Transcoding for Mobile Video

Improved devices, faster networks, and attractive pricing options and packages are helping fuel the increased demand for mobile video.  IDC forecasts the number of customers of mobile video and TV services should reach 25 million by 2011, surpassing a billion dollars in annual revenue in the process.

Unlike delivering video to PCs, mobile handsets are not at as sophisticated in their video capabilities.  The complexities of delivering mobile video increases exponentially due to the variety of end-user devices, each with their own unique screen size, resolution, bit-rate and supported codecs.  The CTIA recently reported that consumers are now using more than 700 types of handsets.  The variety is extremely diverse and the differentiation is likely to continue.  While this diversity benefits the consumer, it generates unique challenges for media companies, syndicators and UGV sites that are struggling to keep up with the increased number of transcode transactions required to meet the demands of a growing mobile video market. 

According to IDC, as many as 60 to 70 file formats must be supported in order to reach the wide range of handsets in the US market today.  That means a single video has to be transcoded 60 to 70 times in order to reach mobile viewing ubiquity – making that video available from any source to any screen – on the chance that someone will request it for viewing on their mobile device.  The volume of video, the number of transcodes required and the limitations of legacy transcode solutions has made it impossible for content providers to offer their entire video libraries to mass mobile audiences.  Instead, only select titles are offered, and even then, only through select carriers or to specific devices.

RipCode’s innovative on-demand video transcoding appliance revolutionizes the process of re-purposing video into multiple viewing formats such as PCs, smart phones, mobile devices, or iPods®;  eliminating the need for broadcasters, syndicators or user generated video sites to pre-transcode and store multiple file formats of their entire video library.  RipCode enables the video Long Tail to be transcoded and served to a customer on any screen size as they request it, giving viewers an expansion of content choices while reducing an operator’s server hardware, storage and energy use.  By dynamically transcoding video on demand, operators can monetize their entire library of video content – not just the most widely viewed titles – enabling them to grow their business and add new revenue streams.

RipCode can support a variety of mobile application requirements: