Three Screen Strategies

This week three interesting three screen were announced or shown at NXTcomm.

Verimatrix introduced its content security system for mobile applications. It now provides a single system that can support TVs, PCs, and mobile devices. Verimatrix has also added support for other security technologies into its system such as OMA DRM, Microsoft DRM, and Marlin DRM as well as its own VCAS DRM. This gives the service provider the ability to deploy a single system that can support a broad set of content security technologies.

Ericsson's Tandberg TV demonstrated a three screen metadata system that gives service providers to manage the metadata for their video assets including the ability to supplement the metadata delivered with the asset with additional metadata that is available from Internet sources. It also gives users the ability to browse and search this metadata with a very attractive interface from either the PC or a mobile device.

Alcatel-Lucent gave a demonstration at NXTcomm of three screen technology based on the Microsoft Mediaroom DVR capability. This system copies the content that the viewer records on the DVR to a network server and then provides access to these private network assets from both a PC and a mobile device. The network provides a catalog of what is available and the handles the format and compression conversion required to display on either the PC or the mobile device. A viewer can automatically record their favorite programs and then view them using either a PC or a mobile device while they are on the road.

Three screen TV is moving from hype to reality. Both Verimatrix and Tandberg TV now have products that add real value. The Alcatel-Lucent demonstration is quite interesting but raises a number of issues that need to be addressed. For example, the content providers may object to this use of their assets. There are also real privacy issues when you take private content and put it onto a network.