Sony Set to Acquire AI Innovator iSIZE

Hosts: Philip Grossman, host and co-producer at Visionaries, and Maria Kholodova.

Maria: Sony Interactive Entertainment announces intent to acquire iSIZE, a UK innovator in deep learning for video delivery. The acquisition aims to integrate AI for optimized bitrate and improved media quality, propelling Sony’s R&D and streaming offerings. The London-based iSIZE team, established in 2016, will join Sony’s ranks, though deal specifics aren’t yet available.

So Philip, unpack this for me.

Philip: It’s interesting. The buzzword is AI. Everything’s AI, and the question is how it’s going to help us. I think a lot of it is sort of hype. This one, though, seems very interesting because it really is now taking that deep learning technology, that AI — and AI is nothing more than really just developed advanced algorithms that are able to do things faster and better — and they’ve focused on the compression world. “How do I take the amount of data, the images, the bits, and optimize that for broadcast?” As much as our broadcasts are now YouTube, Netflix, Hulu, and sort of over-the-top, and then, of course, the cable companies are moving into doing IP-based delivery. This just adds another layer on top of it. It’ll be interesting to see if this will go across Sony’s delivery channels as opposed to becoming a much broader technology.

My supposition is that it will get across Sony’s channels, which is great, but it’s just that AI helps take us to that next level of, “Okay, we’re now going to be able to get 8K video in the same amount of bandwidth as, say, 4K video.” So, it’s exciting to see how they apply it and what that really means for the industry at this point. For them, it allows them to have higher quality, better delivery on smaller pipes, so it could be seen as a cost reduction on the Sony side. From an industry perspective, it’ll just be sort of who else comes into that field and can take this tech and apply it to a larger arena. So, I think that’s where we’ll see it, all right.

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The weekly show, focusing on the latest products and solutions in the global TV and film industry, features insights and analysis from top experts. Released every Monday within the TKT1957 network, the program can be found on the YouTube channel, social media groups, and the tkt1957.com website. Engage with the content, view the episodes, and participate in the conversation by leaving your questions in the comments section.

Hosts: Philip Grossman, host and co-producer at Visionaries; Mary Ann Seidler, owner of First Light Media and consultant for multiCAM Systems and Telos Alliance; and Maria Kholodova, TKT1957.com.

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