Technically Speaking With Michael Childers
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In anticipation of the upcoming APEX TECH event, taking place June 8-9 in Los Angeles and colocating with the Global Connected Aircraft Summit, we got the scoop on the biggest trends in the tech world from Michael Childers, chair of the APEX Technology Committee.
What makes APEX TECH a must attend event for industry professionals?
Technology is changing at a faster pace than ever before in our industry. Our first digital delivery specification lasted for a decade, but once we moved into MPEG-4, specifications have been updated with much greater frequency.
In-flight entertainment (IFE) systems that may be expected to last for 10 years need to be based on the latest, state-of-the-art technology. The content delivery supply chain is changing in ways that significantly impact the cost of delivery. If you are a systems provider, you want your platform to have maximum capability. If you are a post-production facility you want to know that you are investing in the most up to date equipment and have the ability to meet all of the needs of the IFE platform. If you are an airline you want to be aware of all of these things to ensure you are investing in the right platform. And if you are a content provider you want to know that your post-production facility is capable of delivering everything your buyers need, and at the lowest reasonable cost.
“Technology is changing at a faster pace than ever before in our industry.”
What distinguishes APEX TECH from other technology and aviation events?
While other industry events may offer educational presentations, there is no other industry event in which the participants are responsible for the creation and development of technical specifications. We do more than just talk about technology, we apply the technology to our industry and take on responsibility for keeping it current.
Can attendees expect any specification work or committee updates at this event?
We will provide an update on our engagement with the Department of Transportation on closed captions and descriptive audio, and expect to offer a closed caption specification for adoption that will fully enable all of the attributes of Timed Text captions for MPEG-4 and beyond, while still supporting Bitmap delivery to legacy MPEG-1/2 systems. We will look at the evolving specifications coming out of the Encoding and Encryption Technologies Working Group (EETWG) with such things as HEVC, MPEG-DASH, and HDR.
Since the last APEX TECH event, what are some new developments the Technology Committee has been involved in?
We have taken some major steps forward in our outreach to other groups and bodies responsible for content delivery supply chain technologies. On May 12, the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem (DECE) will host an Implementers’ Forum in the Hollywood/Universal City area in which APEX, the Secure Content Storage Association (SCSA) and the Blu-ray Disc Association will all be participants. This will be a technical meeting where we will look into DECE’s Common File Format (CFF) and its use cases. APEX expects to adopt CFF in our specs and to define an IFE profile within CFF. We encourage maximum participation from APEX members in this activity, and will report on this activity and further discuss it at the June APEX TECH conference.
“We have taken some major steps forward in our outreach to other groups and bodies responsible for content delivery supply chain technologies.”
At the last APEX TECH event, a new Emerging Technologies Advisory Panel was announced. What emerging technologies look promising at the moment?
We looked at many, but to highlight just one which may have a major impact on our business, cloud-based transcoding looks extremely promising. Encoding and transcoding in the cloud has two characteristics that are responsible for significant change. One is the increase in efficiency and productivity that comes from being able to transcode anywhere that transcoders are available, leading to equipment utilization that drives down costs. Second is the increasing level of automation that it allows.
APEX TECH will be collocating with the Global Connected Aircraft Summit this year. Why is this an ideal partnership?
The Global Connected Aircraft Summit devotes two and a half days to a comprehensive look at in-flight connectivity. While APEX TECH will also look at in-flight connectivity and attempt to cover it thoroughly, our members are limited in how many activities they can attend in a year. If one of our traditional two TECHs each year co-locates with the Global Connected Aircraft Summit, it allows them to handle the connectivity topic while we handle other topics such as content delivery, cybersecurity, seat integration and the like.
At Aircraft Interiors Expo, APEX CEO Joe Leader shared that he would announce the app partner of the APEX Official Airline Ratings at the APEX TECH event. Find out more about the event here.