Smooth video transmission despite high data volumes

At the Christian Doppler Laboratory ATHENA, 12 researchers are currently working on innovative technologies to ensure that video transmission is smooth and energy-efficient even though the data volumes are high. Among them is Daniele Lorenzi, who is set to complete his doctoral thesis this winter semester.

Settled comfortably on the couch, you open the app on your tablet and start watching a football match: In that moment, nothing is more frustrating than experiencing a picture that freezes and varies in quality between razor-sharp images and blurred scenes. The Christian Doppler Laboratory ATHENA at the University of Klagenfurt is working on preventing this type of situation. The research group, headed by Christian Timmerer (Department of Information Technology), can draw on decades of experience, which also gave rise to a university spin-off, Bitmovin. This company is one of the joint operators of the ATHENA laboratory and supplies its video streaming technologies worldwide.

One of the team members seeking to put an end to poor quality online videos is Daniele Lorenzi. In an interview, he explains what he does in concrete terms: “Our goal is to ensure a smooth and seamless playback process. The video should neither freeze nor fluctuate between high and low quality. In my work, I focus on the software used on devices receiving the videos, such as smartphones, smart TVs, and tablets. These devices should be able to receive and play back the best possible quality.” The result should be as good as possible regardless of the quality of the Internet connection. Algorithms are used that ensure the best quality over time. Energy efficiency also plays a role here, as the transmission quality should not involve unnecessarily high energy consumption. Daniele Lorenzi often uses maths, which he enjoyed even as a young boy at school: “I had a really cool teacher who always explained everything in the simplest possible way and used examples from real life situations to make everything understandable.”

Daniele Lorenzi brought his knowledge to Klagenfurt from the University of Padua in 2022. Just a three-hour drive from Klagenfurt, he completed a Bachelor’s degree in Information Engineering and a Master’s degree programme in Information and Communications Technology for Internet and Multimedia Engineering at the Università degli Studi di Padova. In January 2022, he took up his position as a doctoral candidate in the ATHENA laboratory. But even before that, Daniele Lorenzi spent time as a student in Klagenfurt: He studied here as part of an Erasmus+ semester abroad in 2020 and remained close to the city and the region due to the beauty of the mountains and his connection to the young woman who supported him as his Erasmus buddy in Klagenfurt. He enjoys the international environment in the ATHENA laboratory (the 12 team members come from 6 countries) and the summer months with their many leisure activities and major events.

Daniele Lorenzi is due to complete his doctoral thesis during the upcoming winter semester. What Daniele Lorenzi particularly appreciates about his doctoral position is that he can enjoy a great deal of freedom and conduct practical research at the same time. The field of video streaming technologies is particularly exciting because there is still a lot to do, as he explains: “We are witnessing an increase in image resolutions: 8K will become more and more widespread in the 2020s. This leads to larger video files and greater data volumes, which requires better infrastructure so that customers receive the videos in the best possible way.” Exciting new technologies such as cloud gaming or interactive video experiences with AR and VR also pose new challenges. “We won’t get bored,” Daniele Lorenzi cheerfully remarks.