Archive notice: This article was originally published on September 13, 2006. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
Norwegian broadcast graphics specialist Vizrt showed its new “Viz Multi Platform Suite” at the IBC, which is currently still in the development stage. With the help of this new software module, which hooks into existing VIZtrio installations, it is intended to be possible to transmit 3D broadcast graphics to all mobile devices and display them on the Internet.
The Viz Multi Platform Suite compresses the 3D scene “on the fly” to the required size in order to transport it to mobile devices. The other Vizrt programs can continue to be operated as, usual. The images that go on air in SD or HD are now also streamed live by the module to mobile devices, and specifically as a 3D scene rather than as compressed video.
The data is transmitted in the form of an MPEG-21 stream that can contain video, audio, 3D and metadata. To achieve the smallest possible data rate, the module reduces the polygons in the scene, compresses the textures and applies run-length encoding to the stream.
Display on the target device is carried out by a dedicated player or a plug-in respectively. Since the data consists of 3D scenes that are displayed on the target devices with OpenGL (OpenGL ES on mobile devices), optimal image quality is always guaranteed.
The application is currently in testing and cannot yet display video and 3D data at the same time.
A first Internet player is to be available by NAB 2007 (and perhaps also a player for mobile devices) that can display both 3D and video data and also overlay them. Interactivity in the form of clickable or manipulable objects is in principle also possible with this software, but will probably only be available from the middle of next year.
Further Links:
- Vizrt Multi Platform Suite
