Layer3 TV - Another Alternative to Cable & Satellite
I've written several times about "cord cutting" options that are out there. There is a big movement by cable & satellite companies as well as content producers to move towards streaming based IP based delivery of content instead of Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM) and Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) that has been used for years.
Even today many cable and satellite companies provide a hybrid delivery method where both FDM/QAM and IP are used. Often when you order a movie you are in fact streaming content.
With streaming however there is a challenge and that is getting the content compressed enough to provide quick downloads while still maintaining the quality of video and audio. Especially as we've progressed from 480p to 1080p and now 4k content along with Dolby Atmos and DTX audio.
As anyone who has purchased an HD movie from iTunes or the MS store has noticed you often are downloading anywhere from 4 - 8GB of data. That file size along with low bandwidth is what often causes the dreaded buffering wait when streaming.
So two changes have effectively alleviated that issue. First - household broadband speeds have been steadily increasing. If is relatively easy now to get high speed broadband internet service. If you have a DOCSIS 3.0 or 3.1 modem for example you can get 150 to 300 Mbps of service. Make the move to Fiber to the home (FTTH) services and you can easily get 1Gbps service
Second is the advances in the AV Codecs. As I've written in the past about "ripping" DVDs and BluRays we've seen great advances in the reduction in the size of the resultant file. For example using the H.264 Codec a 1080p 2hr movie with Dolby Digital 5.1 sound typically can compress down to around 8GB from the 40GB or so that is on the Blu-Ray disc.
But now there is HEVC or High Efficiency Video Coding based on the H.265 standard that compresses that same file into a 2GB or less file while still maintaining the quality.
The combination of these two technologies now allows for a different approach to video distribution and that is streaming all content over IP connections. So now instead of a cable set-top-box (STB) you have a wireless HEVC endpoint that connects to your home WiFi and utilizes broadband to connect to the content source.
So while there are similar solutions from the cable/satellite providers - for example I use DirecTV with their RVU based wireless endpoints and what they describe as a Wireless Video Bridge (WVB) it's really not an IP based solution.
So now there is a new player in the space called Layer3 TV. Based in Denver, CO Layer3 does several unique things. First is they transcode all content into HEVC and then stream to the registered endpoints in your home.
Because of the HEVC coding - they can offer 275 channels of 4K content and 1,000 hrs of DVR recording up to 8 channels at once. And so while there still is an STB endpoint they also updated it with modern colors and a customizable LCD front panel. They also offer voice search capabilities.
Their approach to streaming was good enough that they recently partnered with T-Mobile to bundle their streaming to mobile devices. And considering the upcoming LTE 5G bandwidth capabilities I can easily see myself replacing my cable modem with a LTE 5G modem in my home getting all my services this way.
So unfortunately Layer3 TV is not yet available in my market - but if it were I would buy it in a heartbeat.
And when you compare what Layer3 is doing versus DirecTV Now, Playstation VUE, HuluTV and YouTube TV, I think they have a winning combination.
Bottom line here is Layer3 TV looks to be a really nice alternative to cable/satellite for providing a large portfolio of traditional TV content. If your in one of their service areas - check them out...
Even today many cable and satellite companies provide a hybrid delivery method where both FDM/QAM and IP are used. Often when you order a movie you are in fact streaming content.
With streaming however there is a challenge and that is getting the content compressed enough to provide quick downloads while still maintaining the quality of video and audio. Especially as we've progressed from 480p to 1080p and now 4k content along with Dolby Atmos and DTX audio.
As anyone who has purchased an HD movie from iTunes or the MS store has noticed you often are downloading anywhere from 4 - 8GB of data. That file size along with low bandwidth is what often causes the dreaded buffering wait when streaming.
So two changes have effectively alleviated that issue. First - household broadband speeds have been steadily increasing. If is relatively easy now to get high speed broadband internet service. If you have a DOCSIS 3.0 or 3.1 modem for example you can get 150 to 300 Mbps of service. Make the move to Fiber to the home (FTTH) services and you can easily get 1Gbps service
Second is the advances in the AV Codecs. As I've written in the past about "ripping" DVDs and BluRays we've seen great advances in the reduction in the size of the resultant file. For example using the H.264 Codec a 1080p 2hr movie with Dolby Digital 5.1 sound typically can compress down to around 8GB from the 40GB or so that is on the Blu-Ray disc.
But now there is HEVC or High Efficiency Video Coding based on the H.265 standard that compresses that same file into a 2GB or less file while still maintaining the quality.
The combination of these two technologies now allows for a different approach to video distribution and that is streaming all content over IP connections. So now instead of a cable set-top-box (STB) you have a wireless HEVC endpoint that connects to your home WiFi and utilizes broadband to connect to the content source.
So while there are similar solutions from the cable/satellite providers - for example I use DirecTV with their RVU based wireless endpoints and what they describe as a Wireless Video Bridge (WVB) it's really not an IP based solution.
So now there is a new player in the space called Layer3 TV. Based in Denver, CO Layer3 does several unique things. First is they transcode all content into HEVC and then stream to the registered endpoints in your home.
Because of the HEVC coding - they can offer 275 channels of 4K content and 1,000 hrs of DVR recording up to 8 channels at once. And so while there still is an STB endpoint they also updated it with modern colors and a customizable LCD front panel. They also offer voice search capabilities.
Their approach to streaming was good enough that they recently partnered with T-Mobile to bundle their streaming to mobile devices. And considering the upcoming LTE 5G bandwidth capabilities I can easily see myself replacing my cable modem with a LTE 5G modem in my home getting all my services this way.
So unfortunately Layer3 TV is not yet available in my market - but if it were I would buy it in a heartbeat.
And when you compare what Layer3 is doing versus DirecTV Now, Playstation VUE, HuluTV and YouTube TV, I think they have a winning combination.
Bottom line here is Layer3 TV looks to be a really nice alternative to cable/satellite for providing a large portfolio of traditional TV content. If your in one of their service areas - check them out...
Comments
Post a Comment