Ross Video and Verance Announce Aspect Watermarking Support for the Ross Video softGear Platform

Ottawa, Canada, July 6, 2022 – Ross Video, a global leader in live video production applications, and Verance, a leading global provider of standards-based watermarking solutions, announced the availability of Verance Aspect watermarking in the Ross Video software media processing platform (softGear).

Ross Video’s softGear provides broadcasters with the flexibility to adapt to changing programming needs through media processing microservices. The integration of the Verance Aspect watermark into the Broadcast Audio Processor based on the softGear platform will provide Aspect watermarking to a variety of television outlets.

The Aspect watermark works in both today’s 1.0 and tomorrow’s 3.0 broadcast environments and was selected to be part of the NextGen TV standard as a way to extend and maximize the reach of interactive television services in broadcast television. Without the Aspect watermark, NextGen applications can only reach the 20% of households that receive signals over the air. With the Aspect watermark, NextGen applications can reach 100% of households. For the same reason, the Hybrid Broadcast Broadband Television Association (HbbTV) adopted watermarking into its Phase 2 Application Discovery over Broadband specification published in September 2019.

By deploying Aspect within the softGear platform, programmers are able to activate interactive services through all distribution paths (including ATSC 1.0 and 3.0 over-the-air, cable/satellite, and over-the-top services) to reach 100% of smart televisions. Without the watermark, 80% of households are unable to receive these capabilities.

“We are thrilled to announce that our Broadcast Audio Processor and softGear platform will support the Verance Aspect Watermark,” says Wojtek Tryc, Director, TPM softGear, Ross Video. “Our partnership with Verance unlocks new opportunities for broadcasters to deliver new compelling features to NextGen TV customers.”

“Today’s announcement reinforces our commitment to delivering innovative solutions that drive revenue and viewer engagement in today’s and tomorrow’s broadcast environments,” explained Nil Shah, CEO, Verance. “We are excited to partner with Ross Video and are pleased to expand our product suite and support our partners as they transition to NextGen TV.”

###

About Ross Video
Ross powers live video productions for billions of global viewers daily with the industry’s widest range of high impact, high efficiency solutions and services. Ross makes it easy to create compelling news, weather and sports broadcasts, engaging content for sports stadium screens, entertainment shows and rock concerts, educational institutions, legislative assemblies, corporate presentations and inspiring content for houses of worship.

Ross solutions have impressed the audiences and marketing partners of Eurosport, BBC World, SKY, Yahoo! Finance, and the international esports powerhouse ESL. Ross provides an unrivalled range of products and services that includes cameras, real-time motion graphics, production switchers, robotic camera systems, augmented reality/virtual studios, video servers, infrastructure and routers, social media management, newsroom systems and live event production services.

About Verance
Verance® Aspect™ is a global watermarking platform that powers broadband features on broadcast television by enabling sports betting, dynamic advertising and interactivity across all screens and distribution paths. Aspect supports new and existing industry standards including ATSC 3.0 and HbbTV and works in today’s ATSC 1.0 broadcasting environment. Leading programmers such as FOX, NBC and PBS are currently deploying Aspect.

Verance content measurement and enhancement technologies are at the forefront of innovation and set the industry standard for television, movies and music. Our solutions have been adopted by over 100 leading entertainment and technology companies and deployed in over 350 million consumer products worldwide. For more information, visit: http://www.verance.com

Media Contact:
Erica Fraser
Director of Communications, Ross Video
Email: efraser@rossvideo.com
Phone: +1 (613) 698-9150
Twitter: @ross_video
www.rossvideo.com