BigPond TV gets a quality boost

Stuart Corner
Wednesday, 06 October 2010 13:37

Your IT - Entertainment

Streamed content on Telstra's Big Pond TV service will get a quality boost following the implementation of streaming technology from US company Widevine Technologies.

The upgraded service will initially be available only on TVs from LG and Blu-ray players from Samsung that ship with access to BigPond movies. It will be available via the Telstra T-Box set top box in 2011. (LG announced in April that it would sell in Australia Internet capable bundled with access to BigPond TV)

The upgrade is being positioned as a differentiator between Big Pond TV and increasing competition from other ISPs that are now offering, or are about to offer, IPTV services. Telstra's head of IPTV, Ben Kinealy, said: "If 2010 was the year when IPTV became a mainstream reality in Australia, then the year ahead will be one where the quality they have come to expect from the service will transform from an Internet standard to a true broadcast standard."

He claimed that the Widevine technology "will ensure that customers watching BigPond TV will enjoy the same high-quality experience as customers have come to expect from traditional broadcast TV."

Widevine's video optimisation technology works by monitoring the available bandwidth at the device and choosing the appropriate bit rate for video delivery. According to Widevine, this eliminates constant buffering interruptions that take place as bandwidth fluctuates in the home. "As a result, consumers can experience high-quality, live programming regardless of their bandwidth connection."

Widevine claims that its software platform "optimises the entertainment experience for content delivered over any network to any device [and] is natively supported in nearly all major brands and types of network connected consumer electronics including televisions, Blu-ray players, mobile devices, gaming systems and more."

In the US, AT&T is using the Widevine technology to deliver video content to mobile devices, including the iPhone.