Web/TV services and media delivey protocols - is DASH sufficient?

 [as a follow-up to a discussion initiated in the workshop]

While promoting royalty-free DASH and including it in HTML5 is for sure
something to be encouraged, I doubt whether DASH-based HTTP streaming can
cover all Web/TV service scenarios.

I agree that, as an HTTP/TCP mechanism, DASH should be fine for Web/TV
service access over the Internet. But the TV world is much broader; it also
includes "fenced" IPTV, corporate and also digital broadcast networks -
which use multicast/broadcast delivery for linear content. In this case,
HTTP cannot be used.

IMO, since we are talking about Web and TV, we need solutions that are also
consistent with the requirements of broadcasters and their (IP/D)TV systems.
For this purpose, IP multicast support is essential. It must be noted that
the latest version of Adobe's Flash Media Server (
http://www.adobe.com/products/flashmediaserver/) supports, as declared, both
HTTP streaming and IP multicast options.

Maybe we should initiate a discussion on Web/TV service delivery scenarios -
over DTV, over IPTV, over the Web or hybrid access (HbbTV-like, e.g. receive
the video over DTV and the Web/HTML content over the Internet, "pushing" of
HTML content etc.) in order to clarify the requirements. What do you think?

BR

George

-- 
Dr. Georgios Gardikis
Research Associate
NCSR "Demokritos" - Media Networks Laboratory