synchronization with the encoder to soften content during periods of high demand and prevent generation of compression artifacts. Motion Adaptive Temporal Filtering Acts adaptively to compliment the MCTF filter during periods of high demand.
12	Video Analysis Allows an encoder to decide intelligently where to spend its bits. Within a picture Within a video scene Across multiple channels Look ahead technology Full encode on incoming video, gathers statistics to enhance the main encode process Video analysis achieves better compression efficiency.
13	Statistical Multiplexing This video analysis and balancing function is critically important for compression efficiency. The analysis of information from multiple video channels simultaneously and allocating appropriate bit rates across channels and time.
14	The future of H.264 For alternative technologies to make any impact on the market, the following must occur. Content owners, operators, professional equipment makers, conditional access companies and consumer receiver makers must collaborate to produce high-quality interoperable systems in a common timeframe.
15	Migration Strategies Many television operators already have digital compression and distribution infrastructure based on MPEG-2. Selective service migration Migrate new services such as VOD Simulcast Simulcast in MPEG-2 and H.264 Content evolution Initially, only a few premium channels are broadcast in the new format. But this content will only be available in the new format. May convince consumers to migrate to the new receivers.
16	Summary There are obstacles to any new technology. ATSC standards approval This presentation outlines H.264 plus some of the benefits operators need to consider. Now is the time for operators to understand how this technology impacts both their current and future business plans.
17	"Thank You" Thank You