Technology Blog: MainConcept

Pioneering the Future with MainConcept at IBC 2024

Written by Geoff Gordon | Sep 11, 2024

It's that time of year again! With IBC just over one week away, let’s sit down and discuss what’s new, what’s exciting and how MainConcept are getting involved with it all. Perhaps some of the biggest innovations and trends to ever hit the industry have done so over the past 12 months, and as such, many exhibitors will be showcasing new solutions at IBC this year. MainConcept are part of this crew, with new partnerships, product offerings and endeavors waiting for you on the show floor.

Lighting the Way with Powerful Codecs

MainConcept codecs are used to process over 90% of the world’s professional video. At IBC 2024, the MainConcept team will be demonstrating these powerful codecs, and we are so excited to share the show floor with our valued customers and partners. We will be showcasing our codec offerings, including the biggest players, HEVC, AVC and VVC, and their ever-popular use-cases and features. Interested to hear more over a coffee with the MainConcept team? Visit our website and book a meeting.

The Power of Partnerships

The team at MainConcept are honored and excited to be a part of so many wonderful partnerships from across the industry. Wowza, innovator of video platforms and a MainConcept partner for over 10 years, will be demonstrating Wowza Streaming Engine with LCEVC. This will be shown on the LCEVC (5.A24) and MainConcept (7.C12) booths, demonstrating a potential use for LCEVC in content delivery. Our codecs are utilized in many real-time workflows, and we’re looking forward to seeing you all there to experience it.

Not only this, but MainConcept EVA and JPEG XS will also be on display highlighting work with our partners AMD, Intel and NVIDIA. The newly released JPEG XS SDK featuring low latency and low complexity also benefits from the MainConcept EVA single interface that lets multi-platform users integrate hardware codecs in an efficient manner. The JPEG XS codec has recently been enhanced by the team at MainConcept featuring RGB/YCbCr and CFA/RAW up to 16-bit and compliance with ST 2110 IP workflows. MainConcept EVA was launched earlier this year and has been supported by our wonderful partners since then.

However, this is not the end of the story for MainConcept and its partners at IBC. Following the announcement of the first officially authorized Dolby Digital Plus® Pro Plugins for FFmpeg, MainConcept and Dolby (3.B60) are coordinating on a live demo at IBC to show the delivery of high-quality digital audio that enhances the viewing experience. Fraunhofer (8.B80) will be demonstrating MPEG-H Audio and xHE-AAC, both of which are also available as FFmpeg plugins from MainConcept.

Arm-Based Systems in 2024

The availability of Arm-based systems has sky-rocketed in 2024, with Windows PCs joining an existing lineup of Apple Mac’s. As with the introduction of the Apple M series, MainConcept has been optimizing the new Snapdragon X Elite and Plus compute platforms for the media and entertainment world. With the aim of Arm-based systems performing as good or better than their x86 brethren, MainConcept certainly has its work cut out. At IBC, we will be demonstrating the advances realized when pairing these Windows on Snapdragon PCs with optimized MainConcept codecs.

Immersing Ourselves in Virtual Reality

There are more virtual and augmented reality devices entering the market than ever before, with audiences consuming more VR/AR content this year than any year previous. As a result, immersive content is in high demand, and naturally, this requires the codecs for the job. One such codec is Multiview HEVC (MV-HEVC), which is ideally suited for these extended reality formats. At IBC 2024, MainConcept will be demonstrating developments in this area with an Apple Vision Pro device on the booth to show these codecs in action. Virtual reality is a certified element of our future in the broadcast and media industry, and MainConcept has been busy at work providing the codecs that can help it to thrive. Make sure to pop by the MainConcept booth (7.C12) for a look at these codecs in action on an Apple Vision Pro and have a go yourself!

Meet MainConcept at IBC

IBC 2024 is going to be one for the books, with so many new and exciting opportunities becoming available for the first time in broadcast and media. With the first appearance of the AI tech zone this year, we are expecting a number of AI developments and solutions to come to the surface. Virtual reality, ad-tech and live production are sure to be hot topics at the show as well, and the team at MainConcept are excited to see how our product offerings come into play. Make sure you join us at IBC to explore our new integrations with partners and products on booth 7.C12. Learn more about our plans for the show and book a meeting.