Unforgettable trip to IBC2016

We start to publish a series of notes of our students on the visit to the International Congress of Broadcasters IBC2016 in Amsterdam. The participants share their impressions of the visiting a major event in the European country, but they also  tell in detail how to follow them. Author of following notes is Irina Savenkova, PhD student of the of the Faculty of Management and Media Communications.

The plane ftom St. Petersburg to Amsterdam landed at the international airport Schiphol. Five delegates of St. Petersburg University of Film and Television breathed the night air, dodged hurrying cyclists and leisurely went to their hotel. They looked forward to a week of new experience and discoveries.

I liked the hotel immediately – a real ship! As soon as we left our stuff in the hotel, Konstantin Glasman, Head of International Relations Office, St. Petersburg State University of Film and Television, invited us for a walk around the center of Amsterdam. He told us for why the Dutch use special beams with hooks under the roofs of houses and why they use window curtains rarely. After these entertaining stories Amsterdam became much dearer. Soon we returned to the hotel because the next morning the opening of the conference was.

In fact the journey began even earlier. I mean the day when I found out about the possibility of the participation in the conference «Digital and information technologies in media industry – 2016». All students enthusiastically prepared to participate in this competition. And the jury headed by Dr. Martin Salter appreciated our efforts. So the next day after the arrival we went to the RAI Convention Centre to attend the International Broadcasting Convention - IBC2016.

What’s new?

IBC is the main event in the area of the electronic media and entertainment universe. Over 1600 companies present their technologies during a week. This year’s IBC theme is «Transformation in the Digital Era». Maybe because of it or maybe because of my personal interest as for me the most interesting stream was the Platform Futures. The Platform Futures stream examines platforms, content aggregation and distribution strategies. This stream explores the diverse world of platforms and aggregation players: broadcasters, pay TV operators, device manufacturers, retailers and niche newcomers. The key decision-makers involved shared the strategies they had chosen to complete in a connected world. The program covered how content brands reach consumers, emerging platforms and devices which aggregate and distribute content as well as the evolving consumer experience. As the company Beenius said, operators require a flexible, scalable and cost-effective method to deliver high-quality, non-linear content in a multi-screen environment. This company presented a new cloud-based OTT service Nuboly in the Content Everywhere Zone.

I was impressed with The New Broadcasters’ sessions. I learned about the plans of industry giants like Google and Netflix right from their representatives. Reports were about OTT, VOD, second screen, recommendations and personalisation. Next I visited a session about the using of metadata, where Stephanie Scheller, a representative of the company's innovative Appiness told how their company uses metadata to empower user interaction with the content. For example, their development allows you to buy products that you see on the show, simply by clicking on the image of the subject directly during the broadcast. Inspired by these and other performances I attended the session entitled Enhancing the Multi-screen Experience through Synchronisation and Personalisation. Among other things, Per Lindgren, a representative of the Swedish company Net Insight AB, shared with us some interesting statistics about the development of Social TV. For example, he said that during the Super Bowl 50 200 million posts appeared on Facebook, and the 2015 Champions League Final appearance has caused over 834 million tweets. The audience listened to representatives with interest to understand the best way of achieving user engagement. And it was only the beginning. Several sessions were in parallel, so every delegate had the opportunity to choose the topics of interest to him.

I also want to tell about the awards ceremony - Design & Innovation Awards, the event at which prizes are awarded to companies who have achieved success in various areas: audio post-production, quality control and others. There I knew names of many companies and next days I visited their stands.

I also want to tell about the IBC2016 exhibition. It’s really huge and every day I discovered new technologies and companies. I appreciated the seriousness of the preparations for the exhibition of Imagine Communications. Visitors of their stand experienced interactive demonstrations of state-of-the-art technology in action as well as knowledge-sharing panels. Especially I was interested in their end-to-end multiscreen delivery solutions. I also liked Elemental’s stand. I wanted to know more about Live Channel Playout. It’s an integrated encoder and playout system with dynamic content control and motion graphic overlay. For this technology Elemental won IABM Design & Innovation Awards – 2016.

My story would be incomplete without the IBC Future Zone. It contains exhibitors with cutting edge projects and prototypes liberated by IBC from the world’s leading R&D labs and universities. Many of the exhibits in this hall had «no pictures» stickers. It was a portal to view the future of the industry.

And perhaps the most memorable event was watching «Survivor». The suspenseful plot is played with new colors thanks to the technology of Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos.

I was pleasantly surprised to get IBC2016 Conference Slides, Technical Papers and Video on my email.  They allowed me to review what I learned on the conference.

Spare time

In spare time, I visited the sights of Amsterdam, made a wonderful walk along the canals of this beautiful city. I also had time to visit my friends who live in Amsterdam and the Hague, to look at their life and to find out the difference between daily life of the Dutch and the Russians. From Amsterdam, you can quickly reach other cities of the Netherlands. In the Hague, you can swim in the North Sea, the coast of which is strikingly similar to Gulf of Finland in St. Petersburg, and taste herring which is a national dish. You also can visit the hometown of Hieronymus Bosch – 's-Hertogenbosch with a fascinating underground water canals, the city of Utrecht or Anna Paulowna that sounds so Russian.Могу  сказать, что это была замечательная неделя, насыщенная лекциями, беседами с представителями компаний, впечатляющими событиями. Если вы захотели открыть для себя Амстердам и IBC, то предлагаю узнать больше о том, как попасть на выставку-конференцию и как лучше к ней подготовиться.

Thank you for amazing opportunity to visit IBC

The IBC2016 gave me a lot. First, I knew only the broadcasting market leaders, now I learn many other companies and their state-of-the-art products. Secondly, I didn’t think a lot about the future of broadcasting, now I clearly see key trends of technology. Third I know many interesting people from different companies. It's one thing when you read the information in magazines and on sites, and quite another when you are among the thousands of people excitedly discussing the present and future of the industry. I believe that new information will help me to become a good specialist.  In addition I had the unique opportunity to practice English and discover the city of Amsterdam (a special thank for free travel passes).

I wanted to share with you a small part of what I have learned through the IBC2016. Obviously the industry expects the transition from SDI to IP. I should notice that the information on this subject in press is quite fragmented, and this conference has allowed me to build a clear picture.

I also realized that the key problem is the content. Creating 4K content, organizing live broadcast, fast processing as well as augmented reality, add-on services and second screen apps are important questions of nowadays.

Before the conference, I was sure that 3D has firmly taken its place, but now I know that the industry is preparing for the transition from 3D to VR.

Besides, I had not paid enough attention to sports events, but now I realize that cutting-edge technologies are demonstrated in the live broadcasts of sporting events. I will not miss any important sports event! And I look forward to broadcast the Olympics with 8K and VR (and, of course, with a minimum of delay, which is also mentioned a lot).

The quality of the conference is very high. It was a wonderful week, full of sessions, discussions, spectacular events. Now I know much more about new broadcasting technologies. In addition, I received great inspiration for further development. I would like to thank William Hayes, President of the IEEE BTS, James O’Neal, Main editor of IEEE Broadcast Technology, Martin Salter, Director and trustee of the IABM educational foundation, Alexander Evmenov, Sebastian Moeritz, Konstantin Glasman, Alexander Belozertcev from St. Petersburg State University of Film and Television and other people who were involved in organizing student trips to IBC.

Irina Savenkova

PhD student

of the Faculty of Management and Media Communications