[Aditya]

Tata Communications, the official connectivity provider to Formula 1, has completed a successful proof of concept with Formula One Management during a recent Grand Prix.

The new technology test delivered a live trackside feed from the Singapore track to Formula One Management's technical headquarters in Biggin Hill, UK. Tata Communications claims that there was no time lag between the live broadcast and the footage viewed on the app.



This is an OTT (over-the-top) service, in which, the live video feed was delivered using Tata Communications' global fibre network and the company's Media Ecosystem. According to the company, this converted the feed into different bit-rates and at the same time, maintained a consistently high quality, real-time viewing experience, regardless of internet bandwidth or device. Unlike traditional OTT services, which often result in a lag of around 25 seconds between a live event and an online feed, this technology has the capability to deliver an online feed with no delay.

During the 2014 Formula One season, Tata Communications had tested a concept and became the first company to deliver a live 4K feed from a Formula 1 event. Live footage was delivered end-to-end over Tata Communications' network to Formula One Management's technical headquarters in Biggin Hill, UK. Demonstrated to a group of broadcasters, the live delivery highlighted the 4K broadcast capabilities afforded by fibre-optic cable.

Note: Image used for representation purpose only.

[quickdraw]

Formula 1 and FIM has always been bashed for not embracing tech and online world. They still stick to very expensive season pass which forces people to just look for free online streams. Hopefully this technology push and the success of F1 teams like Lotus on social media should show the organisers how important it is for them to look at new ways to engage with their dwindling but high ARPPU fanbase.

[GTO]

On a lighter note, who's going to be watching Formula Yawn. It's so boring that their viewership is dwindling .

Originally Posted by quickdraw

They still stick to very expensive season pass which forces people to just look for free online streams.

Now FREE on Star Sports (link). Even earlier, my brother had gotten the F1 package for merely 500 bucks for the full year.

[quickdraw]

Originally Posted by GTO

Now FREE on Star Sports (link). Even earlier, my brother had gotten the F1 package for merely 500 bucks for the full year.

Wow, thats great! Last I checked it was 1500 bucks or something for a season pass. The Star one is kinda useless because its browser based, but will see if I can stream it via the phone to my Apple TV.

I hope this season gets better though, I've been so away from it that I'm not even sure who the WC is, that coupled with the horrid final few races in MotoGP has really left me looking at WSBK/Le Mans and other form of racing, cant believe the premier classes of 2 and 4 wheeled racing are completely marred by politics and bad management.

[Rehaan]

While this news does use impressive terms like 4K, multiple-bitrate and fibre-optic - there's really nothing that is particularly new on uncommon there.

If you think about it, Youtube does the same thing. You can watch a video in 4K. It automatically chooses a lower-bitrate feed when you're on a slower connection, and chances are its coming over fibre optic network (except for the last mile/s).

I think the only thing that stands out as (possibly) new or different here is that the stream is that "there was no time lag between the live broadcast and the footage viewed on the app".

Note that it's probably still not truly real-time, but it does get over the 20-40 second delay that online "live-streams" usually face. I'm no expert, but I'd imagine they usually suffer this delay due to the video having to be transcoded. More so, when you're transcoding several different streams at different bitrates.

The impressive part is that Tata Communications seems to be doing this transcoding all within the time of the few seconds of delay that the live TV broadcast has.


That said, just like how technology in Formula 1 cars finally trickles down to road-cars, hopefully this private test will be one step closer to giving all viewers a minimal-lag live stream they can see online.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by Rehaan

It automatically chooses a lower-bitrate feed when you're on a slower connection, and chances are its coming over fibre optic network (except for the last mile/s).

Thanks! Very insightful post that simplifies it.

I was also wondering what the big deal with that is - Netflix has been doing the exact same thing (on slower connections) since ages.

The impressive part is that Tata Communications seems to be doing this transcoding all within the time of the few seconds of delay that the live TV broadcast has.

Originally Posted by quickdraw

The Star one is kinda useless because its browser based, but will see if I can stream it via the phone to my Apple TV.

On my smart TV, I can play browser-based videos. Sucks that Apple TV doesn't have Safari.