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Intel looks to accelerate secure HD and 3D streaming with Sandy Stream chip

1.10.2011

“Warner Bros is making 300 new HD titles available for streaming, and in the future, it may also start streaming 3-D content to PCs over the secure connections, Tsujihara said.”

Intel went on the defensive at the CES show over its new Sandy Bridge PC chips, which are designed to secure streaming of HD movies from online movie services to personal computers.

Sandy Bridge chips have a new “Insider” feature that unlocks HD movies from online streaming services. Needless to say, the chip is controversial with many at CES who charge that Intel is trying to gain control of online movies by requiring end users to have Sandy Bridge processors in their computers.

Intel defended the Sandy Bridge technology — in the form of 29 processors for various PC models — arguing that it is trying to provide a security layer that will encourage studios to stream HD movies to PCs instead of keeping them locked.

Sandy Bridge’s Insider technology establishes a secure connection between streaming services and PCs with new Core i3, i5 or i7 chips, which are based on the processor’s architecture. Introduced at CES, the processors have specialized authentication and encryption hardware and firmware to establish the secure connection.

But Insider is not intended to be digital rights management (DRM) technology, and it is not intended to limit the availability of content to users, said Josh Newman, Intel’s graphics marketing director. “Insider technology establishes a secure connection to prevent movies from being copied from over the network or inside the PC.”

“It gives PCs the level of trust that the studio needs to make their content available. In the past they were very leery of [streaming] content. It’s not a DRM technology at all,” Newman argued.

However, studios can implement their own DRM technology, and Intel will take that into consideration. That should make available more streaming 1080p content, which is not yet available on a large scale.

“If you look at Blu-ray in the PC, that required a protected path that was developed. It’s similar to that; it’s a hardened path to get that next level of hardening and convincing studios that it’s a safer environment,” Newman said.

At CES, it was announced that Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group, which currently streams online content only in SD, will use the new security layer to start streaming movies in HD. Kevin Tsujihara, president of Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group, made the announcement at an Intel press event.

The motion picture studio is making 300 new HD titles available for streaming, and in the future, it may also start streaming 3-D content to PCs over the secure connections, Tsujihara said.

Sandy Bridge arrived at the CES show in several high-end, $1000-plus, laptop computers. One of the first models to be introduced came from Hewlett-Packard, which offered two variations of the new Pavilion dv7.

Original story posted here: http://broadcastengineering.com/news/intel-goes-on-defensive-over-new-chip/index.html

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Specification for Naming VFX Image Sequences Released

ETC’s VFX Working Group has published a specification for best practices naming image sequences such as plates and comps. File naming is an essential tool for organizing the multitude of frames that are inputs and outputs from the VFX process. Prior to the publication of this specification, each organization had its own naming scheme, requiring custom processes for each partner, which often resulted in confusion and miscommunication.

The new ETC@USC specification focuses primarily on sequences of individual images. The initial use case was VFX plates, typically delivered as OpenEXR or DPX files. However, the team soon realized that the same naming conventions can apply to virtually any image sequence. Consequently, the specification was written to handle a wide array of assets and use cases.

To ensure all requirements are represented, the working group included over 2 dozen participants representing studios, VFX houses, tool creators, creatives and others.  The ETC@USC also worked closely with MovieLabs to ensure that the specification could be integrated as part of their 2030 Vision.

A key design criteria for this specification is compatibility with existing practices.  Chair of the VFX working group, Horst Sarubin of Universal Pictures, said: “Our studio is committed to being at the forefront of designing best industry practices to modernize and simplify workflows, and we believe this white paper succeeded in building a new foundation for tools to transfer files in the most efficient manner.”

This specification is compatible with other initiatives such as the Visual Effects Society (VES) Transfer Specifications. “We wanted to make it as seamless as possible for everyone to adopt this specification,” said working group co-chair and ETC@USC’s Erik Weaver. “To ensure all perspectives were represented we created a team of industry experts familiar with the handling of these materials and collaborated with a number of industry groups.”

“Collaboration between MovieLabs and important industry groups like the ETC is critical to implementing the 2030 Vision,” said Craig Seidel, SVP of MovieLabs. “This specification is a key step in defining the foundations for better software-defined workflows. We look forward to continued partnership with the ETC on implementing other critical elements of the 2030 Vision.”

The specification is available online for anyone to use.

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