Streaming From the Mobile to the Newsroom and Game Show

Barcelona—While most video news at this year's Mobile World Congress (formerly 3GSM World Congress) centers on off-the-air DVB-H signal, several companies are showcasing streaming products that allow increased mobility in the broadcast news production workflow.

These products have been around for about 16 months, with Spain's Createcna winning an innovation award at the International Broadcaster Convention (IBC) in late 2006. But the innovation being announced in the last few months and showcased here is such that the products are pushing the envelope of HD streaming from remote locations via handsets and softphone desktop or laptop clients.

Mirial, a Milan company formerly known as DyLogic, is an example of the innovation of voice- and video-over-IP that's being moved into the broadcast news workflow. Its products, which allow for up to 30 3G video handsets to stream (via IP) or call (via GSM 324M video calls) to a news desk, can output an SDI signal—a single coaxial cable solution that includes audio and video—that can then be inserted into the newsroom's production switcher.

Likewise, Createcna's 3G Mobile Studio enables broadcasters to receive from mobile telephones a live audio and video stream just by dialing a regular phone number on the public network. With a product quite similar to Mirial's 3G-to-TV Video Calling solution, Createcna has been winning European broadcasters over to a live-from-mobile workflow that's almost as good as the videophones from years' past.

Createcna's system also can record video calls in H.263, H.264, and WMV, storing content for use in later broadcasts, and can also import content from satellite to SDI and is adapted to IMS, SIP, HSDPA and EVDO. In addition, a simultaneous output stream can also be sent from the production box as it's being output in SDI for the broadcast switcher.

Mirial, not content to work just with broadcasters, has used its high-capacity 3G calling capability (30 3G calls compared to 6 for Createcna) to move into two additional areas: call centers and what it calls Participation TV. In the call center scenario, callers are queued in the order their call is received.