The Challenge: Managing Complex Live OTT Operations and High-Availability Delivery
True Digital, the operator of Thailand’s leading OTT platform TrueID, delivers a wide range of live content, including aggregated linear channels, original programming from TrueVisions, and premium live sports events such as Premier League football in 4K UHD.
Distributing this content across IPTV set-top boxes and OTT applications requires a flexible, reliable infrastructure capable of handling multiple live sources while maintaining consistent broadcast quality.
The project presented several key operational challenges:
- Complex Live Production and Localization: Managing real-time switching between multiple IP sources, Thai-language graphics rendering, DVB subtitling, and multi-track audio loudness control within a unified playout environment.
- High Availability and Service Continuity: Ensuring reliable 24/7 delivery of HD and 4K UHD channels with synchronized backup operations and protection against infrastructure failures.
- Limited Advertising Monetization: The absence of automated commercial-break signaling restricted the ability of third-party distribution platforms to insert targeted advertising and monetize live content across different regions.
The Solution: Automated Multi-Channel Playout, Disaster Recovery, and SCTE-35 Integration
To address these challenges, True Digital partnered with SkyLark Technology to implement a high-availability, IP-based playout automation platform.
The project evolved through several phases, progressively expanding channel capacity and introducing 4K UHD broadcasting, disaster recovery infrastructure, and automated SCTE-35 advertising signaling.
The solution combines three key capabilities:
- Integrated Multi-Channel Playout Automation: SkyLark deployed a flexible playout environment supporting real-time switching between multiple IP transport streams, localized Thai graphics, DVB subtitling, and audio loudness processing.
- Dual-Site High-Availability Architecture: A synchronized disaster recovery facility was introduced to provide backup channel capacity, independent network feeds, and automated media synchronization between the primary and backup sites.
- SCTE-35 Dynamic Advertising Signaling: Automated SCTE-35 generation was integrated into the playout workflow, enabling downstream platforms to identify commercial breaks and perform dynamic advertising insertion without changing True Digital’s existing content distribution processes.
Technical Architecture & Implementation
The project was implemented in three main phases, progressively expanding the platform’s capabilities.
Initial HD Playout Automation
SkyLark deployed an automated IP-based playout infrastructure supporting six HD program channels. The system provided switching between multiple Transport Streams over IP (TSoIP), localized graphics rendering, DVB subtitling, and audio loudness control.
4K UHD Expansion and Disaster Recovery
The infrastructure was expanded with a secondary disaster recovery site and dedicated 4K UHD playout capabilities.
The resulting configuration included:
- HD Channel Infrastructure: 6 main HD channels and 6 synchronized backup HD channels.
- 4K UHD Infrastructure: 1 main 4K UHD channel and 1 backup 4K UHD channel for premium programming and live sports.
- IP Source Management: Switching across 22 TSoIP sources, with two dedicated live inputs per channel and a shared input per server supporting simultaneous live-event recording.
- Media Synchronization: Automated synchronization of media assets between the primary and disaster recovery sites, maintaining consistent content availability and playlist parity.
SCTE-35 Dynamic Advertising Integration
SkyLark introduced automated SCTE-35 signaling to support commercial-break identification and dynamic advertising insertion by third-party distribution platforms.
The implementation generates SCTE-35 splice request messages containing commercial-break timing information, including break duration metadata.
This approach also supports fail-safe return-to-program behavior, allowing downstream advertising systems to resume the main content when an explicit splice-end signal is missing, subject to their SCTE-35 processing capabilities.
Unlike traditional DTMF audio cue-tone signaling, SCTE-35 provides structured metadata directly within the transport stream, enabling more flexible and automated advertising workflows.
The Result: Reliable Multi-Screen Delivery, Streamlined Operations, and New Monetization Opportunities
The completed solution enables True Digital to operate a flexible, high-availability OTT broadcasting infrastructure while expanding its opportunities for commercial content distribution.
Key benefits include:
- Improved Operational Resilience: The dual-site architecture with synchronized backup channels reduces single points of failure and supports maintenance and recovery operations while protecting broadcast continuity.
- Consistent Multi-Screen Delivery: The platform supports distribution of HD and 4K UHD content, including True Inside, True Sports, and premium Premier League programming, across IPTV set-top boxes and OTT applications.
- Simplified Live Operations: Integrated IP source switching, localized graphics, subtitle processing, and audio control reduce the complexity of managing multiple live channels and overlapping sports events.
- Expanded Advertising Opportunities: SCTE-35 signaling enables third-party distribution platforms to identify commercial breaks and insert advertising dynamically, supporting content monetization across multiple platforms and regional markets.
The TrueID project demonstrates how SkyLark’s integrated playout automation technology can support large-scale OTT operations while combining high availability, advanced live processing, and flexible advertising workflows.
From the initial HD deployment to the expansion of disaster recovery and 4K UHD broadcasting, followed by the integration of SCTE-35 advertising signaling, the platform has continuously evolved to meet True Digital’s growing operational and commercial requirements.