At Harmonic, we believe that innovation in video delivery starts with deep collaboration.
Our work with NVIDIA over the years has been instrumental in unlocking the full potential of NVENC and NVDEC to enable advanced capabilities like AI-driven noise reduction, upscaling and frame rate doubling. These enhancements deliver stunning video quality for our customers across multiple codecs, including AVC, HEVC, AVI, and even for MV-HEVC for spatial videos. The video quality enhancements are further optimized by Harmonic’s EyeQ™ technology that leverages-trained Convolutional Neural Network models for rate control and mode decisions.
In the recent past and beyond AI for better compression, rapid evolution in AI models has significantly advanced speech-to-text capabilities, voice cloning, language translation, sports highlights detection and scene-level analysis for video content. These features are well-established in post-production workflows for movies and episodic content. However, Harmonic’s expertise lies in live environments where low latency is non-negotiable. In a live scenario, relying on remote, large models simply doesn’t meet the performance requirements of our customers.
That’s why we’re excited about the convergence of model optimization and edge compute. As execution becomes more efficient, we can run larger, more capable models locally — expanding the range of functions we can deliver cost-effectively within the same compute instance. This will allow for even lower latencies, sophisticated personalization and meaningful augmentation of video content.
Our work with Akamai plays a critical role in furthering our vision. Akamai Inference Cloud provides access to the powerful NVIDIA RTX 6000 Pro Blackwell GPU with the exact form factor for a full spectrum for AI , which is essential for our real-time video workflows. Additionally, Akamai’s infrastructure is built on a well-established network of cloud regions close to major population centers and sporting venues — reducing latency even further and ensuring seamless access for our live applications. Akamai’s Cloud Shield, its suite of security products and robust CDN protect and scale our premium sports delivery offerings.
The collaboration between Harmonic, NVIDIA and Akamai is a game changer for the media and entertainment industry. Together we provide unprecedented performance, low latency and high video quality for premium sports and live events, transforming real-time video experiences.