Digital supply chain
Encyclopedia
The Digital Supply Chain is a new media
term which encompasses the process of the delivery of digital media, be it music or video, by electronic means, from the point of origin (Content Provider) to destination (consumer). In much the same manner a physical medium must go through a “supply chain” process in order to mature into a consumable product, digital media must pass through various stages in processing to get to a point in which the consumer can enjoy the music or video on a computer or television set.
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In this process, a codec is used to compress the captured digital file into a format which is small enough to be delivered to the end-user, usually via broadband methods. This encoding process entails consideration of many variables as to how the file is to be compressed. For audio, this usually consists of bit-rate and sample rate. Additional variables for video include resolution, frame rate and also has its own bit-rate that needs to be specified.
These variables are determined by how a particular file is to be consumed; download, streaming to a PC, streaming to a mobile device, etc.
Quality, however, often becomes an issue at this stage and great care is taken to ensure the quality of the medium is of the highest possible quality for its intended deliver method. For example, a video encoded for streaming to mobile devices requires a much higher level of compression than would for a PC download, so the quality of the video will not be nearly as good.
Quality Control need not only take place at this juncture. Most companies dealing with the Digital Supply chain process will subject the media to scrutiny of the quality control process at various stages including: original capture, post-compression, post-ingest and post-publish, thus ensuring the media has not become corrupt or has not been degraded undesirably during any stage along the Digital Supply Chain process.
System handles the metadata, content and their related assets such as album cover and movie poster art. It is often the Digital Asset Management Systems which also handles the publishing of the content itself to a digital storefront. Some Digital Asset Management Systems specifically built for the Digital Supply Chain and the delivery of electronic media will track the progress of content as it goes through the Digital Supply Chain. A good Digital Asset Management system should also include reporting tools which can report back on the status of various aspects of the Digital Supply Chain itself.
New media
New media is a broad term in media studies that emerged in the latter part of the 20th century. For example, new media holds out a possibility of on-demand access to content any time, anywhere, on any digital device, as well as interactive user feedback, creative participation and community...
term which encompasses the process of the delivery of digital media, be it music or video, by electronic means, from the point of origin (Content Provider) to destination (consumer). In much the same manner a physical medium must go through a “supply chain” process in order to mature into a consumable product, digital media must pass through various stages in processing to get to a point in which the consumer can enjoy the music or video on a computer or television set.
Components
Below are some of the components and processes involved in the digital supply chain, in roughly sequential order, to bring raw content to a format available to a consumer via personal computer or set-top boxSet-top box
A set-top box or set-top unit is an information appliance device that generally contains a tuner and connects to a television set and an external source of signal, turning the signal into content which is then displayed on the television screen or other display device.-History:Before the...
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Content Provider
The content provider provides the actual content that will ultimately be consumed by the end-user. The content provider provides the content in a variety of formats - including film, tape, CD, DVD, hard disks and digital files.Capture
If the content provided by the content provider is not already in a digital format, it must first be converted to a digital format. In the case of film or tape, this is often called the “capture” process in which hardware will play back the original medium and “capture” its contents and convert it into a digital format. This captured file is often captured at the highest feasible quality as it is expected to undergo various processes that could degrade the quality. Therefore, the highest possible capture is always desired.Compression
The captured digital file is often extremely large, requiring a large amount of digital storage space and impossible to deliver to the consumer via broadband methods. Therefore, it must be compressed in a process called encoding or transcoding.In this process, a codec is used to compress the captured digital file into a format which is small enough to be delivered to the end-user, usually via broadband methods. This encoding process entails consideration of many variables as to how the file is to be compressed. For audio, this usually consists of bit-rate and sample rate. Additional variables for video include resolution, frame rate and also has its own bit-rate that needs to be specified.
These variables are determined by how a particular file is to be consumed; download, streaming to a PC, streaming to a mobile device, etc.
Quality, however, often becomes an issue at this stage and great care is taken to ensure the quality of the medium is of the highest possible quality for its intended deliver method. For example, a video encoded for streaming to mobile devices requires a much higher level of compression than would for a PC download, so the quality of the video will not be nearly as good.
Quality Control
Quality Control is required to ensure that a file that has been encoded properly, with desired results and free of corruption. The degree to which a file is considered acceptable is based solely on the discretion of the party charged with encoding the content.Quality Control need not only take place at this juncture. Most companies dealing with the Digital Supply chain process will subject the media to scrutiny of the quality control process at various stages including: original capture, post-compression, post-ingest and post-publish, thus ensuring the media has not become corrupt or has not been degraded undesirably during any stage along the Digital Supply Chain process.
Digital Asset Management
The Digital asset managementDigital asset management
Digital asset management consists of management tasks and decisions surrounding the ingestion, annotation, cataloguing, storage, retrieval and distribution of digital assets...
System handles the metadata, content and their related assets such as album cover and movie poster art. It is often the Digital Asset Management Systems which also handles the publishing of the content itself to a digital storefront. Some Digital Asset Management Systems specifically built for the Digital Supply Chain and the delivery of electronic media will track the progress of content as it goes through the Digital Supply Chain. A good Digital Asset Management system should also include reporting tools which can report back on the status of various aspects of the Digital Supply Chain itself.