AWS supports second JPEG XS interoperability workshop at Amazon Prime Video

Representatives from AWS Partners, AWS Solutions Architecture, and Prime Video at the July 2024 JPEG XS interop in Culver City, CA.

At the end of July 2024, Amazon Prime Video in Culver City, CA, hosted an interoperability workshop for multiple Amazon Web Services (AWS) partner hardware and software vendors that use the JPEG XS video codec. This particular workshop concentrated on the Video Services Forum (VSF) Technical Recommendation TR-07 format, which carries JPEG XS video, uncompressed audio, and ancillary data in MPEG TS (transport stream) over IP. AWS for Media & Entertainment, Games, and Sports solutions architecture staff organized and supported the event.

Robin Hérin, Director of Standardization at Ateme, said, “Ateme appreciates the invitation from our partners at AWS to participate in the JPEG XS interoperability session. This event provided a valuable platform for our colleagues and other members of the M&E [media and entertainment] industry to collaborate on JPEG XS, validate our interpretation of the TR-07 specification, and even explore potential new workflows involving JPEG XS. This collaboration lays the foundation for significant advancements in ground-to-cloud and cloud-to-ground applications, and we are pleased with the outcomes.”

JPEG XS is becoming more popular for higher-tier live sports production because of its high quality video compression combined with a very low encode/decode latency. Low latency is important in sports workflows to ensure viewers see the action in as close to real time as possible and before receiving “spoilers” from social media alerts. JPEG XS was also designed to work well in software systems that can be virtualized in the cloud, as opposed to the JPEG 2000 low latency codec that is only practical in hardware-based systems.

During the workshop, participating vendors used both on-premises and cloud-based encoding and decoding solutions. The Prime Video facility connected to AWS using AWS Direct Connect. TR-07 JPEG XS was distributed in the cloud using AWS Elemental MediaConnect. A solution from AWS Partner swXtch.io enabled the transport of JPEG XS multicast traffic tunneled over unicast into the cloud, providing participants with the options to test both unicast and multicast workflows.

For the workshop, the video format was 1080p at 59.94 frames per second with 4:2:2 10-bit sampling and used hybrid log-gamma (HLG) high dynamic range transfer function. The video was encoded with JPEG XS at a 400 Mbps data rate, with 16 audio channels. Ancillary data in the stream included closed captions (CC) and SCTE 104 ad break markers. The workshop enabled partners to identify differences between their implementations of TR-07. This allowed for work on code optimizations to improve interoperability and highlighted feedback opportunities to the VSF on TR-07.

“Evertz was delighted to participate in this very important VSF TR-07 interop for our industry and support ongoing efforts to create a viable framework of broadcast standards. The tests, that included our Scorpion-6F platform, demonstrated that interoperability between manufacturers can be achieved with the current revision of TR-07. We would like to extend our sincere appreciation to Amazon for facilitating this successful event and look forward to future interop tests,” said Andrew Osmond, Director of Business Development, Evertz.

Amazon Studios and AWS extend their sincere thanks to: Alpha, Ateme, Appear, AJA Video Systems, Evertz, Grass Valley, Imagine Communications, Media Links, Nevion, swXtch.io, TAG Video Systems, TVU Networks, and PacketStorm Communications, Inc., for making this event a success.