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Jason Meserve

Video everywhere at DEMOFall 2007

By Jason Meserve on Tue, 09/25/07 - 4:26pm.
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The Internet video revolution is in full swing here at DEMOFall 2007 in beautiful San Diego (social networking is too, but other than Flickr, I'm not a big social networks guy.) Here are the highlights:

  • MotionDSP's FixMyMovie.com: Very cool technology that replicates the stuff you see on CSI - crime investigators taking a piece of grainy video and being able to clarify it enough to make out the license plate of the perp's car. These guys take video shot on a cellphone (crappy at best) and clean it up - fixing color, removing blockiness and other artifacts. The output isn't HD, but it's much improved over the original clip. Right now, it's free to consumers to use at FixMyMovie.com. It accepts most major video formats with a cap at 20MB file size and 352x288 (CIF) resolution.

    The secret behind the technology is to compare multiple frames of the same scene to help get a clearer picture of what's being shown. If an image is only in one frame, MotionDSP's technology can't do much about it.

    The entire thing is server driven and the company is hoping to offer it as a white label to other companies (think YouTube). Given the company is partially funded by the CIA's venture group, you can guess there's even BETTER versions of the technology coming down the line.

  • DF Splash from Digital Fountain: I've been following these guys for years having met them at a Multicasting conference years ago. Digital Fountain's technology breaks up a file into various bits and somehow is able to reassemble them on the receiving end in way that helps eliminate latency issues. The company is putting the technology to use in its new DF Splash content delivery network, slated to launch in January 2008. What, a new CDN?

    Based on the demonstration, this is a CDN that could make some waves, delivering high-res video over a standard Internet connection very efficiently. And, they're sitting on Amazon's Web Services Network, lowering their need for servers and other capital equipment things. Digital Fountain is differentiating itself from Limelight and Akamai by claiming they need far less server deployments to reach the edge. For instance, the demonstration was pulling from 12 servers, though that number can vary.

    DF Splash will start by serving up the QuickTime H.264 format because it does high-res compression very well and it can extend down to the mobile and set-top box platforms. Viewers just need a browser plug-in to watch the videos. Given that Adobe is an investor and the fact that Adobe is going to be supporting H.264 shortly, my guess is this will be available for Flash sooner than later.

  • ClipBlast: A new video search engine that's been busy crawling the Web for video content for the past three years and is now being unleashed to the public. ClipBlast offers two means of search: Through a web site or through a desktop widget that can display video directly in the app or redirect viewers back to the content owner's site. The widget is currently available for Mac with a PC version coming next month. The company plans to make money on ads and paid search results as well as through custom widgets for content owners. The company demonstrated a Showtime widget on stage.
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    About Multimedia Exchange
    Jason Meserve is Network World's multimedia editor.