LONDON—Globo, Brazil’s largest broadcaster, recently collaborated with V-Nova, a developer of video compression solutions, to test the delivery of an LCEVC-enhanced stream for the 2023 Carnival in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The live stream was set up alongside the existing AVC/H.264 feed to demonstrate the benefits of MPEG-5 LCEVC in live streaming applications, where it is paramount to obtain maximum quality within the real-time constraints, especially on detailed and complex content such as that of the Brazilian Carnival parades.
LCEVC (Low Complexity Enhancement Video Coding) is a new MPEG standard that can boost the compression efficiency of any existing or future video codec, enabling higher quality at up to 40% lower bitrates.
The streaming trial featured a MainConcept LCEVC-enhanced H.264 live encoder creating a ladder of 6 profiles peaking at 1080p29.97 @ 4500kbps. This was compared to the incumbent AVC/H.264-only channel of 8 profiles, where the top profile was 1080p29.97 @ 5500kbps. The streaming employed HLS in 6 second TS segments and delivered via AWS CloudFront. Playback was available on a demonstration website using Shaka Player v4.3 which natively includes an LCEVC decoding option.
The LCEVC-enhanced H.264 produced a higher quality output with a ~40% bandwidth saving compared to the existing H.264-only stream. V-Nova says this significant reduction promises to make large-scale streaming events accessible to millions on congested networks while simultaneously reducing delivery costs for the video service provider. The trial was carried out live, delivering content across the world using LCEVC-enabled encoding and player solutions that are already available on the market.
“The Carnival is as beautiful to watch as it is challenging to compress at high quality," said Guido Meardi, CEO of V-Nova. "We are proud of our collaboration with Globo, which proves the tangible benefits of LCEVC for enhancing resolution and picture quality in large-scale live events while improving efficiency in both the CDN and backend. Critically, these real-life trials demonstrate that this new technology can be deployed today with broad encoder and decoder support available.”
Deacon Johnson, SVP & General Manager at MainConcept said, “We are pleased to continue the work we started in 2022 with V-Nova and Globo. MainConcept values our partnerships with industry leaders, such as V-Nova and Globo, who share our commitment to the quality, reliability, and performance we demand in our products.”
LCEVC is the selected enhancement layer for the upcoming TV 3.0 system in Brazil. Globo and V-Nova already successfully showcased the use of live LCEVC-enhanced video during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, proving its effectiveness in a complex broadcast scenario. The 2023 Carnival streaming can be watched here: https://lcevc.globo-carnival.tv/
