Performing Arts Advisory

[Ann Doyle <>]

Hello all  --  The following call
for participation may be of interest to some of you.  I hope this
finds you well.  Happy New Year! -- Ann

From: Wiesner, Ezra
Sent: Wednesday, January 02, 2008 3:32 PM
Subject: Philadelphia Orchestra - IP Set Top Box Test
 
The Philadelphia Orchestra is seeking qualified participants to test implementation of the Amino 130 set top box (STB) to receive HD MPEG-2 content. Participants will receive a set top box (on loan) and the opportunity to receive The Orchestra’s concert transmission on Friday, January 25, 2008 at 2:00 pm.

The Philadelphia Orchestra has been working to bring concert content to Internet2. Some of you may know about our project and the details can be found at www.philorch.org/internet2 . We conducted two tests this fall to several Universities. These tests consisted of us sending our concert programs via an HD1080i MPEG-2 multicast, and the remote sites picking this multicast up with VideoLan.

Even though the tests went fairly well, there were some issues with VideoLan that prevented us from delivering a stable stream of the utmost quality. Also, it was hard for us to standardize the reception of this multicast, as all of our participants setup up their own VideoLan PC, which introduced several variables that affected the reception of the stream that were beyond our control. In our judgment it made sense to look at another way for our partners to receive our concert stream.

To overcome this we have been trialing a few IP TV set top boxes in-house. Initial tests have shown that the set top boxes generally decode the HD MPEG-2 stream at a higher quality than VideoLan. Having an appliance decode the stream also takes away some of the setup and stability issues that are inherent to running VideoLan, or any other software decode, on a PC or Mac.

That being said, I was wondering if there were folks out there who would be willing to receive a Amino 130 set top box loaner from us to test the concert we are streaming on January 25th, 2007. The requirements for being a participant are as follows:

• 20 Mbps or better of I2 bandwidth
• multicast enabled to the intended viewing area
• SD or preferably HD 16:9 projector and some sort of higher-end sound reinforcement (home theater system works)
• you give us feedback about the set top box and how it worked during the Jan. 25th concert
• sign some legalese that says you will return the Amino if asked and you will not copy our concert

This is a test so there is no need to have an audience but yourself and any technical staff. However, if you have a suitable venue, and you want to conduct the test with an audience for January 25th, please let us know and we will accommodate you. Also, we will be giving you the GUI management passwords to the Amino so you can get familiar with the box and experiment with configurations. Lastly, while you have the Amino you will be able to view non-Orchestra content. In other words you can set the Amino to tune into any MPEG-2 or H.264 streaming address you like. All we ask is that you tune into the January 25th concert and give us some feedback in the form of a technical survey concerning the Amino's ability to receive high quality content.  There will be a multicast test available on 233.88.110.60:1234 if you need testing content for the Amino.

Please e-mail me if you'd like to participate and I'll send the details directly to you. Since the number of people on this list-serve is greater than the number of Amino boxes we have, we have to limit this to the first 25 or so.

Thank you.
 
Ezra Wiesner
Systems Manager for the Kimmel Center and The Philadelphia Orchestra
260 S. Broad St.
16th Floor
Philadelphia, PA
19102
 

--
Ann Doyle, Arts & Humanities Initiatives
Internet2

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