Settop videocalling devices criticalan alysisof design

TV Based Video Calling

A Critical Design Analysis Initial Brief from Doug Williams

August 2011

Version 2.1

BT and the TV

• Investment in Fibre

– £2.5Bn

– 11m homes passed

– 750k connected

– 66% homes by 2015

• Investment in TV

– £1Bn sports rights

• £248m/year on football

• £38m/year on rugby

– BT Sports channel

• Multicast

• Jake Humphrey

– Youview

• Scrollback TV

• Freeview HD channels

• Catch up TV: iPlayer, ITVPlayer, 4oD, Demand 5

• Access to new providers such as NowTV

Slide 2

76

Mb/s

19

Mb/s

Humax DTR

T1000

Doug

Multi-party HD Video Calls and Telepresence

Consumer Use Cases

• Kinect – video chat

• Skype 5 way calling free

• Skype 10-way calling subscription based

• Multi-party video chat for consumers and video

conferencing and telepresence for business.

• Personal video chat with friends using multi-feed HD

video conferencing.

• HD telepresence for distributed virtual teams, similar to

iCom providing multi-feed HD video .

• Converged communications using video chat, IM,

media sharing (e.g. Zorap, G Wave)

Devices, Applications and Services

• 40% of Skype calls include video

• Skype, Microsoft, Sony, and Logitech all have high

quality TV based video conferencing systems in the

market today.

• Microsoft Kinect launched in Nov 2010, and have

brought in by stealth, video chat to the TV

Bandwidth Requirements

• Consumer HD Webcam (1280x720p @ 30fps) requires

~ 1.5Mbit/sec upstream

• HD conferencing bandwidth requirement 1-6Mbit/s

• Polycom 720p 30fps duplex from 784kb/s

• Polycom 1080p 30fps from 1Mb/s

• Skype TV offers 720p duplex which requires 1.5Mb/s

upstream

Expected visual quality for HD resolution

1-6 Mbit/sec

1-6 Mbit/sec

Doug


Slide 5


Slide 6

Video Quality

Audio Quality

Form factor

Codec improvements (H264), standardisation (HD 720p

1080i etc.) and broadband bandwidth available with Infinity

mean “good” video quality can bb attained.

Microphones are improved. Codecs for high quality audio are

standardised (G722 and AAC hardwired in hardware) and echo

cancellation has been mastered.

Previously video calling was a job for multiple computers.

Moore’s Law means we can now achieve “good” video

quality in a device no bigger than a biscuit.

And the UI’s are getting better too.

Interworking

Who you

gonna call?

This is a remaining risk factor but three options exist to

mitigate this risk:

- go with Skype

- go with Google

- interwork (how?)

Why BT?

• Strong brand match – Communications (our heritage)

– The TV (our new battleground)

– Superfast Broadband (Infinity)

• Opportunity to define role

for directory functions – Own the customer, increase

stickiness

Slide 7

Analyse

• Describe what is already out there:

– Price

– Form

• Aesthetics

• “quality”

• Brand impressions

– Practicalities in use

• The way it physically links to TV

• The way it relates to the TV as a

device and as a service

– Core Experience

• What does it expect of the customer

before they can use it?

• How well does it deliver the core

function? (video chat)

– Commercial success

• Are these successful?

• Which are doing better now?

• Which do you think will succeed in

the long run?

Slide 8

Form a view

• What is it that makes it better?

• What is important?

• What are the better decisions?

Slide 9

• What aspects of the different

options do you like most?

• What aspects of the designs

you have seen would you

want to see in your perfect

device

Form a view

Slide 10

Form a view



• What are the better decisions?

Slide 11


options do you like most?

• What aspects of the designs

you have seen would you want

to see in your perfect device?

Form a view

Slide 12

Form a view



• When choices have to be made

– what are the better choices?

Slide 13


solution do you admire? (why?)

• Be specific

• Give examples

• Show me

• Provide evidence

Form a view



• When choices have to be made

– what are the better choices?

Slide 14


solution do you admire?

(why?)

• Be specific

• Give examples

• Show me


Recommend

• If BT were designing from

scratch what choices should BT

make?

Slide 15

• Be specific

• Give examples

• Show me


– What would it look like?

– What would the menu structures

look like?

– What would it physically look

like?

– What would differentiate it?

– How would we make it look like a

BT product, make it fit with other

BT products?

Summary

• Review

• Analyse

• Deconstruct

• Form a view

• Imagine

• Synthesise

• Recommend

Slide 16

Contact details

Doug Williams

[email protected]

M 07917 024955

T 01473 647264

Slide 17

mailto:[email protected]