Information and communication

Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft

© Matthias Heyde/Fraunhofer

Digital media – production, transmission and distribution

Digital media now lies at the heart of culture and entertainment. Flexible access to content anytime, anywhere renders storage media such as CDs or DVDs much less important. The digitization of the media is changing the face of the entertainment industry. Viewers are becoming equal partners, with the ability to easily take part in the decision-making process and even produce their own material. Fraunhofer institutes are developing innovative applications – regardless of how the digital content is shown or which media are used to transport it.

Projects

  • Faster video streaming

    link: picture download

    In the smartphones and tablet era, more and more users are watching videos on the move – with a resulting strain on mobile networks. The combination of the HEVC video compression standard with LTE brings networks welcome relief.

  • Judder-free videos on the smartphone

    Overloaded cellular networks can get annoying – especially when you want to watch a video on your smartphone. An optimised Radio Resource Manager will soon be able to help network operators accommodate heavy network traffic.

  • Technical Oscar for ARRI and Fraunhofer

    The Munich-based producer of professional motion picture equipment ARRI and the Freiburg Fraunhofer Institute for Physical Measurement Techniques have been awarded the “Academy Award of Merit” by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for their jointly developed ARRILASER film recorder.

  • High-speed CMOS sensors provide better images

    Conventional CMOS image sensors are not suitable for low-light applications such as fluorescence, since large pixels arranged in a matrix do not support high readout speeds. A new optoelectronic component speeds up this process. It has already been patented.

  • Superior sound for telephones, mobile and related devices

    Vorschaubild zum Film "Flexible Folie für Photovoltaik"

    Telephone calls and video conferences with a sound quality that approaches that of direct communication are now possible with a new audio coding technology - it is almost as if the discussion participants are sitting across from one another.

  • ARD Mediathek enhanced with new search functions

    ARD Mediathek

    This May new and improved search capabilities were introduced on the ARD Mediathek portal. Visitors to the website can now target their searches for TV and radio content more specifically. Information can also be extracted directly from video footage. All thanks to software from Fraunhofer.

  • 3-D Films on Your Cell Phone

    3-D-Filme auf dem Handy

    Researchers at Fraunhofer have combined the new mobile radio standard LTE-Advanced with a video coding technique. This puts 3-D films on your cell phone.

  • The digital film reel

    Movies are becoming more and more digital – from the shooting to the cut to the showing. Fraunhofer movie experts show programs for easy, digital post-production and safe archiving.

  • Going online with the TV

    Sitting comfortably on the couch and using the TV to call up online video or news portals?

  • 3-D movies via Internet and Satellite

    3-D-Filme über Internet und Satellit

    Multiview Video Coding (MVC) is the new standard for 3-D movie compression. While reducing the data significantly, MVC allows at the same time providing full high-resolution quality. Fraunhofer researchers showcase how 3-D movies can be transmitted via Internet and digital television channels such as via satellite.

  • Analyzing Audio-Visual Content

    Filmmakers can identify faults during production with an automatic fault identification and quality assessment system for video sequences. Scientists also present automatic classification for videos.

  • Multimedia search without detours

    Finding a particular song or video is often no easy matter. Manually assigned metadata may be incorrect, and the unpacking of compressed data can slow up the search. DIVAS, a multimedia search engine, uses digital fingerprints to reliably locate what you are looking for.

  • Live 3-D-TV

    Live 3-D-TV

    This is the year in which 3D cinema and 3D TV will make the breakthrough. Fraunhofer researchers present technologies and standards that are hastening the progress.

  • Color sensors for better vision

    Farbsensoren für bessere Sicht

    CMOS image sensors in special cameras – as used for driver assistance systems – mostly only provide monochrome images and have a limited sensitivity to light. Thanks to a new production process these sensors can now distinguish color and are much more sensitive to light.

Further information

  • Fraunhofer Digital Cinema Alliance

    The Fraunhofer Digital Cinema Alliance brings together the Fraunhofer institutes that offer the key components for digital cinema. The Alliance offers innovative solutions for an all-digital cinema chain. The scope of activities ranges from camera and storage technology to innovative audio systems, post-production tools, projection and transmission techniques, and finally system solutions for digital archiving.