Viaccess-Orca has teamed with several other vendors on a 360-degree video solution in virtual reality (VR) for CES 2017 in Las Vegas in January. Pre-integrating technologies and services from Tiledmedia, Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT), and Digital Immersion, Viaccess-Orca's Virtual Arena solution is designed to improve video quality while maximizing bandwidth efficiency. The combined solution is also intended to enable a range of monetization options.

"Most VR streaming solutions transport 360-degree video to the head-mounted device with low perceptual quality, or require too much bandwidth. Adding the requirement for best-in-class security makes distribution of high-quality VR content even more complex," said Rob Koenen, founder and chief business development officer at Tiledmedia. "Combining Tiled VR Streaming and the Connected Sentinel Player provides service providers with a superior approach to delivering high-quality, secure content at realistic and affordable bitrates."

Tiledmedia's patented Tiled VR Streaming technology streams only the part of the image that is in a user's actual viewport - a fraction of the total video - with the highest resolution. Intended for delivery of on-demand and live services over existing CDNs, Tiled VR Streaming is designed to work with any display device, including head-mounted displays, phones, and tablets.

Tiledmedia's Tiled VR Streaming has been integrated with Viaccess-Orca's Connected Sentinel Player for secure playback. Viaccess-Orca's downloadable, secure player SDK is intended to protect VOD and live VR content on various devices. Connected Sentinel Player is available with Microsoft PlayReady, Widevine, or with Viaccess-Orca's proprietary DRM, and approved by all major Hollywood studios.

The combined Tiledmedia VR Streaming and Connected Sentinel Player offers an advanced playback infrastructure for Viaccess-Orca's end-to-end Virtual Arena solution, which also features technology and services from Digital Immersion, a specialist in the filming and post-production of 360-degree video; and Harmonic, a provider of video compression and delivery.

"When it comes to immersive experiences, video quality is at the top of viewers' checklists," said Thierry Fautier, vice president, video strategy, at Harmonic. "Harmonic is proud to join Viaccess-Orca and its partners in bringing the highest possible video quality to the VR experience. Our technology provides advanced media processing, transcoding, media server, and workflow systems for video compression, encryption, and streaming."

Viaccess-Orca will demonstrate the combined solution at CES.