Tech Insight: Mobile Viewpoint talks 5G enabled remote production and an AI-differentiated future

Mobile Viewpoint kit was used by Mediahaus to broadcast the Mountain Attack Challenge held in January 2020 in Saalbach Hinterglemm, Austria

In our next Tech Insight SVG Europe talks to Michel Bais, managing director, Mobile Viewpoint. Bais extols the potential of 5G-enabled remote production and looks at the opportunities that an artificial intelligence (AI) based future could provide. Mobile Viewpoint is a global innovator in mobile live streaming solutions and AI technologies for news teams, TV production companies, outside broadcast facilities, security and public safety agencies.

What are your key new technologies, solutions and enhancements for sports broadcasters that you have bought out over the last quarter?

We’ve been very active recently in launching key solution enhancements targeting sports broadcasters. We participated in showcasing the world’s first standalone private 5G network for sports broadcasting, which took place at a major MotoGP event, the Monster Energy British Grand Prix.

We also launched Vislink Connect, a premium bonded cellular service designed for the needs of live news and sports production professionals. This was the first of its kind to deliver all-IP REMI production workflows, robust performance and attractive data plans with predictable costs.

We also announced quite a few technical advances across our Vislink and Mobile Viewpoint product lines. This included many updates to our Quantum IP wireless camera receiver to support SRT, SMPTE2110 video connectivity, and seamless integration with the Mobile Viewpoint LinkMatrix control and content routing management platform.

Moreover, we updated our bonded cellular encoders to enable faster upload speeds, improved video quality and expanded capabilities of our IQ SportsProducer and vPilot automated production systems.

Finally, we released the Mobile Viewpoint BaseLink 5G, our newest mobile encoder for remote production and demanding live streaming applications. This product is targeted to broadcasters and content creators who want a professional live streaming solution that can be set up and deployed easily and at relatively low cost.

What have been the top technology trends during 2021 what are the hot technology trends we can expect to see in 2022 in sports broadcasting, and why will we see these?

The industry continues moving toward the promise of 5G-enabled remote production. Our clientele is very interested in 5G bonded mobile video contribution that can enable higher upload speeds and lower latency for higher-quality video. At the same time, there is a trend toward seeking bespoke, hybrid private and public 5G solutions that allow applications to seamlessly utilise ubiquitous IP networks and cloud-scale computing across 5G, WiFi6, Mesh and COFDM-enabled infrastructure. This will give sports production pros unprecedented control and flexibility over the acquisition, production, contribution and delivery of video over all available private and public networks.

There is also growing interest in leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning technologies that can be added to REMI workflows to reduce costs, cover additional events and reach new audiences more economically. We believe that 5G and AI-driven solutions will be pivotal to achieving the optimum deployment of production and human infrastructure and will increase opportunities to develop new kinds of differentiated, compelling and profitable content in a variety of formats.

What can we expect to see from your company in 2022?

The live sports market can expect to see additional innovations resulting from the integration of Vislink and Mobile Viewpoint technologies and product offerings. Our vision is to offer solutions that bring live sports to life. To do that, we’re working on advancements that will make live production more immersive – through wireless camera systems that provide audiences with unparalleled viewing quality, immediate – with the most reliable, low latency transmissions using cellular technology, and intelligent, using AI-powered systems that allow more content to be produced profitably than ever before.