NexGuard watermarking integrated into AWS Elemental MediaConvert

Tuesday, June 30th, 2020
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NAGRA NexGuard forensic watermarking leverages AWS to secure pre-release and early-release content

  • Content owners now have an added level of security in the processing of their pre-release and early-release workflows using AWS Elemental MediaConvert
  • API integration allows for the seamless cloud deployment of NexGuard watermarking technologies for file transcoding and OTT content preparation
  • For OTT streaming, customers can combine the NexGuard watermarking in AWS Elemental MediaConvert with pre-existing integration of NexGuard in Amazon CloudFront

CHESEAUX-SUR-LAUSANNE, Switzerland, and PHOENIX (AZ), USA — NAGRA, a Kudelski Group (SIX:KUD.S) company and the world’s leading independent provider of content protection and multiscreen television solutions, today announced API integration of NexGuard forensic watermarking technologies into AWS Elemental MediaConvert, a file-based video transcoding service with broadcast-grade features from Amazon Web Services (AWS). The API integration provides content owners, and any third-party working on premium content, with an added layer of security and traceability for their valuable pre-release and early release content workflows, and simplifies the watermarking process for file transcoding and OTT content preparation.

NexGuard forensic watermarking for pre-release, including the recently announced NexGuard ClipMark for short form content, as well as NexGuard Streaming for on-demand OTT content, is available in AWS Elemental MediaConvert, enabling full automation for the watermarking process from the cloud. No extra steps are required to apply forensic watermarking in the transcoding of pre-release content, such as full features, TV series or short clips, or in the preparation of content in the cloud, such as escreeners or direct-to-consumer OTT streaming.

“We’re excited to extend our collaboration with AWS and give our shared customers the ability to leverage the power of AWS Elemental to easily automate the NexGuard watermarking process and ensure an extra level of security for their early-release and pre-release assets whether they are movies, TV series, original content or online screenings,” said Jean-Philippe Plantevin, Vice President Anti-Piracy at NAGRA. “For escreeners and OTT streaming, these new capabilities can be combined with our existing integration with the Amazon CloudFront CDN ensuring robust security and traceability of premium assets in pre-release and direct-to-consumer scenarios, providing an additional safeguard against leaks and piracy.”

The API integration of NexGuard Streaming forensic watermarking with AWS Elemental MediaConvert enables OTT, direct-to-consumer, and video-on-demand platforms to apply a unique and imperceptible watermark per streaming session, leveraging caching in the content delivery network (CDN) and efficient stream control at the CDN edge. The use cases include tackling theft of premium content such as early-release of movies in some territories, original video-on-demand content, and business-to-business online screening.

AWS Elemental MediaConvert is a file-based video transcoding service with broadcast-grade features. It allows content owners, post houses and video platforms to easily create video-on-demand (VOD) content for broadcast and multiscreen delivery at scale. The service combines advanced video and audio capabilities with a simple web services interface.