What's next in the content production market

Taking advantage of the increased convergence between broadcast and AV solutions, as well as the flexibility of cloud-based management, many customers are making long-term investments in order to enhance their ability to produce and stream compelling content.

According to the latest AVIXA Industry Outlook and Trends Analysis (IOTA), the content production and streaming solution area is set to generate $39.0 billion in 2023. The long-term outlook is for a compound annual growth rate of 5.6% from 2023 to 2028, outstripping the previous report’s forecast of 4.4% CAGR.

The emergence of several significant new technology areas is undoubtedly helping to fuel the growth. So on the visual side, great leaps in extended reality (XR) are being delivered by advances in rendering using game engines, and more powerful GPUs and media servers from companies such as disguise. Virtual sets are becoming almost indistinguishable from the real world, whilst virtual production – where CG environments are rendered in real time on specially designed LED screens from brands such as Absen or Alfalite, as a ‘live’ backdrop for actors or performers to interact with – is now a bedrock of content production supported by an ever-increasing number of dedicated facilities.

Thanks to the growth of several specific technologies, next-generation audio has also moved into the mainstream. As more consumers experience immersive audio at home, so this technology is being applied or enhanced in installations, experiential advertising and events – both live and virtual.

Cameras are constantly improving in terms of resolution and dynamic range, but also versatility. PTZ (pan, tilt, zoom) cameras from companies such as Panasonic or PTZOptics are of increasingly high-quality, and are also providing a cost-effective approach to content capture for many organisations.

Monitor technology has also evolved, with panels developed for higher quality video content production that have the ability to handle a wider gamut of colours, high-frame-rate footage, and better viewing angles.

Remote production of content has been in the ascendancy for some time now, aided by the ability of vendors and service providers to supply complete RP kits.

Underpinning much of this is streaming, the quality of which has to be extremely robust. The latest codecs and transportation technologies now enable the streaming of high-resolution, high-frame content. Meanwhile, the cloud is allowing customers to optimise the processing and security of their content, and deliver it to all the required parties without the duplication that can frequently occur in legacy on-premise infrastructures.