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<\/div>\nSport tells a thousand stories.\u00a0Fans of any\u00a0sport\u00a0can talk endlessly about David vs. Goliath\u00a0epics, evil adversaries,\u00a0and the\u00a0rags-to-riches\u00a0storylines that\u00a0capture so much of our attention. These\u00a0unfold in every event: in track and field, multiple competitions happen at\u00a0once \u2013 runners sprinting down the home straight as long jumpers launch into the sand \u2013 each carrying its own drama and competing for the viewer\u2019s attention. In biathlon, viewers may want to follow several\u00a0spots\u00a0simultaneously: athletes skiing across the course, competitors shooting side by side, or the progress of a racer\u00a0representing\u00a0their home country.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Despite so many\u00a0narratives unfolding at once, viewers are accustomed to seeing just one version of the event, which\u00a0we call the “director\u2019s cut.” While commentators, pundits, and\u00a0replays\u00a0all valiantly\u00a0attempt\u00a0to fill in the blanks, what\u2019s broadcast\u00a0around the world is\u00a0ultimately\u00a0just\u00a0a\u00a0small piece\u00a0of\u00a0the story.<\/p>\n
However,\u00a0multiview<\/a>\u00a0is\u00a0\u2013 quite literally –\u00a0changing the picture.\u00a0Through splitting the screen into multiple, smaller, simultaneous viewing boxes,\u00a0audiences\u00a0can watch several streams at the same time.\u00a0Traditionally however, these\u00a0multiview\u00a0experiences<\/a> have still been curated by the broadcaster, with every viewer seeing the same\u00a0selection\u00a0of camera angles or live feeds.\u00a0<\/p>\n Single-player\u00a0multiview<\/a>\u00a0changes that dynamic. Rather than relying on a fixed combination of streams, viewers can choose for themselves which athletes, camera\u00a0angles\u00a0or moments they want to follow, personalising the experience around the narratives they care about most.\u00a0In doing so, they take on\u00a0the role of the director themselves.\u00a0They\u2019re\u00a0able\u00a0to\u00a0engage\u00a0on a deeper level\u00a0with\u00a0the\u00a0live events\u00a0they love\u00a0by\u00a0moving beyond a fixed perspective\u00a0while\u00a0maintaining\u00a0frame-accurate synchronization between camera angles.\u00a0Multiview\u00a0opens the possibility to follow what matters most\u00a0\u2013 whether\u00a0that\u2019s\u00a0tracking a long jumper through their run-up and jump or staying with a sprinter as they race for the finish line in medal-defining moment.\u00a0<\/p>\n The reason\u00a0multiview\u00a0is\u00a0such an industry focus\u00a0is not just the growth in screen sizes and modern TVs that make it a possibility, but the streaming advancements which underpin it.\u00a0<\/p>\n Several technologies\u00a0support\u00a0multiview\u00a0streaming.\u00a0However,\u00a0\u00a0the\u00a0latest video coding standard<\/a>, Versatile Video Coding\u00a0(VVC),\u00a0\u00a0makes\u00a0single-player\u00a0multiview\u00a0streaming\u00a0–\u00a0where\u00a0a user’s device decodes and displays multiple video feeds\u00a0–\u00a0efficient,\u00a0scalable\u00a0and\u00a0effortless to implement.\u00a0VVC<\/a> improves upon High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC)<\/a> by delivering the same visual quality with about half the data, allowing for high-quality video streams even on low-bandwidth connections.\u00a0<\/p>\n In the\u00a0single-player\u00a0multiview\u00a0approach, each camera feed is encoded independently by a dedicated VVC encoder and made available for streaming. Based on the viewer\u2019s\u00a0selections, the player receives the desired bitstreams and merges them as independent subpictures into a single VVC bitstream, which a single VVC decoder then decodes.<\/p>\n For\u00a0service provider\u2019s, enabling\u00a0multiview\u00a0with VVC\u00a0doesn\u2019t\u00a0require a complete overhaul. Encoders simply need to follow a few straightforward guidelines so that separate video feeds can be\u00a0combined\u00a0cleanly on the\u00a0end-user’s device. With older standards like HEVC, achieving\u00a0the\u00a0same results is far more complicated. It requires careful coordination to prevent different\u00a0coded\u00a0parts of the picture from interfering with each other, which not only adds complexity,\u00a0but can also reduce overall video quality.\u00a0<\/p>\n At the player level, bringing multiple streams together into a single VVC video is\u00a0relatively lightweight. The process\u00a0mainly involves\u00a0adjusting high-level metadata so that different video feeds can be presented into\u00a0one coherent stream. Thanks to features built into the\u00a0MP4 packaging\u00a0of VVC, this can be done without need\u00a0to\u00a0parse the VVC\u00a0bitstream. In contrast, older approaches often require rewriting parts of the video data, making them more difficult to implement.<\/p>\n In practical terms,\u00a0this means VVC\u00a0allows\u00a0multiview\u00a0to be added\u00a0without\u00a0disrupting\u00a0existing\u00a0workflows.\u00a0Individual\u00a0camera\u00a0feeds\u00a0can still be\u00a0delivered\u00a0and viewed\u00a0on their own,\u00a0while\u00a0multiview\u00a0becomes an\u00a0additional\u00a0layer of\u00a0flexibility\u00a0on top. The result\u00a0is a\u00a0system\u00a0that is\u00a0not only more\u00a0scalable, but\u00a0also\u00a0easier to\u00a0deploy,\u00a0opening the door\u00a0for\u00a0richer\u00a0viewing\u00a0experiences.<\/p>\n While VVC is poised to unlock\u00a0multiview\u00a0video streaming, its application extends beyond sport and live events.\u00a0Concerts, theatre performances, conferences, live\u00a0education\u00a0and corporate communications can all benefit from giving viewers greater control over the perspectives they see. Game streaming is another strong use case, where frame-accurate synchronisation allows viewers to switch between players or follow multiple participants simultaneously.<\/p>\n Beyond entertainment, VVC-driven\u00a0multiview\u00a0can also improve accessibility. Features such as replacing part of the main video with a sign language interpreter or tailoring content to individual viewing needs\u00a0open up\u00a0new ways to make video experiences more inclusive.<\/p>\n VVC’s unmatched ability to deliver superior quality while cutting data consumption makes it a technology worth keeping a sharp eye on over the coming years. As\u00a0consumers increasingly expect control over how they watch live content, VVC provides a future-proof foundation for delivering richer, more immersive viewing experiences.\u00a0And with them, no matter if\u00a0their favorite sports teams\u00a0are\u00a0giving them goosebumps\u00a0or\u00a0the urge to\u00a0tear their hair out,\u00a0they\u2019re\u00a0going to be\u00a0closer to\u00a0the experience than ever before.<\/p>\n [Editor’s note: This is a contributed article from Nokia<\/a>. Streaming Media accepts vendor bylines based solely on their value to our readers.]<\/em><\/p>\nHow VVC is the perfect fit for\u00a0single-player\u00a0multiview<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n
Same engine, millions of\u00a0possibilities<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n
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