[Click eStock] "4by4, Bitrate Reduction Is a Global Concern"

On the 25th, Korea Investment & Securities predicted that there will be many more places where Poby4po can apply its deep learning AI-based image quality enhancement solution, 'PIXELL.'

Poby4po is a company specializing in ultra-high-definition immersive video. Based on PIXELL, it received innovation awards in the ▲Content & Entertainment category and ▲Digital Imaging/Photography category at CES 2024.

Yoon Cheol-hwan, a researcher at Korea Investment & Securities, said, "A research paper on the AI model for image quality improvement was published in November last year in the global scientific journal Scientific Reports," and added, "In the mid to long term, the commercialization of PIXELL will become a core growth driver for Poby4po."

He emphasized, "Poby4po produces ultra-high-definition immersive content in various fields," and "It operates a video content distribution business through its own platform, KeyCutStock." Furthermore, he analyzed, "In March last year, it incorporated the e-sports company SBXG as a subsidiary, securing an offline channel where immersive content experiences are possible," and "This year, the expected revenue composition is content production (visual) 65.6%, content distribution (stock) 3.8%, and e-sports 30.6%."

Researcher Yoon stated, "The application areas for the PIXELL solution are vast, including broadcasters, OTT companies, and VFX studios that require image quality improvement," and judged, "The specific commercialization hints were shown by ‘Warboy’." He explained, "They collaborate with AI-dedicated semiconductor fabless company Furiosa AI," and "PIXELL is being developed by embedding it into the AI-dedicated NPU 'Warboy,'" adding, "They completed it in the form of a hardware package that directly integrates the AI image quality enhancement solution into a system semiconductor chip."

He also introduced, "The integrated solution will first target the market with an on-premises approach, directly installed on data center servers, etc.," and "Global video production and broadcasting companies that need image quality enhancement solutions prefer to install the solution directly on their own servers rather than using cloud methods due to optimization, security, and copyright reasons."

Researcher Yoon explained, "Revolutionary bitrate reduction has attracted the interest of global companies," and "In March last year, Apple acquired the AI algorithm development startup WaveOne." He continued, "WaveOne developed a solution that compresses video content to reduce file size through AI technology," and added, "Apple’s acquisition of WaveOne is because even a slight reduction in bitrate can drastically reduce streaming costs imposed on vast amounts of video content."

He said, "Global companies are continuing attempts to improve image quality and reduce bitrate using AI technologies, such as Microsoft’s VSR for the Edge browser, NVIDIA’s RTX VSR for web browsers, and DeepMind’s MuZero," and predicted, "The success potential of PIXELL is high."