At MediaKind, we believe that innovation in video delivery starts with deep collaboration. Together with NVIDIA and Akamai, we enable AI-powered live video streaming. This delivers ultra-low latency and superior video quality.

Our work with NVIDIA over the years has been instrumental. It unlocks the full potential of NVENC and NVDEC. This enables advanced capabilities like AI-driven noise reduction, upscaling, and frame rate doubling. These enhancements deliver stunning video quality for our customers. This applies across multiple codecs, including AVC, HEVC, AVI, and MV-HEVC for spatial videos. The video quality enhancements are further optimized by EyeQ™ technology. It leverages trained Convolutional Neural Network models for rate control and mode decisions.

In the recent past, and beyond AI for better compression, AI models have rapidly evolved. This evolution has significantly advanced speech-to-text capabilities, voice cloning, and language translation. It also enables sports highlights detection and scene-level analysis for video content. These features are well-established in post-production workflows. This is especially true for movies and episodic content. However, Harmonic’s expertise lies in live environments. In these environments, low latency is non-negotiable. In a live scenario, relying on remote, large models does not meet performance requirements.

That’s why we’re excited about the convergence of model optimization and edge compute. As execution becomes more efficient, we can run larger and more capable models locally. This expands the range of functions we can deliver cost-effectively within the same compute instance. It also allows for even lower latencies, sophisticated personalization, and meaningful augmentation of video content.

Our work with Akamai plays a critical role in furthering our vision. Akamai Inference Cloud provides access to the NVIDIA RTX 6000 Pro Blackwell GPU. It offers the exact form factor for a full spectrum of AI. This is essential for our real-time video workflows. Additionally, Akamai’s infrastructure is built on a well-established network of cloud regions. These regions are close to major population centers and sporting venues. This reduces latency further and ensures seamless access for our live applications. Akamai’s Cloud Shield, its suite of security products, and its robust CDN protect and scale our premium sports delivery offerings.

The collaboration between MediaKind, NVIDIA, and Akamai is a game changer for the media and entertainment industry. Together, we provide unprecedented performance, low latency, and high video quality for premium sports and live events. This transforms real-time video experiences.