SYDNEY—Handling the broadcasts for more than 120,000 thoroughbred horse races a year, Sky Racing has begun using AWS Elemental Live encoders to help deliver live streams of races.
Sky uses the AWS Elemental Live platform for adaptive bitrate encoding and Apple HLS packaging, which enables them to stream more than 40 live video channels simultaneously, according to the broadcaster.
The Elemental Live encoders take in uncompressed HD video channels from Sky’s playout center. Each channel is encoded into video streams at different video resolutions and bitrates Sky needs to deliver to viewer devices. The streams are then packaged as Apple HLS video segments for delivery via content distribution networks. The Elemental Live encoders are also equipped with high-speed optical Ethernet interfaces to support SMPTE-2110 uncompressed video over IP inputs.
Sky also purchased two AWS Elemental Live L525AE encoders to encode an additional 16 live video channels simultaneously for the Sky Racing Active Service. Each encoder performs adaptive bitrate live stream encoding for eight HD video channels.
In addition, Sky Racing is also equipped with AWS Elemental Quality Defined Variable Bit Rate (QBVR) encoding. QBVR can maintain quality video encoding using the minimum bitrate needed by continuously adapting to the complexity of the video content, per Sky. Screens with less motion and less complexity use a lower video bitrate, while more complex content is allocated a higher bitrate to maintain the same quality.
Sky uses AWS Elemental encoding software installed on on-premises hardware, which maximizes the number of video channels that can be encoded per device from uncompressed video feeds originating from Sky’s Sydney broadcast facility.
Another AWS product being put to use by Sky is the Elemental Conductor Live management system for managing encoding. This platform provides centralized control and monitoring of all live streaming channels, including features like automatic changeover to back-up systems.
Further, Sky Racing has purchased multiple AWS Elemental Live L532AE multichannel encoders to provide up to 48 HD channels of live streaming encoding for a disaster recovery facility as a backup to the primary site’s live stream encoding.
The AWS technology was supplied and supported by Digistor. For more information, visit www.digistor.com.au.
