Canal+ has launched one of the first deployments of OTT low-latency streaming in the world.
The French paycaster is running on AppleTV 4K, thanks to Ateme’s NEA packager, the tech firm has announced.
The project enables Canal+ subscribers to watch sports events via HD and UHD low latency streaming through the myCANAL application with almost no delay compared to broadcast delivery. It is available to any user via HLS compatible Apple TV 4K, iPad and iPhone devices.
Ateme’s Just-In-Time NEA packager offers production-grade low latency in pull mode for both HLS and DASH. As a result, Canal has been able to reduce Latency from 40 seconds to just five.
“Keeping latency as low as possible while ensuring optimum visual quality is crucial for the viewer experience in live sports – think live football, rugby and Formula 1. But this has typically been a difficult strategy to balance. With Ateme’s NEA solution we’re able to offer both, without compromise,” said Philippe Rivas, Distribution Technical Director at Canal+.
“There have been many demonstrations of low-latency streaming but few real-world deployments. Our work with Canal+ is a game changer. Bringing low latency streaming for UHD to end users is an exciting step in a long-established relationship between our two organizations. We’re delighted to have worked closely with the business to enable one of the first implementations of its kind,” said Damien Lucas, Chief Product Officer of Ateme.
Ateme is the first to bring to market a low-latency JIT packager, with the innovation also ensuring improvements in quality of experience by providing near-perfect picture quality.
