NAB 2016: Elemental Technologies’ Keith Wymbs Says Company Stays Its Course Following Acquisition
At this year’s NAB Show, Elemental Technologies (SU2724) is addressing many of the key trends facing the sports video industry be it high-dynamic range or virtual reality, and even showing off some early prototyping of an 8K video encoding solution. These are all a clear sign that, despite it being six months since the company was acquired by Amazon Web Services, Elemental is continuing to charge forward and remain a big player in the industry.
“We’re continuing to really invest in the areas regardless of how our customer want to use our software-defined video solutions,” says Keith Wymbs, Chief Marketing Officer for Elemental Technologies. “I think there has been a good amount of speculation in the industry of what is Elemental going to turn into and the answer is the same thing that we were turning into. I hope that people get a sense for that at [NAB Show].”
Additionally, Elemental is showing solutions to address live broadcasting from the cloud, server-side ad insertion, and unified headend support and multiscreen monetization. There’s also demos on SDI over IP and live channel playout with dynamic content control and motion graphic overlay functionality.
“Our branding is still strong and all of the people that were here six months ago prior to the acquisition are still here and we’re growing very quickly,” says Wymbs. “Frankly, the needs of our customers don’t change as a result of us getting acquired. So we have to continue to go down the same path.”
Brazilian Broadcaster Globo Enlists Elemental to Support Globo Play OTT Service
Brazilian powerhouse Globo has turned to Elemental, announcing that it is using Elemental video processing solutions to fuel its VOD and live processing engine for Globo Play, its OTT offering.
Within a virtualized environment, Globo can scale Elemental Server file-based video processing using Elemental Conductor video management. This includes the ability to transcode MXF files and to support real-time live-to-VOD workflows. Elemental Live systems provide linear content to the multi-platform servers and the CDN for delivery to consumers. Elemental video architecture enables Globo Play to add immersive functionality like second screen synchronization and personalized services to its offerings.
“As Brazil’s leading broadcaster, video quality is critical to everything we do. For more than four years, Elemental software-based solutions have helped us meet exacting standards,” says Marcelo Souza, director, digital media technology for TV Globo. “Our new Globo Play service is a hit with viewers and is the type of success we want to repeat many times. To achieve this, we need a high-quality, scalable video infrastructure that adapts quickly. So we turned to Elemental.”