70% agree that the industry is failing to take full advantage of market opportunities
(LONDON) Jan. 27, 2009—A recent broadcast industry poll conducted by AmberFin reveals that poor picture quality remains a major barrier to content adoption on new viewing devices, such as a mobile phone and PC. Furthermore, 70% of experts surveyed agreed the industry is failing to capitalize on the new market opportunities offered by the Internet, VoD and mobile due to the quality and cost issues associated with repurposing and delivering high volumes of content across multiple viewing devices.
Respondents agreed that the current image quality of video content falls short of viewer expectations and is in need of improvement. Over 35% of the industry experts surveyed, rated image quality of content viewed via PC over broadband connection as being poor, or at best average, while 28% noted a similar disappointing experience via mobile phone or handheld device.
The experts believe greater quality is critical to adoption and is intrinsically linked to the creation of new revenues and compelling services. When asked about paid for content, 33% of respondents said only high quality video would attract viewers to pay or subscribe. Moreover, nearly half (44%) believed viewers would consume more content via a mobile phone if picture quality were improved.
Jeremy Deaner, CEO at AmberFin, comments, “While the where, when and how we consume our content has dramatically changed, image quality remains to be a critical driver of adoption. This is where AmberFin plays an integral role as our iCR software tools can digitize and transform new and archived content. Through our market leading R&D and engineering teams we are able to produce superior quality pictures for both SD and HD content, delivering the sharpest images, contrast and color for video content to a range of viewing devices.”
AmberFin iCR has a heritage in providing the best image handling algorithms on the market and creates a high quality file-based master, delivers quality control review, provides unique file conversion to multiple formats and simultaneously prepares multi-platform versions of video content, all within a single software environment.
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Note to Editors
The industry poll was conducted at the IBC exhibition in September 2008, which involved surveying a total of 100 experts across varying sectors in the broadcast industry. Further details of the research are available upon request.
AmberFin Profile
AmberFin enables content owners to maximize the value of their TV, film and video content, from capture through to distribution, while increasing revenues, reducing costs, saving time and eliminating incompatibility issues. AmberFin iCR, with four-time Emmy-award winning technology, plays a key role in turning the content that owners have into the content their customers want. As an open standard, future proof platform that digitizes and transforms new and archived content, AmberFin iCR delivers the best quality pictures at smaller file sizes across multiple delivery platforms, including the Internet, VoD, TV, mobile and other small screen devices. AmberFin already has 100s of iCR systems in the field, and is trusted by some of the world’s most prestigious companies including Sony, NBA, Turner Broadcasting, BT, Channel 4, RTM and Warner Brothers, managing the digitization and repurposing of their content.
Privately held by Advent Venture Partners, AmberFin is part of the Snell & Wilcox Group, headquartered in Basingstoke, UK. More information is available at: www.amberfin.com
Editorial contacts
Kirstyn Langford (UK)
Hotwire for AmberFin
amberfin@hotwirepr.com
+44 (0) 207 608 2500
Jaime Tero (USA)
GBC for AmberFin
JaimeT@gbc-usa.com
+1 415 989 9803
