V-NOVA

Last updated
V-NOVA
Type Private limited company
Industry Data compression, video codec
Founded2011
Founders Guido Meardi, Pierdavide Marcolongo and Others
Headquarters
London
,
UK
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
David Benello (Chairman)
Guido Meardi (CEO)
Pierdavide Marcolongo (COO)

V-NOVA is a multinational IP and Technology company headquartered in London, UK. It is best known for innovation in data compression technology for video and images. [1] [2] V-Nova has partnered with large organizations including Sky, Xilinx, Nvidia, Eutelsat, and Amazon Web Services to provide its video compression technology. [1] [3]

Contents

History

V-NOVA was founded in 2011 by Guido Meardi, Pierdavide Marcolongo and others. [4] In 2012, Mr Federico Faggin [5] was among V-NOVA’s investors and founding members.

In 2016, Sky acquired a minority stake in V-NOVA for £4.5 million [8], and Eutelsat subsequently acquired a minority stake for an undisclosed amount. [6] In the same year, Eutelsat deployed V-NOVA's technology for the 4K contribution feeds of the UEFA Euro Championship 2016 and, subsequently, acquired a minority stake for an undisclosed amount. [7] Also in 2016, V-NOVA became a member of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers. [8]

In 2017, V-NOVA acquired the entire Faroudja patent portfolio to improve its Perseus codec. [9]

In April 2019, V-NOVA technology was selected by MPEG for the working draft of the MPEG-5 codec enhancement standard. [10] In the same year V-Nova became a member of the Advanced Television Systems Committee. [11]

In 2020, V-NOVA and Amazon Web Services collaborated. [12]

In May 2021, V-NOVA announced its partnership with SOUTHWORKS for LCEVC Integration Services. [13] [14]

In June 2021, V-NOVA partnerred with D-Orbit and Unibap to demonstrate VC-6 for on-orbit satellite imagery acceleration. The satellite was launched in Summer 2021. [15] In July, multiple professional investors, including Intesa's Venture Capital arm Neva SGR, invested €33m into V-NOVA. [16] [17]

In November 2021, V-NOVA and PresenZ released a Six Degrees of Freedom (6DoF) movie on the Steam Store. The movie uses V-NOVA’s point-cloud compression technology combined with 6DoF volumetric movie format from PresenZ. [18]

In January 2022, SBTVD Forum approved a selection of technologies for SBTVD 3.0 which include MPEG-5 LCEVC, V-NOVA & Harmonic Inc.’s submission. [19] [20]

Technology

In 2015, the company announced a new digital data-encoding technology based on multi-layer coding, parallel processing and deep learning called Perseus for efficient video streaming with a focus on enabling UHD/4K services at lower bandwidths. It was claimed that it could be streamed to TVs and other devices using only around 50% of the bandwidth required by existing streaming technologies. [21] [22]

V-NOVA’s technology was later selected to provide the essential IP for the ISO/IEC 23094-2 standard MPEG-5 Part 2 Low Complexity Enhancement Video Coding (LCEVC), a codec-agnostic enhancement codec that can be combined with other video codecs to improve their coding and processing efficiency. It also maintains compatibility with the device ecosystem of the enhanced codec. [23]

V-NOVA also developed another international standard codec, SMPTE VC-6 ST 2117, aimed at professional video and Artificial Intelligence applications. [24]

In April 2021, MPEG Video validated the Verification Test of LCEVC (Low Complexity Enhancement Video Coding) standard ((ISO/IEC 23094-2). Test results tended to indicate an overall benefit also when using LCEVC to enhance AVC, HEVC, EVC and VVC. [25] [26]

Awards

The CSI Awards recognized V-NOVA as Best Digital Video Processing Technology in 2015 and 2017. [27] [28] V-NOVA was named Best of Show by the TV Technology Awards for four consecutive years in 2015, 2016, 2017, & 2018. [29] [30] [31] [32] It was also named Best of Show for its PERSEUS-powered Universal Media Player by TVB Europe in 2015, 2016, and 2017. [33] [34]

In 2016, the Diplomatic Council Awards named V-NOVA as Global Media Innovator. [35] [36] V-NOVA was recognized for its point cloud compression scheme by the Advanced Image Society at the 12th annual Entertainment Technology Lumiere Awards in 2022. [37]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MPEG-2</span> Video encoding standard

MPEG-2 is a standard for "the generic coding of moving pictures and associated audio information". It describes a combination of lossy video compression and lossy audio data compression methods, which permit storage and transmission of movies using currently available storage media and transmission bandwidth. While MPEG-2 is not as efficient as newer standards such as H.264/AVC and H.265/HEVC, backwards compatibility with existing hardware and software means it is still widely used, for example in over-the-air digital television broadcasting and in the DVD-Video standard.

Dirac is an open and royalty-free video compression format, specification and system developed by BBC Research & Development. Schrödinger and dirac-research are open and royalty-free software implementations of Dirac. Dirac format aims to provide high-quality video compression for Ultra HDTV and beyond, and as such competes with existing formats such as H.264 and VC-1.

Windows Media Video (WMV) is a series of video codecs and their corresponding video coding formats developed by Microsoft. It is part of the Windows Media framework. WMV consists of three distinct codecs: The original video compression technology known as WMV, was originally designed for Internet streaming applications, as a competitor to RealVideo. The other compression technologies, WMV Screen and WMV Image, cater for specialized content. After standardization by the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE), WMV version 9 was adapted for physical-delivery formats such as HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc and became known as VC-1. Microsoft also developed a digital container format called Advanced Systems Format to store video encoded by Windows Media Video.

SMPTE 421, informally known as VC-1, is a video coding format. Most of it was initially developed as Microsoft's proprietary video format Windows Media Video 9 in 2003. With some enhancements including the development of a new Advanced Profile, it was officially approved as a SMPTE standard on April 3, 2006. It was primarily marketed as a lower-complexity competitor to the H.264/MPEG-4 AVC standard. After its development, several companies other than Microsoft asserted that they held patents that applied to the technology, including Panasonic, LG Electronics and Samsung Electronics.

These tables compare features of multimedia container formats, most often used for storing or streaming digital video or digital audio content. To see which multimedia players support which container format, look at comparison of media players.

Avid DNxHD is a lossy high-definition video post-production codec developed by Avid for multi-generation compositing with reduced storage and bandwidth requirements. It is an implementation of SMPTE VC-3 standard.

The first attempt at producing pre-recorded HDTV media was a scarce Japanese analog MUSE-encoded laser disc which is no longer produced.

H.264 and VC-1 are popular video compression standards gaining use in the industry as of 2007.

AVC-Intra is a type of video coding developed by Panasonic, and then supported in products made by other companies. AVC-Intra is available in Panasonic's high definition broadcast products, such as, for example, their P2 card equipped broadcast cameras.

High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), also known as H.265 and MPEG-H Part 2, is a video compression standard designed as part of the MPEG-H project as a successor to the widely used Advanced Video Coding. In comparison to AVC, HEVC offers from 25% to 50% better data compression at the same level of video quality, or substantially improved video quality at the same bit rate. It supports resolutions up to 8192×4320, including 8K UHD, and unlike the primarily 8-bit AVC, HEVC's higher fidelity Main 10 profile has been incorporated into nearly all supporting hardware.

x265 HEVC/H.265 encoder

x265 is a encoder for creating digital video streams in the High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC/H.265) video compression format developed by the Joint Collaborative Team on Video Coding (JCT-VC). It is available as a command-line app or a software library, under the terms of GNU General Public License (GPL) version 2 or later; however, customers may request a commercial license.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">VP9</span> Open and royalty-free video coding format released by Google in 2013

VP9 is an open and royalty-free video coding format developed by Google.

Apple ProRes is a high quality, "visually lossless" lossy video compression format developed by Apple Inc. for use in post-production that supports video resolution up to 8K. It is the successor of the Apple Intermediate Codec and was introduced in 2007 with Final Cut Studio 2. Much like the H.26x and MPEG standards, the ProRes family of codecs use compression algorithms based on the discrete cosine transform (DCT). ProRes is widely used as a final format delivery method for HD broadcast files in commercials, features, Blu-ray and streaming.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ultra-high-definition television</span> Television formats beyond HDTV

Ultra-high-definition television today includes 4K UHD and 8K UHD, which are two digital video formats with an aspect ratio of 16:9. These were first proposed by NHK Science & Technology Research Laboratories and later defined and approved by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

Versatile Video Coding (VVC), also known as H.266, ISO/IEC 23090-3, and MPEG-I Part 3, is a video compression standard finalized on 6 July 2020, by the Joint Video Experts Team (JVET), a joint video expert team of the VCEG working group of ITU-T Study Group 16 and the MPEG working group of ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 29. It is the successor to High Efficiency Video Coding. It was developed with two primary goals – improved compression performance and support for a very broad range of applications.

JPEG XS is an interoperable, visually lossless, low-latency and lightweight image and video coding system used in professional applications. Applications of the standard include streaming high quality content for virtual reality, drones, autonomous vehicles using cameras, gaming, and broadcasting. In this respect, JPEG XS is unique, being the first ISO codec ever designed for this specific purpose. JPEG XS, built on core technology from both intoPIX and Fraunhofer IIS, is formally standardized as ISO/IEC 21122 by the Joint Photographic Experts Group with the first edition published in 2019. Although not official, the XS acronym was chosen to highlight the eXtra Small and eXtra Speed characteristics of the codec. Today, the JPEG committee is still actively working on further improvements to XS, with the second edition scheduled for publication and initial efforts being launched towards a third edition.

MPEG-5 Essential Video Coding (EVC) is a current video compression standard that has been completed in April 2020 by decision of MPEG Working Group 11 at its 130th meeting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">VC-6</span> A video coding format

SMPTE ST 2117-1, informally known as VC-6, is a video coding format.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LCEVC</span> Video coding standard

Low Complexity Enhancement Video Coding (LCEVC) is a ISO/IEC video coding standard developed by the Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) under the project name MPEG-5 Part 2 LCEVC.

References

  1. 1 2 "Big leap in 4K video streaming tech". BBC News.
  2. ↑ "Video compression inspired by nature". Financial Times.
  3. ↑ "APN Partner Profile". Amazon Web Services, Inc.
  4. ↑ "V-Nova". 100 Stories.
  5. ↑ "V-Nova". 100 Stories.
  6. ↑ "Sky buys stake in V-Nova". Broadcast.
  7. ↑ "Eutelsat Takes a Stake, Partners with V-Nova for Compression Technologies". Via Satellite. 2016-09-14. Retrieved 2020-01-21.
  8. ↑ "V-Nova Joins SMPTE". Advanced Television. 2016-12-19. Retrieved 2020-01-21.
  9. ↑ "Il ritorno di Faroudja per migliorare la qualità di Rai e Sky". DDay.it (in Italian).
  10. ↑ "V-Nova recruited by MPEG-5 for codec enhancement". Rethink.
  11. ↑ "Members". ATSC. Retrieved 2019-09-13.
  12. ↑ "V-Nova, AWS collaborate on more efficient on-demand online services | Infrastructure | News | Rapid TV News". Rapidtvnews.com.
  13. ↑ "V-Nova introduces LCEVC SDK licensing terms". Digital TV Europe. 20 May 2021.
  14. ↑ "V-Nova LCEVC Royalty Structure Announced". Streaming Media Magazine. 20 May 2021.
  15. ↑ "V-Nova teams with D-Orbit and Unibap to demonstrate VC-6 for on-orbit satellite imagery acceleration". Geospatial World. 10 June 2021.
  16. ↑ "V-Nova closes €33m series C funding". advanced-television.com.
  17. ↑ "V-Nova Receives Investment from Neva First". FinSMEs. 26 July 2021.
  18. ↑ "V-Nova delights with real-life VR demo, marketing skepticism sticks". Rethink.
  19. ↑ "Brazilian goldrush for V-Nova as LCEVC etched into SBTVD 3.0". Rethink.
  20. ↑ "Fórum SBTVD | TV 3.0 Project". Forumsbtvd.org.br (in Brazilian Portuguese).
  21. ↑ Grant, August E.; Meadows, Jennifer H. (2016). Communication Technology Update and Fundamentals: 15th Edition. Taylor & Francis. ISBN   978-1-134-98765-8.
  22. ↑ "Perseus, lo streaming 4K diventa leggero e possibile". Wired (in Italian). 10 April 2015.
  23. ↑ "Inside MPEG's Ambitious Plan to Launch 3 Video Codecs in 2020". Streaming Media Magazine. 15 October 2019.
  24. ↑ Jachetta, Jim (15 February 2020). "New Codec - SMPTE VC-6 ST 2117 P.Pro - a More Efficient Alternative to Uncompressed, JPEG XS and JPEG 2000 from V-Nova". VidOvation Corporation.
  25. ↑ "MPEG 134 – MPEG". MPEG Standards.
  26. ↑ "MPEG validates LCEVC performance as royalties about to be made public". CSI.
  27. ↑ "CSI Awards". csimagazine.com.
  28. ↑ "CSI Awards". csimagazine.com.
  29. ↑ April 2018, Tom Butts 16. "TV Technology Announces Recipients of Best of Show Awards for the 2018 NAB Show". TVTechnology.
  30. ↑ April 2017, Claudia Kienzle 10. "V-Nova Next-Gen Video Compression On Tap for 2017 NAB Show". TVTechnology.
  31. ↑ April 2016, TV Technology Staff 25. "TV Technology Announces 2016 NAB Best of Show Award Winners". TVTechnology.
  32. ↑ April 2015, Staff 17. "TV Technology Announces 2015 NAB Best of Show Award Winners". TVTechnology.
  33. ↑ "Best of Show 2017 winners announced". TVBEurope. 19 September 2017.
  34. ↑ "Best of Show winners announced". TVBEurope. 14 September 2016.
  35. ↑ "Global Media Innovator | Diplomatic Council". diplomatic-council.org.
  36. ↑ "Dieter Brockmeyer – 'DC Global Media Innovator' is going to the second round". Broadband TV News. 3 November 2016.
  37. ↑ Carolyn Giardina (April 23, 2022). "Weta FX, Cinionic, AMD Among Advanced Imaging Society Award Honorees". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 24, 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.